Business, ethics & society

After a brief reprieve during the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions continue to rise, and with each passing year, the work to slow climate change becomes harder. Time is running out, and we need innovation across all industry sectors — and in products, services and policy that paves the way for rapid adoption and deployment of decarbonized technologies.

We are in a new era — the Era of Smart Technology — that is going to transform how we live, how we work and how we educate people. Our current education system was built upon principles necessary for the industrial age, and that age is over. This is an existential societal issue, and this new era will require a different type of public education.

Black police officers can be a model for how employees can do anti-racism work in the workplace, even in institutions historically entrenched in systemic racism. Any employee can learn to challenge racialized behavior, recruit and promote for representation, and go above and beyond outside of an organization.

To ensure that refugees are able to rebuild their lives in dignity and safety, complex challenges must be addressed. By providing microfinancing opportunities, as well as business and self-care education, EMPROPAZ has transformed the lives of Colombian entrepreneurs and Venezuelan migrants, and by extension, host communities across Colombia.

Impact bonds are outcomes-based contracts that catalyse funding from “risk investors” to cover upfront working capital to deliver services. To improve the quality of education available for children in India, a goal aligned with the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, the Quality Education India Development Impact Bond was formed.

As conflict and climate-related disruptions increasingly threaten children’s futures, the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Ethiopia is prioritizing innovative approaches to nonformal education as part of its efforts to expand education access to out-of-school children and has partnered with the Luminos Fund as a public-private partnership changing the world.

When disaster occurs in conflict-prone regions, the main objective is to create a safe space for the people in the region, usually by evacuating them. When a country is completely cut off, all basic infrastructure and services within the country are down, there is an outbreak of disease, and the government is run over, how do you reach them?

Technology and innovation hold promise for addressing urgent health challenges and creating job opportunities. Many African countries have developed national digital health strategies, but implementing them can pose significant challenges. The HealthTech Hub Africa is a leading public-private partnership offering practical, scalable solutions.

What exactly is the metaverse? What are the challenges in building an interactive virtual world? Which technologies will get us there? How will players — particularly younger ones — be protected while engaging with others?

The effects of climate change are everywhere, yet a coordinated and cohesive response to the biggest threat to life on Earth is nowhere to be seen. While the scale of the crisis leads many to paralysis, experts at this year’s Jefferson Innovation Summit worked to find solutions both dramatic and pragmatic, naming five key opportunities.