There has been a tremendous history of the invention and deployment of chemical technologies over the past two centuries that has transformed modern life for a segment of the global population.  However, due to factors that include particular resource flows, capital flows, infrastructure requirements, human capital, and more – many of the technologies developed in the past and that are being developed today, are not benefiting or improving the well-being of a large percentage of the world’s population.

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Developing appropriate technologies means understanding the context into which a technology is going to be deployed to ensure that it can bring benefit.  Designing a technology to be viable in the industrialized world or the developing world, a major metropolis or a tribal village, requires systems thinking and thoughtful design. Designing technologies for the appropriate context is a challenge that needs to be met if benefit is to be equitable.