Solve at MIT 2018

Over the centuries, technology has driven human progress and prosperity, and today many innovations in development have the potential to cure diseases, create carbon-free energy and feed the world. Yet, many pit technological innovation against humanity as a negative that must be protected against. After all, AI and robotics risk eliminating millions of jobs, our technologically-driven over-production of CO2 risks irreversible global warming, and nuclear weapons could eliminate entire countries with one switch. However, these are not the ‘failings’ of technology itself, technology does not possess inherent morality or humanity. It is our societies – technologists, executives, policy makers, citizens – those who design, use, implement, and regulate technology that can and must incorporate ethics in innovation. Join us as we kick off Solve at MIT and discover how we can realign technology with and in service of humanity, not only to protect against the negative implications of technological change, but also massively increase access to technology and thus opportunity for the most marginalized.

Hosted by H.S.H. the Prince Henri d’Arenberg, Founder & Chairman, be.Source, a private foundation under Belgian law
Ever-rising life expectancies around the world are heralded as a public health accomplishment. But this development does not necessarily mean a higher standard of living – many people, especially those working in agriculture and manufacturing, are forced to work more and later into life simply to sustain themselves. How then might educators and employers better prepare, train, and continually develop peoples' skills and talents at all stages of their career so they can earn a better living that allows them to more fully enjoy their longer lives?

*Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. 

Hosted by Ursula Burns 
Technology: the great equalizer; the great educator; the great enabler. Depending on who you are, technology can be all of these things, or it can be none of them. For too many women - especially women of color, in non-OECD countries, and of lower economic communities - leveraging technological tools, or jobs in the tech sector, is an impossibility. How might we build on the momentum generated by the Solve Women in Technology challenge to address some of the barriers preventing women from benefiting from the great potentials created by technological advancements?

*Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. 

Hosted by Flagship Pioneering
Machine learning and artificial intelligence have rapidly advanced bedside care – helping improve diagnosis and prescription. But can these same innovations aid the healthcare system further upstream by creating prescription drugs that are more potent and affordable? In 2017, the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spent $700B on R&D, with 9 out of 10 drugs tested in humans failing to even reach FDA review. Technological breakthroughs like “deep learning” offer an opportunity to correct this broken system – providing medical researchers tools to capture and analyze rich biological data at a scale never before realized. With this capability, how can players in the healthcare system better leverage AI to provide people with better performing and affordable therapeutic approaches?

*Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. 

Hosted by Colin & Erika Angle
The best-performing companies in today’s economy seek critical, curious, and creative thinking from employees. However, many employees entering the workforce lack these skills; traditional education models and teachers’ toolkits do not enable this kind of enterprising learning, especially in STEM subjects. How might teachers be better supported and equipped to develop the types of uniquely-human thinking in students needed for them to have a successful career in the 21st Century?

*Space is limited. Pre-registration is required.

We currently lead longer, healthier, and more comfortable lives than ever before, but our continuously increasing use of natural resources is jeopardizing both our ecosystems and our health. Climate change, in large part driven by deforestation, exacerbates air pollution, ocean acidification, and increases instances of extreme weather. These problems not only have detrimental consequences for the Earth, but also contribute to respiratory, waterborne, and infectious diseases across its population. From expectant mothers to Mother Nature, human and environmental health are inextricably linked. Join Solve to explore how we might best use a combination of technology and policy to support the health of our planet and of ourselves.

In this interactive and action-driven session, hear from our Solver teams who will showcase the progress they have made since being selected at the Solve Challenge Finals. Solver teams still seek guidance and resources to grow their impact. Participants will collaborate with two different Solver teams, providing advice and brainstorming partnerships to advance their solutions to the 2017 Challenges: 

- Brain Health 
- Sustainable Urban Communities 
- Women and Technology 
- Youth, Skills, & the Workforce of the Future

Join an exciting coalition of leaders to build and strengthen Solver solutions. Solver teams and participants will workshop ways to address particular challenge dimensions, partner with social impact leaders, and scale promising ideas. Through two rotations, participants will exchange knowledge and resources needed to get a step closer to solving the 2017 Challenges:

- Brain Health
- Sustainable Urban Communities
- Women and Technology
- Youth, Skills, & the Workforce of the Future

Technological innovation is creating critical, new, and safe platforms for dialogue. Although connectivity doesn’t always bring conflicting groups together and sometimes even risks reinforcing echo chambers, humanitarians and activists across the globe recognize the opportunities that inclusive, justice-centered technology can create to break down inter-generational poverty and discrimination and build peace across communities. Join Solve to discover the technologies, from sign-language recognition software to crowdsourcing platforms which advance civic engagement, that are enabling more traditionally marginalized people to reach their highest potential.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity has partnered with eight UN agencies and MIT Solve to enable a worldwide community of makers and innovators to create transformative solutions that spread prosperity. Join us in designing the newly announced Global Maker Challenge. Guests will share their insights and help refine four challenges on Sustainable Energy, Digital Divide and Digital Literacy, Rural Transformation and Zero Hunger, and Sustainable Cities. These challenges will then be open for solution submission in September 2018 in collaboration with MIT Solve.

*Space is limited. Pre-registration is required.

Hosted by MIT Solve
How can we learn from and support leadership from indigenous communities to become better stewards of the earth while increasing economic prosperity for the most vulnerable? Join Solve’s Indigenous Communities Salon Dinner to meet our 2018 Oceti Sakowin | Solve Fellows and explore sustainability and innovation in Indian country, from access to water and food, to green infrastructure and renewable energy sources.

*Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. 

A breakfast session dedicated to the newly established MIT Indigenous Communities Project with MIT Solve and the Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center.

If only it were as easy as it looks. When a Solver, or any social entrepreneur, emerges as a beacon of purposeful ingenuity, their enterprise can often appear to be an overnight success. Yet the story behind most successful start-ups is anything but straightforward and guaranteed, more likely resembling an epic Homeric poem than a seamless Hollywood production. In sharing their tales of trial and tribulation, entrepreneurs will demonstrate how grit, failure, and collaboration are the driving forces behind real impact, and identify how Solve’s community of innovators can build resilience and determination in their own pursuits to change the world.

Join cross-sector leaders for a first look at Solve’s 2018 challenges – Coastal Communities, Frontlines of Health, Teachers & Educators, and Work of the Future. Led by members of Solve’s global Challenge Leadership Groups, this workshop features moderated, interactive discussions on challenge dimensions. Participants will brainstorm specific action points to advance solutions to various dimensions of each 2018 Challenge:

- Coastal Communities 
- Frontlines of Health 
- Teachers & Educators 
- Work of the Future

Join cross-sector leaders for a first look at Solve’s 2018 challenges – Coastal Communities, Frontlines of Health, Teachers & Educators, and Work of the Future. Led by members of Solve’s global Challenge Leadership Groups, this workshop features moderated, interactive discussions on challenge dimensions. Participants will brainstorm specific action points to advance solutions to various dimensions of each of the 2018 Challenges:

- Coastal Communities 
- Frontlines of Health 
- Teachers & Educators 
- Work of the Future

The innovations employed to land man on the moon revolutionized the development of technology used on Earth, even today, from water filters to microchips. Scientists and entrepreneurs are now eagerly working on extreme farming, transportation, and housing to make life on the Red Planet possible. But what about life on this green and blue one? Millions of those in underserved communities – whether low-income rural populations, refugees, or indigenous peoples – are faced with enduring challenges that may largely benefit from the creative approaches being developed for survival on Mars. Join Solve in its closing session to explore how the technologies being designed to make future life in space safe, efficient, and sustainable might be adapted to do the same for the seven billion of us living on Earth.