5. Rising to the challenges
Adoption of the Grand Challenges is more akin to a movement than a project. People in movements are drawn to needs and ideas that they adopt, nurture, and introduce to others. If an idea is sufficiently compelling, others adopt it too, thereby growing the movement. As the Grand Challenges movement grows, everyone will benefit. Engineering has solved problems of a magnitude comparable to those of the Grand Challenges before. It has linked the world’s inhabitants through innovations in transportation and communication unimaginable in previous generations. It has brought improved health and security and created devices and systems that feed more than 7 billion people. And it is constantly evolving to address current and future challenges. Looking to the future, a coherent, coordinated, and effective response to the Grand Challenges will move humanity toward improved and sustained quality of life on this planet. It will also foster an unprecedented level of cooperation among the world’s scientists and engineers. This in turn will spur further integration of economies, technologies, and societies to forge a new type of industry that boasts high-level technological content, strong economic returns, lower resource consumption, and less pollution while maximizing the advantages of current and future engineering talent.
