Contrary to what many tech billionaires believe, technology will not save the world, but finding cures for diseases like malaria will, said the self-acclaimed technocrat Bill Gates.
Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates told FT Magazine in an exclusive interview, “I certainly love the IT thing. But when we want to improve lives, you’ve got to deal with more basic things like child survival, child nutrition.”
Many technologically-inclined individuals think that the Internet is a very significant force in driving socioeconomic improvement. This is the belief that pushed Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg to draft a plan of getting everyone on Earth connected by selling cheaper Internet access, an effort he called “one of the greatest challenges of our generation.”
When asked if having an Internet connection is more important than finding a vaccine for malaria, Gates surprisingly commented contrary to what was expected. “As a priority? It’s a joke. Take this malaria vaccine, [this] weird thing that I’m thinking of. Hmm, which is more important, connectivity or malaria vaccine? If you think connectivity is the key thing, that’s great. I don’t.”
He added, “Innovation is a good thing. The human condition – put aside bioterrorism and a few footnotes – is improving because of innovation,” he says. But while “technology’s amazing, it doesn’t get down to the people most in need in anything near the timeframe we should want it to”.
Being one of the world’s most influential and the second richest man, Gates will surely have a great impact on whoever or whatever he will choose to support. Through a foundation he built with his wife, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he gives majority of his attention, he donates $4 billion yearly to help in the improvement of health and combating poverty in developing countries by dealing with malaria or funding immunization drives against certain diseases.
