How WIRED’s Readers Could Help Change the World: From Bill Gates
The following post is quotes from Bill Gates:
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It’s not necessarily a model that would work in the United States, where we give individual teachers a lot of control. But it’s hard to argue with the results so far in Kenya. As the article says, “Even the lowest-performing Bridge students are beating out their peers at a sample of government and other private schools. In reading comprehension, the gap is as high as 205 percent.” I’d encourage you to read the whole article. And if you run a company, I’d encourage you to follow the example set by Bridge’s founders: learn about the problems of the poorest and see if you can use your expertise to make a difference.
The following post is quotes from Bill Gates:
"
I’ve been lucky to have two full-time jobs in my life that I love, first at Microsoft and now at the Gates Foundation. Today I get to add another temporary job to my resume: guest editor of WIRED.
I worked on the December 2013 issue—or 21.12, in WIRED-ese—which is available now. Actually WIRED’s team of writers and editors did most of the work. Here on LinkedIn, I want to share a few thoughts about one of the main themes we explore in the issue. It’s the idea of getting the private sector more involved in the fight against extreme poverty and disease. I thought this theme would be a great fit for all the scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs whose talents could improve life for the poorest 2 billion.
Some people who work on global health or development object to the idea of working with businesses. But to me, it is by far the best way to drive innovation that will help the poor. Pharmaceutical companies can make new vaccines. Agricultural companies can develop new crop varieties adapted for a changing climate. Telecom companies can develop new ways for the poor to build up savings accounts or send money back home. If you care about fighting disease and poverty, you can’t afford to ignore all this expertise.
There is always the issue of how firms can benefit the poor and still make enough profit to stay afloat. One example that I really like from the WIRED issue is a story about Bridge Academies. I think this is a great untold story that more people should know about. Bridge is a for-profit company (which I’m an investor in) that has developed an innovative approach to primary-school education in sub-Saharan Africa. Bridge’s CEO cites McDonald’s and Starbucks as models. The idea is to create a system of schools that can be replicated again and again, using a template for everything from setting up schools to enrolling children, hiring teachers, and designing a curriculum. That both ensures consistency across the schools and creates economies of scale that keep overhead low. Bridge Academies currently serve 50,000 students at 214 schools in Kenya, each paying $5 a month to attend.
It’s not necessarily a model that would work in the United States, where we give individual teachers a lot of control. But it’s hard to argue with the results so far in Kenya. As the article says, “Even the lowest-performing Bridge students are beating out their peers at a sample of government and other private schools. In reading comprehension, the gap is as high as 205 percent.” I’d encourage you to read the whole article. And if you run a company, I’d encourage you to follow the example set by Bridge’s founders: learn about the problems of the poorest and see if you can use your expertise to make a difference.
Of course, the private sector can’t solve every problem. I contributed an essay about how governments and philanthropy reach people whose needs are ignored by markets, and how that idea helped Melinda and me pick the issues we work on. President Bill Clinton was kind enough to sit down for an extended conversation with writer Steven Levy and me. Another story features gadgets that I wish existed. There’s an amazing article that takes you behind the scenes of the campaign to eradicate polio in Afghanistan—it’s dangerous work, and you get a powerful sense of how courageous vaccine workers are.
There’s much more in the issue, of course. I’m really proud of it and hope you have a chance to take a look."
I hope that you also read this in the voice of bill gates like i did: :)
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