How can communities use technology to build and sustain financial and economic opportunities and resilience for all?
Challenge Overview
The rapid development of technologies like AI offers new capabilities and creates new opportunities, yet significant global disparities persist: 2.6 billion people remain offline, 1.4 billion are unbanked and two billion work in informal economies. These challenges are particularly acute for vulnerable communities and women when digital access and verifiable identification are prerequisites for modern financial services. Financial providers often lack incentives to expand services to underserved markets, while factors such as limited technological literacy, institutional mistrust, and local cultural practices can impede the adoption of digital tools. Addressing economic opportunity gaps requires a coordinated approach to overcome barriers to digital access, financial services, and labor market participation.
Technology and innovation can be powerful levers to close these gaps through targeted solutions; whether by offering targeted financial tools to unbanked populations, enabling communication across language barriers through real-time translation, and creating adaptable interfaces that accommodate diverse user needs and abilities in employment contexts. When designed and deployed responsibly, these innovations can address specific community needs while scaling to create more accessible financial systems, expand qualified workforce participation, and strengthen economic resilience against disruptions from conflict, climate change, and financial instability.
MIT Solve seeks exceptional technology-driven solutions to increase economic prosperity for all with a 2025 focus on solutions that:
- Enable universal access to financial services, including innovative fintech tools for banking, insurance, credit, instant payments, and asset ownership.
- Increase digital participation and security, including reliable connectivity and protected online spaces that safeguard civic participation, privacy, and digital identity.
- Expand workforce development, such as through skill-based training, employment matching, and career mobility programs, or worker safety and benefits, with an emphasis on underinvested populations.
