open
Brazil, South America
Research environments may unintentionally create or amplify resistance traits that escape through waste, personnel, or supply chains. Robust solutions must combine laboratory engineering, surveillance, waste treatment, and international reporting. The solution must work with limited capital, intermittent services, and local maintenance capacity. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
economics-resources
south-america
brazil
supply-chain
resistance
controlling
antimicrobial
synthetic
biology
laboratories
low-income
communities
research
create
technology-computing
climate-environment
society-governance
systems
Public services will increasingly depend on rapidly updated models and decision pipelines. The unresolved problem is keeping these systems lawful, understandable, and corrigible as they evolve faster than formal regulations. This becomes particularly difficult in informal settlements, because public institutions must remain fair, resilient, and accountable while adapting to new risks.
society-governance
africa
nigeria
public
services
informal
settlements
designing
adaptable
governance
emerging
will
increasingly
systems
institutions
technology-computing
Industrial agriculture, pollution, and habitat loss may eliminate microorganisms with future medical and ecological value before they are studied. The challenge is creating ethical, distributed microbial conservation infrastructure. The solution must work with limited capital, intermittent services, and local maintenance capacity. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
health-biology
microbial
future
preserving
diversity
medicine
low-income
communities
industrial
agriculture
pollution
technology-computing
economics-resources
climate-environment
society-governance
systems
infrastructure
quantum
Some future climate interventions may have planetary effects while remaining scientifically and politically contested. The challenge is designing governance for experimentation, consent, liability, and termination before deployment escalates. The challenge is especially acute in informal settlements, where legacy systems, coordination failures, and weak oversight can magnify harm.
climate-environment
climate
informal
settlements
regulating
engineering
under
deep
uncertainty
some
future
society-governance
systems
technology-computing
public
across
governance
AI-designed biological molecules may be created faster than their safety, ecological, and clinical properties can be characterized. The open problem is building evaluation pipelines proportionate to capability and deployment risk. The approach must scale before formal institutions, infrastructure, and land-use systems fully catch up with population growth. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
mathematics-logic
asia
india
ai-designed
standards
proteins
rapidly
urbanizing
regions
deployment
approach
biological
technology-computing
society-governance
economics-resources
climate-environment
systems
infrastructure
AI-designed biological molecules may be created faster than their safety, ecological, and clinical properties can be characterized. The open problem is building evaluation pipelines proportionate to capability and deployment risk. Affected communities must have meaningful control over data, revenue, deployment decisions, and the right to refuse harmful applications. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
mathematics-logic
ai-designed
deployment
standards
proteins
community
ownership
biological
molecules
may
technology-computing
economics-resources
climate-environment
society-governance
systems
infrastructure
quantum
science-space
open
South Africa, Africa
AI-designed biological molecules may be created faster than their safety, ecological, and clinical properties can be characterized. The open problem is building evaluation pipelines proportionate to capability and deployment risk. The design must remain functional when standards, trade routes, data access, and diplomatic cooperation are unreliable. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
mathematics-logic
africa
south-africa
standards
ai-designed
proteins
under
geopolitical
fragmentation
deployment
biological
molecules
technology-computing
economics-resources
climate-environment
society-governance
systems
infrastructure
Biometric identity can reduce fraud while also excluding people whose fingerprints, faces, or documents do not match. The open problem is creating identity governance that is secure without making access to basic entitlements brittle. The challenge is especially acute in informal settlements, where legacy systems, coordination failures, and weak oversight can magnify harm.
society-governance
africa
nigeria
biometric
systems
informal
settlements
controlling
misuse
verification
welfare
identity
reduce
technology-computing
public
across
climate-environment
without
Large-scale fermentation may compete with food, land, and water if it depends on agricultural inputs. Future systems need safe, affordable, low-carbon feedstocks that do not shift environmental burdens to poorer regions. The solution must produce useful coordination and accountability while minimizing collection of sensitive personal and behavioral data. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
climate-environment
asia
india
feedstocks
biomanufacturing
non-food
mass
surveillance
large-scale
fermentation
may
compete
food
technology-computing
economics-resources
society-governance
systems
without
Large-scale fermentation may compete with food, land, and water if it depends on agricultural inputs. Future systems need safe, affordable, low-carbon feedstocks that do not shift environmental burdens to poorer regions. The design must remain functional when standards, trade routes, data access, and diplomatic cooperation are unreliable. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
climate-environment
asia
india
feedstocks
biomanufacturing
non-food
under
geopolitical
fragmentation
large-scale
fermentation
may
compete
technology-computing
economics-resources
society-governance
systems
infrastructure
Heatwaves may force governments to decide who gets priority access to cooling centers, electricity, transport, and medical care. The challenge is building allocation rules that are both ethical and operationally enforceable. The challenge is especially acute across fragmented municipalities, where legacy systems, coordination failures, and weak oversight can magnify harm.
