The advent of science and technology has swiftly changed the world around us today. Nowadays, almost everything is possible with the aid of technology! It is continuously on the verge of innovating and updating itself to offer humans the best possible services. The viable use of technology has benefitted mankind by making our lives easier and more seamless than earlier.
From buying your daily groceries to booking your favorite escape room game online technology has spread its reach far and wide. The use of technology can even benefit society. During the worldwide pandemic, improved access to high-speed internet helped reduce deaths in the U.S. According to popular estimates, a mere 1% increase in internet access helped lower mortality rates during the Covid-19 pandemic roughly by 19 deaths per every 100,000 overall.
Well, this is just one of the many ways technology can benefit society and create a better world for posterity. There are still various other ways innovators are using technology to address global challenges and work toward the welfare of society. In this article, we have compiled some of the ways technology can offer social good. So, check it out:
- Offering limitless access to information.
One of the most beneficial attributes of technology is its way of offering users’ access to information in an almost unbarred way. With the help of technology, users surfing the web can find their hands on so much readily stocked and easily accessible information. Everything remains only a click away!
However, the immense access to so much information does also require users to remain on guard against the spread of wrong information. It is true of any user who accesses the internet for almost any purpose.
At the same time, one must also consider how there are still many people living in remote or inaccessible areas where internet access is not available. There are even people who despite having internet access, may not necessarily have the means to afford a suitable gadget to use the internet.
Hence, equitable access to information is still a challenging technology that needs to be overcome with time. Some initiatives, however, are taken up in the way cyber cafes have popped up in various places to offer these people access to the internet. Even various state governments in the U.S. developed drive-in Wi-Fi hotspots for people without internet access during the pandemic.
- Providing education to all.
The use of technology can revolutionize the educational sector in an unforeseen way. It can help improve and uplift the quality of education offered in various educational institutions worldwide, alongside making education accessible to everyone. From primary schooling to even higher studies, technology aims to make education accessible to all, to consequently harbor well-prepared citizens for the future.
EdTech, or education technology, has emerged as a pathway where education and technology are paving the way in a natural partnership. It uses various forms of efficient and useful technological tools to enhance the overall learning processes across all stages of learning. It further seeks to make learning an interactive, creative, and innovative process where students can also have fun while they learn.
The worldwide pandemic saw a consistent upsurge in the use of education technology to allow students to continue learning from home. It offered students the required resources to facilitate them to keep up with their courses, attend lectures or classes and complete their assignments within the deadlines.
The pandemic provided ripe opportunities for the growth and development of EdTech tools and resources to facilitate the learning process. It showed us how one need not always be present within the four walls of the classroom for learning to progress. Thus, by breaking down the traditional classroom setups and offering ripe grounds for the growth of smart classrooms, the educational sector has progressed successively.
Also Read: The Future of the Most Advanced Legal Technology
- Addressing the question of poverty.
At the root of most of the problems worldwide lies financial inequities and an overbearing situation of poverty. While there may be no easy way of narrowing the divide between the rich and poor, technology is, however, making strides to address the critical situation of worldwide poverty.
Grameen Bank of Bangladesh has reputedly worked towards offering equitable access to mobile banking facilities to everyone. It offers users access to banking facilities irrespective of their location. It further provides microcredit options under which the poor, who would otherwise not qualify for loans, can get a small loan.
Many reputed healthcare companies are now offering mobile healthcare facilities at a reasonable price on inexpensive devices. Thus, it allows the underprivileged people requiring medical attention to find much-needed help.
- Ending the cries of hunger.
Hunger has remained a long prevailing cry of millions of people across the globe. Food insecurity is a raging global challenge and is a pervasive issue today. According to records by WHO (World Health Organization), the number of people suffering from hunger soared to a record high of 828 million in 2021 from its earlier 46 million in 2020.
Technology can provide an answer to the rising problems of hunger worldwide. The use of geospatial remote-sensing technology like drones or satellites can enhance farming equipment and improve techniques to increase food production.
The use of solar and hydropower can proficiently remove the necessity of building expensive power plants for energy. In this way, every home can have its fireless solar cooker. It will allow families to increase their operational efficiency successively and at the same time facilitate them to save money that they would have otherwise spent on energy resources.
The use of digitalized kitchens can be found in the large-scale production of midday meals given to students in government schools in India. Akshaya Patra Foundation, the organization running this initiative was quick to realize the impact it can have by digitalizing its facilities. Now, it serves food to students in over 11 states across India!
Now these are a few of the many ways that innovators are working with technology like in escape rooms to benefit society and address global challenges. While there are still challenges technology needs to overcome along its way, it is nevertheless making a great impact in changing the world around us!
