To help solve global problems, look to developing countries
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0:01 - 0:05I am an ideas activist.
-
0:06 - 0:10That means I fight
for ideas I believe in -
0:11 - 0:14to have their place in the sun,
-
0:14 - 0:18regardless of which side
of the equator they were born. -
0:19 - 0:20As well I should.
-
0:20 - 0:23I myself am from that part of the world
-
0:23 - 0:27often euphemistically referred to
as either "the Global South" -
0:27 - 0:28or "the developing world."
-
0:29 - 0:30But let's be blunt about it:
-
0:30 - 0:34when we say those words,
what we really mean is the poor world -- -
0:34 - 0:38those corners of the world
with ready-made containers -
0:38 - 0:42for the hand-me-down ideas
of other places and other people. -
0:45 - 0:49But I'm here to depart
a little bit from the script -
0:49 - 0:51and to try and convince you
-
0:51 - 0:54that these places are actually
alive and bubbling with ideas. -
0:55 - 0:58My real issue is: Where do I even start?
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0:59 - 1:02So maybe Egypt, Alexandria,
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1:03 - 1:05where we meet Rizwan.
-
1:05 - 1:07When he walks outside his souk,
-
1:07 - 1:10walks into a pharmacy for heart medicine
-
1:10 - 1:13that can prevent the blood
in his arteries from clotting, -
1:13 - 1:15he confronts the fact that,
-
1:17 - 1:20despite a growing epidemic
-
1:20 - 1:26that currently accounts for 82 percent
of all deaths in Egypt, -
1:26 - 1:29it is the medicines that
can address these conditions -
1:29 - 1:33that counterfeiters,
ever the evil geniuses they are, -
1:33 - 1:34have decided to target.
-
1:35 - 1:38Counterfeiters making knockoff medicines.
-
1:40 - 1:42Luckily for Rizwan,
-
1:42 - 1:44my team and I,
-
1:44 - 1:49working in partnership with the largest
pharmaceutical company in Africa, -
1:50 - 1:55have placed unique codes --
think of them like one-time passwords -- -
1:55 - 2:00on each pack of the best-selling
heart medicine in Egypt. -
2:00 - 2:05So when Rizwan buys heart medicine,
-
2:05 - 2:08he can key in these one-time passwords
-
2:08 - 2:10to a toll-free short code
-
2:10 - 2:15that we've set up on all
the telecom companies in Egypt -
2:15 - 2:16for free.
-
2:16 - 2:19He gets a message --
call it the message of life -- -
2:20 - 2:22which reassures him
-
2:22 - 2:27that this medicine is not one of the 12
percent of all medicines in Egypt -
2:29 - 2:30that are counterfeits.
-
2:31 - 2:34From the gorgeous banks of the Nile,
-
2:34 - 2:39we glide into the beautiful
Rift Valley of Kenya. -
2:39 - 2:43In Narok Town, we meet Ole Lenku,
salt-of-the-earth fellow. -
2:43 - 2:45When he walks into an agrodealer's shop,
-
2:45 - 2:49all he wants is certified
and proper cabbage seeds -
2:49 - 2:50that, if he were to plant them,
-
2:50 - 2:53will yield a harvest rich enough
-
2:53 - 2:55that he can pay for
the school fees of his children. -
2:55 - 2:57That's all he wants.
-
2:57 - 2:59Unfortunately,
-
2:59 - 3:02by the reckoning of most
international organizations, -
3:02 - 3:0740 percent of all the seeds
sold in Eastern and Southern Africa -
3:07 - 3:08are of questionable quality,
-
3:08 - 3:10sometimes outrightly fake.
