Profiles in Development Progress : Identifying High-Impact, Long-Term Solutions to the Challenge of Global Development

Technology-based innovation is essential to development and economic growth. New technologies are inevitably associated with new risks, of course, and technological advances alone do not ensure social progress. But in the long run, the human capacity to develop new tools and put those tools to use is inarguably a critical element of social development. Until recently, few shared in the benefits of technology-enabled growth. While a third of the world prospered, the majority of the world’s population earned a meager dividend from four centuries of technological advancement. That pattern, however, is changing. The narratives that comprise "Profiles in Development Progress: High-Impact, Long-Term Solutions to the Challenge of Global Development" describe how the benefits of technology-based innovation are reaching more people than ever before. Foot pumps and other innovations in micro-irrigation are liberating smallholder farmers from poverty by enabling them to lengthen the growing season and use their time more productively. New cell phone services have allowed millions to open their first bank account. Tribal communities located in remote regions are using the Internet to map and protect the ecosystems on which their livelihoods and cultural survival depend. Programs that provide promising entrepreneurs with a combination of financial support and technical training are leading to the creation of hundreds of new high-growth companies that link poor communities to global markets. Progress in global development is not only possible, it is happening. Understanding and supporting the development efforts that are most effective will accelerate progress and benefit the millions of people who are poised on the threshold of a better life