Giving Compass' Take:

• The Rockefeller Foundation discusses the role that technology will play in creating positive change around the world and how we can guard against its misuse.

• Many of the major concerns around new technology revolves around privacy. How will industry leaders address these fears? And how can we make sure that access to innovation is equitable?

• Here's how technology can help bridge physical and social distance.

Will the current wave of technological innovation be good for humanity? No question that what is known as the “fourth industrial revolution” is touching almost every part of the economy and society, often in ways that are deeply disruptive to old ways of doing things. No question, too, that there will be big winners, but also big losers, from all this change. But will the overall impact be positive or negative? And what can we do to tip the balance into the positive, especially for the vast majority of humanity that lives far away from, and in much less blessed conditions than, innovation hubs such as Silicon Valley?

In June, The Rockefeller Foundation gathered leading thinkers and doers in our Bellagio Center in Italy to focus on how to ensure that today’s new technologies advance rather than hinder human progress, as expressed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Both of the keynote speakers there believe that we can meet this challenge. Eric Schmidt, the former chairman of Google, urged for a focus on creating apps designed to meet the basic needs of the developing world. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, the driving force behind India’s remarkable Unique ID system, argued that giving people ownership over their digital data could drive an unprecedented rise in living standards in countries including his own.

Read the full article about using technological innovation to benefit humanity by Zia Khan and Matthew Bishop at The Rockefeller Foundation.