-
3:11 - 3:12Luckily for Ole,
-
3:12 - 3:16once again, our team has been at work,
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3:16 - 3:20and, working with the leading
agriculture regulator in Kenya, -
3:20 - 3:24we've digitized the entire
certification process -
3:24 - 3:25for seeds in that country,
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3:25 - 3:29every seed -- millet, sorghum, maize --
-
3:29 - 3:36such that when Ole Lenku
keys in a code on a packet of millet, -
3:36 - 3:41he's able to retrieve
a digital certificate -
3:41 - 3:44that assures him that the seed
is properly certified. -
3:45 - 3:48From Kenya, we head to Noida in India,
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3:48 - 3:51where the irrepressible Ambika
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3:51 - 3:56is holding on very fast to her dream
of becoming an elite athlete, -
3:56 - 3:58safe in the knowledge that
-
3:58 - 4:00because of our ingredients
rating technology, -
4:00 - 4:03she's not going to ingest
something accidentally, -
4:03 - 4:05which will mess up her doping tests
-
4:07 - 4:10and kick her out of the sports she loves.
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4:11 - 4:14Finally, we alight in Ghana,
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4:14 - 4:16my own home country,
-
4:16 - 4:19where another problem needs addressing --
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4:19 - 4:22the problem of under-vaccination
or poor-quality vaccination. -
4:22 - 4:28You see, when you put some vaccines
into the bloodstream of an infant, -
4:28 - 4:31you are giving them a lifetime insurance
-
4:31 - 4:35against dangerous diseases
that can cripple them or kill them. -
4:35 - 4:36Sometimes, this is for a lifetime.
-
4:36 - 4:42The problem is that vaccines
are delicate organisms really, -
4:42 - 4:45and they need to be stored
between two degrees and eight degrees. -
4:45 - 4:49And if you don't do that,
they lose their potency, -
4:49 - 4:51and they no longer confer the immunity
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4:51 - 4:53the child deserves.
-
4:54 - 4:56Working with computer vision scientists,
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4:56 - 5:01we've converted simple markers
on the vials of vaccines -
5:01 - 5:04into what you might regard
as crude thermometers. -
5:04 - 5:08So then, these patterns change slowly
over time in response to temperature -
5:08 - 5:11until they leave a distinct pattern
on the surface of the vaccine, -
5:11 - 5:15such that a nurse,
with a scan of the phone, -
5:15 - 5:19can detect if the vaccine was stored
properly in the right temperature -
5:19 - 5:21and therefore is still good for use
-
5:21 - 5:23before administering this to the child --
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5:25 - 5:27literally securing the next generation.
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5:27 - 5:33These are some of the solutions at work
saving lives, redeeming societies, -
5:33 - 5:35in these parts of the world.
-
5:35 - 5:36But I would remind you
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5:36 - 5:39that there are powerful ideas behind them,
-
5:39 - 5:40and I'll recap a few.
-
5:41 - 5:45One, that social trust
is not the same as interpersonal trust. -
5:46 - 5:49Two, that the division between
consumption and regulation -
5:49 - 5:52in an increasingly interdependent world
-
5:52 - 5:53is no longer viable.
-
5:54 - 5:56And three, that decentralized autonomy,
-
5:56 - 5:59regardless of what our blockchain
enthusiasts in the West -- -
5:59 - 6:00whom I respect a lot -- say,
-
6:00 - 6:06are not as important as reinforcing
social accountability feedback loops. -
6:06 - 6:07These are some of the ideas.
-
6:08 - 6:11Now, every time I go somewhere
and I give this speech -
6:11 - 6:15and I make these comments
and I provide these examples, -
6:15 - 6:17people say, "If these ideas
are so damn brilliant, -
6:17 - 6:19why aren't they everywhere?
-
6:19 - 6:20I've never heard of them."
-
6:20 - 6:21I want to assure you,
-
6:22 - 6:25the reason why you have not
heard of these ideas -
6:25 - 6:27is exactly the point I made
in the beginning. -
6:28 - 6:32And that is that there are
parts of the world -
6:32 - 6:34whose good ideas simply don't scale
-
6:34 - 6:37because of the latitude
on which they were born. -
6:37 - 6:39I call that "mental latitude imperialism."
-
6:39 - 6:41(Laughter)
-
6:42 - 6:43That really is the reason.
-
6:43 - 6:47But you may counter and say, "Well,
maybe it's an important problem, -
6:47 - 6:49but it's sort of an obscure problem
in parts of the world. -
6:49 - 6:52Why do you want
to globalize such problems? -
6:52 - 6:53I mean, they are better local."