climate-environment
africa
kenya
allocation
cooling
fragmented
municipalities
fair
scarce
climate
emergencies
heatwaves
may
society-governance
systems
across
technology-computing
public
Large-scale fermentation may compete with food, land, and water if it depends on agricultural inputs. Future systems need safe, affordable, low-carbon feedstocks that do not shift environmental burdens to poorer regions. The solution must work with limited capital, intermittent services, and local maintenance capacity. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
climate-environment
feedstocks
biomanufacturing
non-food
low-income
communities
large-scale
fermentation
may
compete
food
technology-computing
economics-resources
society-governance
systems
infrastructure
quantum
safe
open
Brazil, South America
Genomic medicine could improve treatment while enabling insurers, employers, states, or platforms to infer sensitive traits. The challenge is ensuring people benefit from precision medicine without losing control over biological information. The solution must work with limited capital, intermittent services, and local maintenance capacity. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
technology-computing
south-america
brazil
medicine
personalized
genetic
discrimination
low-income
communities
genomic
improve
treatment
while
economics-resources
climate-environment
society-governance
systems
quantum
open
Mexico, North America
Historical records increasingly exist in fragile digital formats that may outlive current software, vendors, and hardware. The unresolved problem is preserving public memory across decades of technological change. The challenge is especially acute in informal settlements, where legacy systems, coordination failures, and weak oversight can magnify harm.
technology-computing
north-america
mexico
public
digital
informal
settlements
protection
archives
against
extinction
historical
records
society-governance
systems
across
institutions
climate-environment
open
Brazil, South America
AI agents may perform tasks once done by contractors, analysts, translators, and assistants. The challenge is creating rules for liability, taxation, attribution, and market fairness when human labor and machine labor overlap. The challenge is especially acute across multiple jurisdictions, where legacy systems, coordination failures, and weak oversight can magnify harm.
society-governance
south-america
brazil
labor
multiple
jurisdictions
governance
synthetic
markets
agents
may
perform
tasks
across
systems
technology-computing
climate-environment
public
Engineered microbes, insects, crops, and gene drives may offer major ecological benefits but could spread beyond intended boundaries. The unresolved problem is developing reversible, monitorable, and internationally governed release frameworks. The solution must work with limited capital, intermittent services, and local maintenance capacity. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
mathematics-logic
release
engineered
safe
environmental
organisms
low-income
communities
microbes
insects
crops
technology-computing
economics-resources
climate-environment
society-governance
systems
quantum
infrastructure
AI agents may perform tasks once done by contractors, analysts, translators, and assistants. The challenge is creating rules for liability, taxation, attribution, and market fairness when human labor and machine labor overlap. The challenge is especially acute in informal settlements, where legacy systems, coordination failures, and weak oversight can magnify harm.
society-governance
europe
germany
labor
informal
settlements
governance
synthetic
markets
agents
may
perform
tasks
systems
technology-computing
climate-environment
public
across
open
Brazil, South America
Future outbreaks may involve pathogens for which no profitable commercial market exists. A useful solution requires distributed manufacturing, adaptable platforms, pre-negotiated procurement, and equitable access before an outbreak occurs. The solution must work with limited capital, intermittent services, and local maintenance capacity. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
economics-resources
south-america
brazil
manufacturing
pathogens
market
rapid
vaccine
existing
low-income
communities
solution
future
technology-computing
climate-environment
society-governance
systems
quantum
Predictive policing can reinforce historical bias even when built from apparently neutral data. The open problem is designing standards that make public safety tools testable, reviewable, and defeasible when they cause harm. The challenge is especially acute in informal settlements, where legacy systems, coordination failures, and weak oversight can magnify harm.
society-governance
asia
bangladesh
predictive
policing
informal
settlements
independent
audits
government
harm
reinforce
historical
systems
public
technology-computing
across
climate-environment
Biological design tools are becoming more accessible while oversight remains fragmented across countries and institutions. The challenge is detecting dangerous activity without suppressing legitimate research or creating an intrusive global surveillance system. The solution must produce useful coordination and accountability while minimizing collection of sensitive personal and behavioral data. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
mathematics-logic
asia
india
surveillance
monitoring
synthetic
biology
risk
mass
while
research
biological
technology-computing
society-governance
climate-environment
economics-resources
systems
without
