A Standard Global Responsibility License

Finding

In 2009, the number of chronically hungry people in the world passed the one billion mark – nearly one sixth of humanity. Despite life-changing advances in technology enjoyed by developed countries, real progress toward food security, clean water, and health among the very poor continues to elude us. At the core of this complex challenge lies our failure to sufficiently leverage global capacity to design, develop, and deploy technologies that will improve the lives of the poor.

YGL Response

The Global Responsibility License (GRL) is designed to make IP available for development uses while preserving protection for commercial uses and managing institutional risk. Unlocking IP across multiple technology sectors will foster innovation and kickstart the design, development and deployment of technologies. Combined with technical and legal support to ensure the license’s terms are tailored to the technologies and organizations involved, the GRL has the potential to bring down barriers faced by current patent commons initiatives and foster new partnerships on a scale previously unachievable.

Leaders

James Moody, Siobhan Walsh, Adam Bly, Boris Nikolic

Popular Ideas

AppBridge.com

Finding In 2009, the number of chronically hungry people in the world passed the one billion mark – nearly one sixth of humanity. Despite life-changing advances in technology enjoyed by developed countries, real progress toward food security, clean water, and health among the very poor continues to elude us. At the core of this complex [...]

New Biz Models: Cradle to Cradle

Global Business Oath

The YGL Global Business Oath aims to transform the value system dominant today among business leaders around the world by (a) explicitly recognizing that the ultimate purpose of management is to serve society by bringing together people and resources to create sustainable and inclusive prosperity that no single individual can create alone, (b) recognizing that the effects (good and bad) of managerial decisions in the welfare of society are amplified by the accumulation of resources under legal corporations, and (c) proposing a code of conduct—a modern day “Hippocratic Oath of Business”—that spells out a commitment to “doing no harm” throughout the practice of management.

Table For Two

On our planet of 6.7 billion, 1 billion suffer from hunger, while another 1 billion suffer from obesity and related life style diseases. The global dichotomy – where people are dying of hunger while others are literally eating themselves to death – is both ironic and alarming. It represents the world today – one that we need to redesign. TABLE FOR TWO addresses these two issues simultaneously.

Rethinking Urban Mobility

“Our cities are becoming more and more crowded. A city needs cars like a fish needs a bicycle primarily because you can’t use all that speed because of the many obstacles. (…) in 20-30 years people will not primarily use cars to get around in the cities”. Dean Kamen