-
6:53 - 6:55What if, in response, I told you
-
6:56 - 7:00that actually, underlying each
of these problems that I've described -
7:00 - 7:02is a fundamental issue
of the breakdown of trust -
7:02 - 7:04in markets and institutions,
-
7:04 - 7:08and that there's nothing more global,
more universal, closer to you and I -
7:08 - 7:09than the problem of trust.
-
7:10 - 7:16For example, a quarter of all the seafood
marketed in the US is falsely labeled. -
7:16 - 7:19So when you buy a tuna
or salmon sandwich in Manhattan, -
7:19 - 7:22you are eating something that could be
banned for being toxic in Japan. -
7:23 - 7:24Literally.
-
7:24 - 7:29Most of you have heard of a time
when horsemeat was masquerading as beef -
7:29 - 7:30in burger patties in Europe?
-
7:30 - 7:31You have.
-
7:31 - 7:37What you don't know is that a good chunk
of these fake meat patties -
7:37 - 7:41were also contaminated with cadmium,
which can damage your kidneys. -
7:41 - 7:42This was Europe.
-
7:43 - 7:47Many of you are aware of plane crashes
and you worry about plane crashes, -
7:47 - 7:50because every now and then, one of them
intrudes into your consciousness. -
7:50 - 7:52But I bet you don't know
-
7:52 - 7:57that a single investigation uncovered
one million counterfeit incidents -
7:57 - 7:59in the aeronautical
supply chain in the US. -
7:59 - 8:02So this is a global problem, full stop.
-
8:03 - 8:04It's a global problem.
-
8:04 - 8:07The only reason we are not addressing it
with the urgency it deserves -
8:07 - 8:09is that the best solutions,
-
8:09 - 8:12the most advanced solutions,
the most progressive solutions, -
8:12 - 8:15are, unfortunately, in parts of the world
where solutions don't scale. -
8:15 - 8:17And that is why it is not surprising
-
8:17 - 8:20that attempts to create this same
verification models for pharmaceuticals -
8:20 - 8:24are now a decade behind
in the USA and Europe, -
8:24 - 8:26while it's already available in Nigeria.
-
8:26 - 8:28A decade, and costing
a hundred times more. -
8:28 - 8:31And that is why, when you walk
into a Walgreens in New York, -
8:31 - 8:33you cannot check the source
of your medicine, -
8:33 - 8:35but you can in Maiduguri
in Northern Nigeria. -
8:35 - 8:36That is the reality.
-
8:36 - 8:37(Applause)
-
8:37 - 8:38That is the reality.
-
8:38 - 8:40(Applause)
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8:41 - 8:43So we go back to the issue of ideas.
-
8:43 - 8:47Remember, solutions are merely
packaged ideas, -
8:47 - 8:49so it is the ideas
that are most important. -
8:49 - 8:52In a world where we marginalize the
ideas of the Global South, -
8:52 - 8:57we cannot create globally inclusive
problem-solving models. -
8:57 - 9:00Now, you might say, "Well, that's bad,
-
9:00 - 9:04but in such a world
where we have so many other problems, -
9:04 - 9:06do we need another cause?"
-
9:06 - 9:07I say yes, we need another cause.
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9:07 - 9:11Actually, that cause will surprise you:
the cause of intellectual justice. -
9:11 - 9:14You say, "What? Intellectual justice?
In a world of human rights abuses?" -
9:14 - 9:16And I explain this way:
-
9:16 - 9:20all the solutions to the other problems
that affect us and confront us -
9:20 - 9:21need solutions.
-
9:21 - 9:23So you need the best ideas
to address them. -
9:23 - 9:25And that is why today I ask you,
-
9:25 - 9:29can we all give it one time
for intellectual justice? -
9:30 - 9:34(Applause)
- Title:
- To help solve global problems, look to developing countries
- Speaker:
- Bright Simons
- Description:
-
To address the problem of counterfeit goods, African entrepreneurs like Bright Simons have come up with innovative and effective ways to confirm products are genuine. Now he asks: Why aren't these solutions everywhere? From password-protected medicines to digitally certified crops, Simons demonstrates the power of local ideas -- and calls on the rest of the world to listen up.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 09:48
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