The Bridge - Issue 3, 2023 - 9

Leading the Global Frontiers of IEEE Humanitarian Engineering and Technologies Programs
Feature
I. Introduction
Universal challenges and SDGs: According to recent
United Nations studies, nearly 50% of the world's
population still faces various universal challenges like
poverty, hunger, disease, and environmental degradation,
which are further exacerbated by ongoing climate change
challenges. These challenges are significant in nature.
For example, about 800 million people globally have no
electricity, about 2.6 billion people lack access to clean
cooking fuels, about two billion people worldwide don't
have access to safe drinking water today, roughly 50% of
the world's population is experiencing severe water scarcity
for at least part of the year, and nearly three billion people
are yet to have access to the Internet, creating a huge
digital divide.
Importance of SDGs: To address these pressing universal
challenges, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
created the Sustainable Development Goals [1], which were
adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. The
SDGs provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity
for people and the planet, now and into the future. It
provides a coherent direction and an actionable framework,
bringing together all UN member states to address universal
challenges collectively through global partnership.
The UN SDGs represent a collection of 17 global goals with
168 targets that aim to address pressing global challenges.
The COVID pandemic in 2020 has had a tremendous
impact on progress towards achieving the SDG targets by
2030. According to the 2023 Sustainable Development
Report [2], only 18% of the SDGs are on track to be
achieved by 2030. This is particularly true for goals related
to basic health outcomes and access to basic infrastructure
and services. Also, climate change is another major threat to
the achievement of all of the SDGs, and SDG 13 (climate
action) is essential for addressing this threat. By taking
action to address climate change, countries can help protect
people and the planet, and they can also help promote
sustainable development. Thus, there is an increasing sense
of urgency to deliver both engineering solutions and policy
that will accelerate progress towards achieving the
SDG targets.
.Why do SDGs and Humanitarian Challenges
Matter to Engineers?
Addressing the SDGs provides a novel opportunity for
engineers, both from an innovation and economic standpoint.
The field of sustainable development and humanitarian
engineering is a multi-dimensional domain. It provides a
great opportunity to bring together engineers, policymakers,
governmental organizations, non-profit players, global
organizations like the UN, and local communities to leverage
technology for the greater good of humanity.
The SDGs and engineering solutions are strongly
interconnected. At the core of the innovation cycle, the
needs of humanity at large drive the advancement in
science and engineering domains. Engineers develop
solutions to meet community needs through research and
product development. The utilization of those solutions
by communities again leads to emerging needs, which
drives the cycle of innovation. Thus, solving universal
challenges provides an excellent opportunity for engineers
and IEEE members to deliver solutions that will have a
broader impact on a global scale. Tackling the universal
challenges at the grassroots requires strong capacity
building and global partnership. For example, the Brahmam
Innovation Model published in [9] offers an ecosystem
and a systematic framework to engage a network of locally
trained engineers to partner with local communities,
policymakers, and local partners to collectively deliver
solutions at the grassroots to achieve the SDGs. Hence,
fostering collaboration and strong coordination among
the stakeholders, such as engineers, policymakers, local
partners, and the community, becomes a key factor in
delivering a high-impact humanitarian engineering program.
Technology as a whole, and in particular emerging
technologies, have the potential to play a major role in
addressing sustainable development, and SDG-related
challenges, including climate change. For instance,
technology can be used to improve agricultural yields,
reduce poverty, provide clean water and sanitation, deliver
healthcare, and mitigate the effects of climate change.
II. IEEE Humanitarian Technologies Board
(HTB)
IEEE is a global professional organization for the
advancement of technology. IEEE, with its tagline
" Advancing Technology for Humanity, " has a long history of
working to use technology to solve problems and improve
people's lives. In recent years, IEEE has become increasingly
involved in humanitarian technologies and sustainable
development.
In November 2022, the IEEE Board of Directors
approved elevating the IEEE Humanitarian Activities
Committee (HAC) to the newly formed IEEE Humanitarian
Technologies Board (HTB).
UN SDGs
HKN.ORG
9
https://hkn.ieee.org/
The Bridge - Issue 3, 2023

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