Social Enterprise Annual Conference

Both private and non-profit sector firms have recently been developing innovative products and services to achieve a social impact. Technological developments have led to improved health and sanitation, faster communication, more efficient banking, and improved agricultural practices. The panel will explore this recent burst of R&D in technology that seeks to maximize the socio-economic outcomes of citizens in developing countries.

Until recently, international development has largely been a one-way street driven by the global North. From the Indian farmer suicides to the social repercussions of structural adjustment loans, development strategies imposed from the top-down have been ineffective across diverse, local contexts and insufficient to address growing levels of inequality. As the Internet, computers, portable medical devices, and other innovative technologies are becoming both cheaper and easier to access, local institutions are taking a greater role in directing development.