2016

"THE NEW HUMAN TOOLKIT: DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY AND A NEW OS FOR A BETTER WORLD" 

John Maeda says good design is most often invisible, but it can contribute to reshaping the way our society works.

Joe Biden, at the Social Good Summit 2016 in New York, mentioned the importance of combining datasets in the interest of cutting in half the amount of time it takes to develop new and better treatments for cancer and, even, a potential cure.

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) created the PeaceTech Lab in 2014 as a separate entity to further advance USIP's mission: prevent, mitigate, and reduce violent conflict around the world. The PeaceTech Lab brings together engineers, technologists, and data scientists from industry and academia, along with experts in peacebuilding from USIP, other government agencies, NGOs and the conflict zones to collaborate to design, develop, and deploy new and existing technology tools for conflict management and peace building.

According to a 2011 study by ad agency network TBWA/Worldwide and TakePart, the digital division of Participant Media, 7 in 10 young adults consider themselves social activists — about double since they were last surveyed, in 2010.

• 1 in 3 boycott or support businesses based on the causes they care about. They tend to reward organizations and businesses for those groups' involvement in social causes.

• 4 in 5 said they'd be more likely to purchase from a company that supports a cause they care about (if price and quality were equal) and 3 in 4 would think more highly of a company that supports a social cause.

• A stunning 3 in 4 believe that corporations should create economic value for society by addressing its needs.

The 2015 Cone Communications Millennial CSR Study reveals that more than nine-in-10 Millennials would switch brands to one associated with a cause (91% vs. 85% U.S. average) and two-thirds use social media to engage around CSR (66% vs. 53% U.S. average).

Despite the fact that Millennials are coming of age in one of the most difficult economic climates in the past 100 years, a recent Nielsen global online study found that they continue to be most willing to pay extra for sustainable offerings—almost three-out-of-four respondents in the latest findings, up from approximately half in 2014.

Not only that, the rise in the percentage of respondents aged 15 - 20, also known as Generation Z, who are willing to pay more for products and services that come from companies who are committed to positive social and environmental impact was also strong—up from 55% in 2014 to 72% in 2015.

Through designing better, more appropriate and transparent solutions to everyday problems, using tech to scale the availability of these solutions and understanding that we are talking to two “new” generations that operate with a new OS, we can create a toolkit that, in fact, delivers a better world.