Could technology fix everything that’s wrong in India? Microsoft founder Bill Gates seems to think it can – at least many of the country’s education and health care challenges.
Gates told a group in New Delhi Friday that computers and cell phones are keys to giving people more access to public services in rural areas. As the technology becomes less expensive, Gates says, he expects doctors will be able to examine patients from remote locations and teachers will be able to give video presentations to people from hundreds of miles away – even in a country with so much poverty.
Gates said Microsoft is interested in taking part in a new project with India’s government, which is attempting to create an ID database in that nation. Assigning a number to each citizen would help keep track of what children needed immunizations for example, and make it easier for Indians to set up bank accounts, which most don’t have.
