"After decades of attempting to improve failing health and education systems in developing countries, the situation in many areas is still dire. In some sub-Saharan African countries, children achieve as little as 2.3 to 5 years of learning, despite typically spending 8 years in school. More than five million children still die before their fifth birthday. The old approach isn’t working, which is why it’s tempting to think that technology is the quick fix.

So is tech really the answer? There are many reasons to be optimistic, but only if the potential for poor choices and failure is kept in mind every step of the way. Technology really could be a potential catalyst for massive positive disruption, but - perhaps paradoxically - this will only happen if it is implemented with care and caution."

For the launch of the Commission's latest major report, Positive disruption: heath and education in a digital age, Pathways' academic director Stefan Dercon has written an op-ed for the World Economic Forum. You can read the the full article here.