Transforming the world through complex problem solving

Problem solving is at the core of human evolution.

It is the process by which we try to comprehend things that are happening all around us, identify the things that we want to change and then figure out the things that need to be done to create the desired outcome.

Problem solving is the source of all new inventions, social and cultural evolution, and the basis for market-based economies. It is the basis for continuous improvement, communication, and learning.

 And what the COVID-19 pandemic has made the globalized world of the 21st century realize is – 'The World's Biggest Problems Are Interconnected'.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a complex web of interlocking problems that have morphed into a full-blown crisis. But the problems and inequalities laid bare by the pandemic existed well before 2020.

 These inequities have unfortunately been exacerbated by this pandemic - hundreds of millions of children out of school without stable connectivity, millions of jobs and small businesses disappearing, and most of the world still without adequate affordable access to health care.

Woven through it all, the earth's climate is increasingly unstable, posing an existential threat to human society as we know it. In the next decade, societies will be forced to either confront this snarl of challenges, or be overwhelmed by them. Our response will define the future for decades to come.

And if the aforementioned does illustrate anything at all, it is this - we need to teach the next generation how to solve complex problems differently. Our future is at stake!

So, what can we do?

Right off the bat—technology is the one thing that can remake the world, and help us design a better one.

Our civilization is currently digitizing everything from bank accounts to DNA to manufacturing processes. As digitization touches more products, services, and the means of production, it drives costs toward zero and makes them more accessible to billions. Looking ahead, this trend will make it possible to create an abundance of goods and services that meet our resource and societal needs in a sustainable, affordable, and just way.

This is where Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and its initiative- 'Solve-a-thon' comes in.

Since its inception, MIT Solve has managed dozens of open innovation challenges to source and support lasting solutions to address the world's most pressing problems. Solve draws on stakeholder expertise to design four 'Global Challenges' each year to find the most promising Solver teams who will drive transformational change.

Cultivating entrepreneurs and connecting innovation opportunities and resources in underserved communities that can most benefit from innovation, technology, and new business models focused on the social and environmental determinants of health and tailored to community needs are necessary for achieving ambitious public health goals and narrowing health disparities as well as solve global problems that are interconnected.

Solve then deploys its global community of private, public, and non-profit leaders to form the partnerships. These Solver teams need to scale their impact. Working with partners from leading philanthropic foundations, corporations, and multilateral organizations to host Prizes and custom Partner Challenges on their open innovation platforms and have brokered over $25 million in commitments to diverse social entrepreneurs across the world.

Past Challenges and Prizes range from The World Bank ID4D Mission Billion Challenge to The Elevate Prize, Digital Workforce Challenge, Rethink Plastics Challenge, Reimagining Pathways to Employment in the US Challenge, and many more.

To kick start the problem-solving genetic trait within the local scenario, The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), the apex trade body of the nation, has taken the amazing initiative of bringing MIT Solve to Bangladesh for the very first time.

A new "Solve-a-thon" powered by MIT Solve has been launched to harness the best and brightest ideas from around the nation to help solve the issue of the future; meanwhile providing a platform to nurture the local workforce in the process.

The platform can enable the talented individuals of the country who can harness the power of digitization to work on big ideas, and be a part of a global community. MIT Solve staff and trained facilitators will be solely focusing on improving those ideas through the design thinking process around challenging themes that entails-Resilient Ecosystems; Health Security and Pandemics; Equitable Classrooms and Learning Spaces and Digital Inclusion for Economic Justice.

In the past, the participation of promising young people in our country in events like MIT Solve was very costly and time consuming. FBCCI has been planning to take timely initiatives like this for quite a while now. And under the able leadership of Sheikh Fazle Fahim, who had also launched Tech C under FBCCI to support SMEs and start-ups in enabling technology in their respective businesses; it has now become a reality.

It is time to utilize this platform and become not just entrepreneurs, rather Impact Tech Preneurs™️ that would bring a transformative change to the world.

The author is an Impact TechPreneur herself and currently an Impact Tech Venture Capitalist. She is the Founder of SBK Tech Ventures and SBK Foundation.