World Solve

Addressing public transport remaining unreliable is critical for achieving the 2030 Agenda. Current efforts fall short in scale, speed and equity, leaving the most vulnerable behind. Any viable solution must function in low-resource settings with limited specialists, transport, laboratory capacity and broadband. Proposals should specify quantifiable biological, social or environmental outcomes, openly discuss potential risks, and present a realistic pathway for long-term maintenance and local ownership beyond short research pilots.

Automation may reduce routine collaboration and informal learning, especially for remote and platform workers. Future work design must preserve mentorship, belonging, collective problem-solving, and psychological health. 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.

Addressing monsoons becoming unreliable is critical for achieving the 2030 Agenda. Current efforts fall short in scale, speed and equity, leaving the most vulnerable behind. Any viable solution must function in low-resource settings with limited specialists, transport, laboratory capacity and broadband. Proposals should specify quantifiable biological, social or environmental outcomes, openly discuss potential risks, and present a realistic pathway for long-term maintenance and local ownership beyond short research pilots.

Climate change and urban pumping changes may cause groundwater to enter basements, transit systems, utilities, and foundations. Cities need mapping, waterproofing, drainage, and financing strategies that address slow cumulative damage. 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.

Decision-makers lack integrated, high-resolution models of ocean chemistry, biology, currents, and human activity. The open problem is building trustworthy systems that support decisions without creating false confidence from incomplete data. 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.

Growing desalination could produce concentrated brine and chemical waste at scales that threaten coastal ecosystems. The challenge is improving recovery and discharge methods while accounting for cumulative regional impacts. 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.

Warming, acidification, migration, and food-web changes may make historical fishing quotas unreliable. Management systems must adapt quickly while protecting food security and the livelihoods of small-scale fishers. 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.

Timepieces that run backward under measured social tension undermine scheduling and legal timekeeping. The problem is addressing psychological load without destabilising shared temporal reference.

Autonomous carriers that filter items according to the sender’s politics create partisan logistics networks. The challenge is maintaining reliable, non-discriminatory goods movement independent of ideological scoring.

Addressing absent or unreliable internet in rural schools is critical for achieving the 2030 Agenda. Current efforts fall short in scale, speed and equity, leaving the most vulnerable behind. Any viable solution must function in low-resource settings with limited specialists, transport, laboratory capacity and broadband. Proposals should specify quantifiable biological, social or environmental outcomes, openly discuss potential risks, and present a realistic pathway for long-term maintenance and local ownership beyond short research pilots.

If people live substantially longer, societies will need new models for work, learning, housing, dependency, and end-of-life care. Existing systems are not designed for decades of post-retirement life or multiple phases of dependency. 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.

Constant algorithmic renaming of streets undermines maps, emergency response, local knowledge, and historical continuity. The challenge is allowing dynamic naming for cultural or commercial reasons while preserving reliable addressing and navigation for residents and services.

If facial appearance can be altered continuously through filters or implants, both social recognition and security systems lose stable anchors. The problem is maintaining trustworthy identity verification and human connection without requiring permanent biometric locks that themselves create new risks.

Lunar infrastructure and resource extraction could create new strategic inequalities. The challenge is developing rules that enable science and commercial activity while protecting shared interests and preventing territorial competition. 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.

Autonomous spacecraft may make split-second avoidance decisions using imperfect data and proprietary software. The unresolved problem is assigning responsibility, proving fault, and compensating affected parties across jurisdictions. 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

Quantum capabilities could transform optimization, chemistry, intelligence, and cryptanalysis while becoming concentrated in a few states. The challenge is preventing destabilizing secrecy and unequal access without blocking peaceful scientific collaboration. 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.

Frontier AI may become essential infrastructure controlled by a small number of governments or companies. The unresolved task is developing ownership, access, competition, and public-interest models that prevent private or geopolitical concentration from determining global outcomes. 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.