Startup companies
fromHarvard Business Review
10 hours agoThe Challenges of Scaling a Technology for Social Good
Access to safe sanitation is critical for over three billion people, impacting public health, gender equity, and economic development.
Most people leave doctor visits with prescriptions, but still feel unsure—instructions make sense, but no one asks about their life. In contrast, when a provider knows your name, remembers your story, and explains care in a way that fits you, the experience feels different—and that difference matters.
To heat the home, I wanted hydronic floor heating. This is a system that uses warm water in PEX to heat the home. However, hydronic systems are uncommon which makes it difficult to find an installer. I managed to get one quote and it was about $120,000. No thanks! I decided to take on the project myself. It took an immense amount of planning and a lot of labor, but I got it done for about $18,000.
The study frames each of the models as 'emerging strategies' that can either complement or serve as alternatives to well-known sustainability certification schemes such as Organic, Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance.
Multinational firms are under rising pressure-from investors, regulators, and employees-to demonstrate positive societal impact in the places where they do business. With ESG-focused institutional investments projected to reach nearly $34 trillion this year and roughly 90% of large U.S. companies now disclosing ESG reports, these pressures are now a central part of corporate strategy.
The Rastriya Swatantra Party of Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old former civil engineer and hip-hop artist known simply as Balen, secured 182 seats in the 275-member lower house of parliament, the Election Commission said on Thursday, with 125 won directly and a further 57 through proportional representation.
Why do I get to be the runner, and these guys get to be the homeless guys on the corner? Why can't we all be runners? She didn't have an answer. It would've been easy to let that question dissolve with her footsteps. Most people would have. But Mahlum saw something in those men that others had missed.
SNP introduces NYC public high school students to modern brain research. About 20 participants attend interactive lectures, read and present a scientific paper, dissect a brain, design their own neuroscience experiment and visit research labs. The two-week course is led by Rockefeller graduate students. The hope is to develop young people's passion for science, especially for students with otherwise limited opportunities.
I've always thought it would be good to acquire an old warehouse in every town throughout the land and convert it into low-rent community workspaces for artists, local charities and small businesses getting off the ground. A kind of people's WeWork. What would others do with a humungous, but not unlimited, pile of dosh to benefit society? Roland Freeman, West Yorkshire Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com.
Free open source software is fundamentally broken. In 2023, Denis Pushkarev, maintainer of the widely used core-js library, vented his frustration with the fact that users of his software seldom offer financial support, highlighting the disconnect between widespread dependency on open source and inadequate financial compensation for developers maintaining critical infrastructure.
The order names a problem that anyone who has spent time in civic life recognizes. Too often, "community" is defined by the few who repeatedly show up or happen to be in the room. That is not because they care more, but because they have the time, flexibility, and familiarity with civic processes that many New Yorkers do not. When those voices are treated as synonymous with an entire district, our understanding of the public and consensus becomes distorted.
Asia's healthcare challenges include aging populations, rising disease, and strained infrastructure, but the crisis is better understood at the kitchen table, where families decide what conditions to treat, and what to ignore, according to their savings. While the APAC region makes up 60% of the world's population, the region accounts for a mere 22% of global healthcare spending. According to the World Health Organization, most developing Asian countries spend just 2-3% of GDP on health, and in many cases public
The change in the administration's tactics in Minneapolis is not a retreat. Instead, they are regrouping and planning another mode of attack, with the hopes that their repression might be met with resistance that is easier to control and contain. People who garner their relevancy and power through the dehumanization and oppression of others will do whatever it takes to cling to their soulless sense of self.
"I joined brands that proudly call themselves design driven, expecting to lead innovation. Instead, I found myself in meetings where the brief was literally make it look like this western brand, but make it cheaper. That's not design leadership, that's glorified localization. The real question isn't whether Indian brands invest in design. It's whether they invest in their own design vision or just outsource the thinking and ask internal teams to clean up the execution."
As if demolishing the East Wing, gutting arts agencies, and slapping his name and face on several federal buildings weren't enough, the US president now wants to do away with a DC building known as the "Sistine Chapel of New Deal art." This week, we reported on a burgeoning campaign to save the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, which houses murals by Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, Seymour Fogel, and other major American artists. We will continue to follow this story.
India became the world's largest market for generative AI app downloads in 2025, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, widening its lead over the U.S. as installs jumped 207% year-over-year. Companies including OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity rolled out extended free premium offers to accelerate user growth in the price sensitive market.
Blackstone announced on Monday it was leading a $600 million equity investment in Indian AI cloud startup Neysa, while chip giant AMD announced an expanded partnership with Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services to deploy up to 200 megawatts of AI infrastructure capacity in India.Blackstone's multi-million-dollar commitment to Neysa will help deploy more than 20,000 GPUs for AI training in India, while AMD's partnership with TCS aims to support India's sovereign AI initiatives and accelerate enterprise deployments.
BBC Jodie was surrounded by smiling faces at her 21st birthday party, but most were people she had not known for more than a month. The party had been organised for her by the London International Christian Church - a Bible-based non-denominational church, according to their website - into which she had recently been baptised. She was told by her "discipler", or church mentor, she says, that she could not invite any friends from outside the church - only a handful of family members.
There's a myth in our society that real change requires force, strength, and domination. We celebrate athletes, CEOs, and politicians who crush their opponents. But history tells a different story. Lasting social change has often been triggered by humble people whose weapons were passion, principle, and an unwavering commitment to justice and the truth - not the truth we see on TV or read in print media, but rather the truth that we feel deep inside ourselves.
In places where inclusion is part of the infrastructure of their economy-supply chains, procurement processes, capital access, or business ownership-people thrive. Inclusive economies create more resilience by expanding the base of potential business owners who can build, own, innovate, and hire. They allow more opportunities for homeownership and investing in the longevity of communities. As our economy becomes increasingly stratified and volatile, we need as much resiliency as we can get.