To the Moon and Back: Taking the Leap Towards Solving Big Problems

JuliaElman

October 2014

President John F. Kennedy was a visionary. In 1962, he proposed the seemingly impossible challenge of walking on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, that challenge became a reality. It was a moment in our history that propelled us into moving beyond our self-imposed limitations of what we, as human beings, are capable of doing.

Today, we see how this vision of space travel has affected our love and work on technology. Our multiple devices and subscriptions guide us through our daily lives, which has changed the way we see our world.

But how does this love for technology propel us forward to solve the most difficult problems we face as a society: ever growing issues, such as hunger, poverty, climate change, social inequality and injustice?

This talk reflects upon where we are as technologists, where we have been and how we can start focusing again on solving hard problems. We’ll go over ways attendees can contribute their talents, gifts and ideas to varying initiatives around the globe which are taking on these challenging issues.