$2M of MIT funding to solve world challenges including digital inclusion

Antiracist Technology and Digital Inclusion are among the categories of MIT Solve 2021, an initiative from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to find solutions to global challenges from tech-based social entrepreneurs around the world.

The scheme brings winners into an ecosystem with $2 million of funding available and claims to have affected the lives of 41 million people worldwide.

For Antiracist Technology, MIT Solve is looking for technological solutions that could be deployed in the U.S. that “create new public safety systems that ensure racial equity and provide alternatives to harmful technologies such as biased facial recognition,” and “actively minimize human and algorithmic biases, particularly in healthcare, education, and workplace settings,” among others.

Differences in biometric performance between demographics, and how to reduce them, are areas of increasing research focus.

The Digital Inclusion category covers digital identity, access to affordable internet especially in low income and remote areas and build digital literacy skills regardless of background.

For digital ID entries, the scope is broad: “Scale safe and private digital identity and financial tools to allow people and small businesses to thrive in the digital economy.”

The other categories are Equitable Classrooms, Health Security and Pandemics, Resilient Ecosystems and the Indigenous Communities Fellowship. The deadline for entries is June 16 with the finals to be held in September 2021.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  financial inclusion  |  funding  |  identity management  |  MIT  |  research and development