Giving Compass' Take:

• A new report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development discusses the potential of emerging technologies to solve the world's problems and the challenges that these technologies present. 

• How can philanthropy guide the development of emerging technologies for the public good? 

• Learn about security risks posed by 3D printing. 

New technologies like 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and widespread access to the internet will transform both developing and developed nations over the next 12 years, according to a new report released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Though the report celebrated the potential of technology to help countries advance, it also cautioned against the danger that rapid change could have on societies. The report urged the international community to be proactive in creating policies that minimize those risks, while boosting technology’s immense benefits.

“Frontier technologies” — tech that's being researched and developed but is not available on a mass market scale yet — are being produced more quickly and cost-effectively than ever before. And they could hold the key to ending poverty.

"Frontier technologies hold the promise of reviving productivity and making plentiful resources to end poverty for good, enable more sustainable patterns of growth, and mitigate or even reverse decades of environmental degradation,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said.

Read the full article about new technological advances by Jasper Lo at Global Citizen