Microsoft’s Mundie: Governments Impede Progress in Health and Education

With technology making transformative strides in business, communications, transportation, space, and beyond, why do two of society’s most important sectors, healthcare and education, continue to lag so far behind? According to Microsoft’s Craig Mundie—who as senior advisor to the CEO has spent years speaking with global leaders on the company’s behalf—government may be the root of the problem. “The reason these two sectors have been resistant to change is because in almost every country [they] are controlled by the government,” Mundie said in an interview at our Techonomy 2013 conference.

With technology making transformative strides in business, communications, transportation, space, and beyond, why do two of society’s most important sectors, healthcare and education, continue to lag so far behind? According to Microsoft’s Craig Mundie—who as senior advisor to the CEO has spent years speaking with global leaders on the company’s behalf—government may be the root of the problem. “The reason these two sectors have been resistant to change is because in almost every country [they] are controlled by the government,” Mundie said in an interview at our Techonomy 2013 conference. “As a result, they don’t have a profit mode that drives them in the way that business is naturally driven.” As we move globally towards lower-cost connectivity, the ground is laid for “transformation,” but overcoming the obstacles posed by government will be challenging.

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