Diane Matar, PhD Candidate, shares her experience as a Teaching Advisor at Singularity University, NASA Ames Research Park

Environment and Technology: a New Perspective

Are you curious about what the world will look like 10 years from now? Well, no need to search for a “future-teller”… As a Teaching Advisor for Environment at Singularity University Graduate Studies Program (GSP 2013), I’ve had the unique opportunity to get a snapshot outlook of the future of health, security, energy and environment, education, and space. Singularity University is an education company based in NASA Ames Research Park, at the heart of Silicon Valley, and a few steps from Google Headquarters. The institution, founded by Dr. Ray Kurzweil and Dr. Peter Diamandis with the support of tech-driven companies, started as a non-profit in 2008, with the mission “to educate, inspire and empower leaders to apply exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges”.

Teaching at Singularity University was one of the most interesting and intellectually challenging experiences I’ve had. Students themselves are all international innovators and experts in their own fields, while presenters include top-notch speakers such as Johan Rockström on environment, and Hans Rosling on development. After five weeks of fast-paced lectures, discussions, and hands-on experimentation with cutting-edge technologies, the ground was prepared for entrepreneurial innovation. The eighty graduate students divided into teams and started working on innovative projects that focus on impact by creating tech-centered scalable solutions to development challenges - such as poverty, health, access to water and education. With a high level of support, projects were created, field-tested with stakeholders, prototyped and pitched to investors within a remarkably short period of five weeks. At this stage, my role was to accompany students through the process and provide technical advice or logistical support, while I was actually learning a wide range of new skills, and benefiting from this unique exposure to creative multidisciplinary minds at work! On the side, I enjoyed trying the Google self-driving car, experimenting with a juice-mixer powered by a bike, 3D printing a piece of jewelry, or checking my hometown on a 360 degree giant Google Earth booth.

We, environmentalists, often talk about multidisciplinary solutions, but how often do we have the chance to learn about developments in other disciplines, let alone new emerging disciplines! The vast potential of accelerating technologies (including artificial intelligence and robotics, energy and environmental systems, nanotechnology, biotechnology, digital networks, and space) has just started to be tapped for environmental solutions. We are seeing more examples of new imaging technology and small satellites used for monitoring deforestation, digital databases and observatories for species monitoring, etc. However, this is just a beginning for convergence of these scientific fields, as their potential applications are much vaster than we can anticipate, and the room for innovation and synergistic solutions is large! On the other hand, the challenges and risks brought by these technological advancements are not negligible, similarly to any powerful tool that can be used for different agendas. In Singularity University, these aspects were also tackled through discussions. For example, subjects included the future of organized crime, privacy issues, or risks of biotech applications in environment and health; and consequently the importance of preventing these issues by imminently mainstreaming these emerging disciplines and applications into academic, economic, and political agendas, as well as policy and legal frameworks. Projects created by students were also oriented towards addressing these challenges.

Intuitively, we are compelled to reject Change, especially one that is as disruptive as the one we are currently observing with the fast penetration of accelerating technology into human systems; and that is because we are hard-wired to fear and avoid what we ignore and hence cannot control. Desired or not, change is unavoidable and part of our social and economic evolution. Hence, the key to my view is to “ride the wave” and embrace this change by proactively learning and spreading knowledge about these new disciplines. The faster we adopt them, the more time we gain to tame them, and efficiently invest in managing and channeling them towards ingenuity for doing good… For a better future!