The market worth more than the GDP of 88% of the countries in the world

I recently wrote a post trying to put some perspective on technology, taking it out of the limelight for the sake of itself and into practical uses coupled with the other tools we use to make our world a better place.

When a friend sent me the Google Ideas link, it was almost an exact response to my post from the universe.

Google Ideas is “a think/do tank that convenes unorthodox stakeholders, commissions research, and seeds initiatives to explore the role that technology can play in tackling some of the toughest human challenges.”  The current focus is on counter-radicalization, illicit networks, and fragile states.  Google explains,

Violent illicit networks represent a trillion-dollar problem that affects every society in the world and claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year. For example, more than 50,000 people have died in the past five years as a result of the ongoing war in Mexico between rival drug cartels. And although data on this subject is scarce and often unreliable, in 2003 the UN estimated the value of the illicit drug market to be nearly $320 billion, greater than the gross domestic product of 88 percent of countries in the world—and that was almost 10 years ago. It’s clear that illicit networks—particularly those that are violent and coercive like drug smugglers, arms dealers and human traffickers—have a devastating human and financial impact on every nation.

This project is a huge step in the right direction of how we should be working, and it excites me beyond belief.  Now, to figure out how to get in on it.

Originally posted on Texture Transcribed.