Green Technology Forum

“As a student and fan of this great country, America, and the ideas at the heart of it, I think the wider world needs to see a demonstration of those ‘American’ values, through pharmacology, agro-ecology, and technological help for those in extreme circumstances, in their hour of need.”

Bono, “Message 2U: Guest Editor’s Letter,” Vanity Fair, July 2007

What would a demonstration of American values through technological help to those in need look like? If those in need live in Africa, where Bono focuses his attention, people need help meeting their most basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. There, affordability is everything. People there don’t starve because there’s no food, they starve because they just can’t afford it.

But can we put new, powerful technologies like nanotechnology and biotechnology to work feeding people when technological development is largely driven by the quest for profit? The 206 million people who are hungry right now in sub-Saharan Africa certainly hope we can answer yes.

At Green Technology Forum we’re currently working with one of the world’s largest companies to spread new nanotechnologies that could literally save hundreds of thousands of lives. And we’re not alone. Innovative companies around the world are coming up with green nanotechnologies and biotechnologies that can make food, clothing and shelter more affordable while at the same time making a living for those who produce and sell them. But not all nano and biotech advances are intended to benefit humanity.

At Green Technology Forum the test we employ in evaluating the social justice of a new technology is simple:

“Who does it benefit?”

“How does it benefit them?”

If a technology benefits more than just an elite few, and does so in a way that does not harm others and has minimal environmental impact, we’ll pursue it. We also donate a minimum of 5 percent of our gross income to organizations dedicated to social and environmental causes.

“From here, what’s needed is a leg up, not a handout,” says Bono. Nanotechnology and biotechnology could be the answer, if we ask the right questions.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Biotechnology, Commentary, Ethics, Food & Agriculture, Health, Nanotechnology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.