Tech for Good: A Global Movement to Shape Our Future

By Young Sohn, Corporate President and Chief Strategy Officer for Samsung Electronics, and Chairman of the Board for HARMAN.

At Samsung’s Unpacked this month, we introduced an ambitious new partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which will bring the world closer to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And as one element of this partnership, we launched the Samsung Global Goals app for Samsung Galaxy Smartphones, enabling consumers around the world to support the UNDP in reaching the Global Goals by the 2030 deadline.

The world’s leaders established the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development in 2015 and adopted at the UN, with the aim for everyone to work toward a better world by 2030.

This app reflects our commitment to lead with purpose—to create a safer, smarter, more sustainable world. In pursuit of this mission, Samsung is proud to work with innovators around the world to design and scale technologies that benefit the planet, which is why we have also helped to launch the Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC).

Samsung Electronics and the United Nations Development Programme announced a new partnership to provide Galaxy users simple ways, using the Samsung Global Goals App, to support the Global Goals and address the issues that matter most to them.

The XTC is a global start-up competition that will offer innovators and entrepreneurs the chance to accelerate their ideas and showcase them on a global platform. Through this competition, innovators will be able to put their ingenuity to the test, and work alongside the technology industry’s most influential figures to grow their start-ups into enterprises that will change the world for the better.

Samsung partnered with Arm, Cisco, Silicon Valley Bank, the University of California, Zoom, and other industry leaders in launching XTC, which will serve as beacon for innovators harnessing cutting-edge technologies, like data and AI, to benefit humankind.

Already, these technologies are radically transforming every industry—from healthcare to agriculture to transportation—and creating opportunities that we would have considered impossible just years ago. And through XTC, we intend to continue our support for a new generation of problem-solvers harnessing the power of these tools to advance human progress.

During the months to come, we will form new partnerships around the world, and at the VivaTech 2020 gathering in Paris, we will announce the XTC finalists, who will be eligible for up to $10 million in potential funding to turn great ideas into enduring change. After we announce the first round of XTC finalists, Samsung and our partners will work alongside them to provide the resources, support, and guidance they need to scale their innovations.

Ultimately, XTC represents Samsung’s commitment not just to the SDGs, but to open collaboration. We recognize that no single person, company, or country can solve the world’s problems alone.

To change the world for good, we need to join together in a common cause—through meaningful partnership. And at Samsung, we are eager to play our part.

For more information about participating in XTC visit: www.extremetechchallenge.org.