14 DAY TRIAL // Speaking at the Government Leaders Forum, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates indicated a consistent level of optimism that technology would solve many of the world’s most critical issues in 10 or 20 years out. “And it will be education, modeling technology, and great people who understand this domain, and in that case medicine, that will allow those breakthroughs to happen,” Gates underlined, emphasizing that governments had to be committed to continued and sustained investments focusing on education, science and technology.
The Microsoft co-founder applauded officials in Washington for bringing education to center stage and for boosting funding for research. In Gates' vision education is at a turning point, where it can be delivered en masse, as he put it, while allowing scholastic organizations to individualize on specific aspects.
“So, you're hearing me talk a lot about education as the key to economic growth. Obviously, Microsoft sees software as catalytic in many areas, but I do put this at the top. It's catalytic in business formation, catalytic in government efficiency, government transparency, and I know there have been good discussions about all of these things,” Gates added.
The Microsoft Chairman pointed out that the world was confronting with a decrease in students taking up science and math, with the exception of Asia, and a few additional countries. The result would be a shortcoming of workers with the necessary skills to take on the problems in various aspects of life from biology to government. “The percentage of the economy that you might think of as an information worker is actually much larger today than most people expect, and it's definitely on the increase,” Gather warned.
Additional investments in computers and software, and their integration into education systems might just provide a piece of the solution. “Projects like getting those computers out into libraries in your country, those are the kind of thing Microsoft is very interested in working together on, because that kind of accessibility can make a huge difference. Computing is like the new literacy,” Gates stressed. “So, any effort you made for books and literacy, there's a parallel here. Sometimes the Internet connectivity is hard, but it's well worth the effort.”