NEW DELHI: Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, addressed and interacted with students at the IIT Delhi on the topic of ‘Innovation for Public Good’ on Thursday.
He delivered a keynote address, followed by a question-and-answer session with several students in the audience, moderated by IIT Delhi alumna Gazal Kalra, Co-founder of Rivigo, India, and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Clean Energy Ministerial.
Over 1,000 attendees joined live in the packed Dogra Hall auditorium, and the event was also livestreamed on YouTube for students across IITs.
During his address, Gates highlighted the critical role of emerging technologies in addressing persistent health and development challenges and the need for scalable, cost-effective solutions to ensure they can be delivered equitably. He emphasized India’s work in vaccine manufacturing, AI for education, and digital public infrastructure, and their contributions to driving global public good. He emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts between educational institutions, the government, and the private sector in promoting innovations that can lead to widespread public impact.
“I hope that as you plot out your future after IIT, you use the skills you sharpened here to improve lives in India and around the world,” said Gates.
“There’s a mind-boggling number of ways you can make a difference. I’m excited to see the great things you do for India and the world,” he added.
There were over 2,000 questions for Gates that were pre-submitted by the students, who sought his opinion and advice on diverse topics.