Bill Gates speaks at TED 2009 about Education & Malaria

TED curator Chris Anderson humorously suggested title “Bill Gates releases more bugs into the world at TED” which got a laugh from the audience as Bill released some malaria-free mosquitoes into the theater. The presentation instead was an incredible introduction into the work that the Gates Foundation is doing in two of its areas of focus.

As the first TED 2009 presentation to go online I wanted to share it with the Akoha audience.

Bill Gates did an incredible job talking about two of the many issues the Gates Foundation has focused on. Malaria and Education reform. As the largest philanthropist on the planet, Bill leads his foundation in a metric & results based approach to some of the worlds largest problems.

You can hear him talk about these issues in the following TED video.

Very few of us will ever have the resources to undertake the massive social issues that the Gates Foundation is tackling. What struck me during the presentation though, was the thought that it is very possible that Gates may be one of the last great large philanthropists.

The type of organizational structures that are required to tackle the challenges of this century will most likely be lot’s of small organizations using new technologies to collaborate, engage and inform. There will be a role for major organizations like the Gates Foundation - but the future of change may very well be each of us.

Already the world of philanthropy is following what David Weinberger calls “Small Pieces Loosely Joined Together” model that refers to the organizational systems that have given us Wikipedia, Open Source Software, the blogosphere and the Internet itself. As David mentions in one of his chapters about the Web - Hope.

Hope - The Web’s hyperlinked architecture is connective and based on shared caring. It thus reflects the basic structure of morality. Hope is in order.

The optimism that Gates has in our ability as a society to face these challenges should not be a luxury afforded to the wealthy or priviledged. We have within each of us the ability, the tools & technologies to make a difference.

We hope Akoha will play a role in parts of this sea change of hope, but equally important is that we each feel empowered to make a difference.

There are more TED 2009 talks that will be coming online over the next few months. We’ll be posting some of our favorites including the small presentation I was able to share with the TED audience about the inspiration & history of the Akoha project.