Poverty, Humanitarian Crises and Conflicts: the Role of Science and Technology

Science and Technology can and must play a role to drive development, humanitarian action and peace, but how can this be done? How can we maximize chances that a solution will achieve a real and lasting impact at large scale?  Technologies designed and deployed in high-income countries are often unable to deliver their full potential when transposed to poor or vulnerable contexts. The health sector is a key example where medical devices such as neonatal incubators or diagnostic X-ray systems are generally too expensive and fragile. The case of diagnostic X-ray imaging is particularly striking: 127 years after the discovery of x-rays by Röntgen, up to two-thirds of the world population still does not have access to radiology services. Yet X-ray radiology is a crucial instrument for diagnosing health issues ranging from trauma to tuberculosis. The mismatch between needs and available solutions originates from the inappropriateness of both the technology and the business models. A new approach is presented which relies on three crucial pillars: cooperation, interdisciplinarity and entrepreneurship. This approach has not only been successfully applied to the case of diagnostic x-ray imaging, where it has led to the creation of a start-up company, but also to projects in the domains of humanitarian action. Finally it is currently also starting to be applied in the new domain of PeaceTech.