Bill Gates encourages IIT Delhi students to leverage technology for social good

NEW DELHI: Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke and interacted with students at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) on Thursday on 'Innovation for Public Good'. Over 1,000 people attended live in the Dogra Hall auditorium, and the event was also streamed live on YouTube for students from all IIT campuses.

Gates gave a keynote address, which was followed by a question-and-answer session moderated by IIT Delhi alumna Gazal Kalra, Co-founder of Rivigo in India and founder and CEO of Clean Energy Ministerial.

During his speech, Gates emphasised the importance of new technology in solving persisting health and development concerns, as well as the need for scalable, cost-effective solutions to assure their equitable delivery. He emphasised India's achievements in vaccine production, artificial intelligence for education, and digital public infrastructure, as well as its contributions to global public good. He emphasised the need of collaboration among educational institutions, the government, and the commercial sector in developing ideas with broad social impact.

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“I hope that as you plot out your future after IIT, you use the skills you sharpened here to improve lives in India and around the world,” said Bill Gates. “There’s a mind-boggling number of ways you can make a difference. I’m excited to see the great things you do for India and the world,” he added.

Bill Gates’s keynote shared his views on the future of technology, building new-age businesses, technology, and his approach to philanthropic impact. There were over 2,000 questions for Gates that were pre-submitted by the students, who sought his advice on a number of topics, including becoming an entrepreneur and setting up an organization like Microsoft.