[Applause]
my cousin Amell lives in a small village
in rural Egypt that is surrounded by a
desert speckled with palm trees there
the unpaved streets fill the air with
dust and the buildings are made of clay
and sandstone a few years ago I
witnessed something truly remarkable
here for the first time ever an internet
cable was laid to Emma’s village this
thin copper wire is only capable of 2g
Internet speeds and many families have
to share just one connection however mo
credits this technology with connecting
her home to the world and giving her
access to the same resources services
and information we take for granted here
in the United States for example social
media gave Emma low voice to fight for
the rights of Muslim women resources
such as Khan Academy allowed her to get
an education and enroll at a university
where she’s now studying computer
science but most importantly after she
graduates mo plans to use technology in
order to spread the same opportunities
she gots to the billions who have been
left behind by uneven progress in the
last century this is just one example of
the rapid adoption of advanced
technologies by countries the United
Nations Human Development Report
considers developing I believe that
through technology we’ll be able to
achieve the greatest feat in the 21st
century by making these countries
developed from my experience I’ve
recognized three key points on this
topic first the developing world is
incredibly diverse countries such as
India Indonesia and Brazil each of their
own challenges
and also their own opportunities second
technology is only a partial an
imperfect solution however I firmly
believe that is the best tool we have in
order to reduce the discrepancies in
health education and income between
different groups of people and third in
today’s reality technology is no longer
a luxury it’s a basic need
it’s almost as important as food water
and shelter making advanced technology
accessible to more people spreads
opportunity and catalyzes progress let’s
explore the evolution of innovation and
technology in developing nations so you
and I can continue the trend of rapid
progress in order to solve humanity’s
greatest problems we have to one
recognize that technologies can have a
huge impact in developing nations to
utilize developing nations capability to
leapfrog and three leverage effective
partnerships so technologies can have a
high impact in developing nations and
lift entire populations out of extreme
poverty let’s use Kenya as an example in
Kenya 90% of the population has mobile
phones and it may seem strange strange
to us that even the poorest citizens pay
to charge their cell phones and get by
calling minutes before worrying about
other more fundamental issues however
cell phones have become such an
essential tool that people use to buy
and sell goods and services you see
instead of using cash the majority of
people in Kenya transfer calling minutes
via SMS in order to circumvent
the inhibit inhibitory taxes and fees of
traditional banks this ingenuity
significantly reduces the financial
barriers of starting a business and
therefore has allowed countless people
to lift themselves out of poverty
this idea of texting phone credits as a
form of payment was so successful that
ten years ago its bird the rise of
Kenyan based and peso the world’s
largest mobile commerce platform and
pace that quickly rose up throughout all
socio-economic classes and today forty
three percent almost half of Kenya’s GDP
flows through and pacing this massive
success costs similar services to spread
to other nations and now they are
starting to gain traction in the United
States the narrative that the leading
technology start in the most developed
countries and then are later adopted by
less developed countries is shifting in
fact out of hope for a more prosperous
future the people of developing nations
are some of the greatest innovators
another key point to take into
consideration on this topic is
developing nations unique capability to
leapfrog while Africa has skipped to
cell phones and mobile commerce in the
United States
landlines are still common and credit
cards are the norm this shows that
developing nations can surpass highly
developed nations because they lack
restrictive regulations and the dead
weight of old technology developing
nations can skip years of trial and
error and just adopt the most advanced
modern solutions take drone technologies
today the largest drone delivery network
just like the one Amazon is working on
this system uses hundreds of drones to
make thousands of life-saving blood and
vaccine deliveries to remote hospitals
the reason this business was able to
become successful and only a few years
was because in the East African market
there are less flight restrictions no
existing ground-based delivery options
and the government’s are much more
nimble and technologically aggressive in
addition this system was established in
partnership between experts from the
United States and from East Africa when
developed and developing nations work
together towards a common goal
they bring diverse ideas and skill sets
in order to solve problems that face all
of humanity we must work with people
like my cousin mo in order to achieve
the greatest feats of the 21st century
such as turning the name world-wide-web
mo my cousins name means hope and Arabic
hope is what advanced technologies such
as drone delivery networks internet
connectivity and smartphones spread in
developing nations hope is also what
drives progress and innovation today
advanced technologies are coming from
all parts of the world and converging
faster than ever
emerging technologies will drive
emerging economies into the future but
also help all of humanity no matter
through co-innovation partnership and
mutual respect you and I will be able to
create a future where all nations are
developed and all people have greater
opportunities thank you [Applause]