HUMAN AND SOCIETAL NEEDS

Basic human needs have hardly changed over the centuries. Societal needs are similar throughout the world, and satisfaction of these needs requires systems solutions.

Human and Societal Needs Drive System Solutions 

The United Nations sustainability goals serve as a proxy for human needs.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a call for action by all countries - poor, rich and middle-income - to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental quality. 

 

Engineering of systems will play a central role in addressing the SDGs. The US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) identified Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century. These separately generated, visionary challenges complement the SDGs by focusing on engineering opportunities that are globally relevant and address fundamental societal needs. Large, complex, engineered socio-technical systems are often key to achieving the NAE Grand Challenges, thereby satisfying the physical, psychological, economic, cultural, human, and societal needs. Realization of the NAE Vision will require significant contributions from all engineering disciplines.

THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING GRAND CHALLENGES

Secure Cyber-Space

  • Provide Access to Clean Water

  • Prevent Nuclear Terror

  • Provide Energy from Fusion

  • Manage the Nitrogen Cycle

  • Develop Carbon Sequestration

  • Engineer the Tools of Scientific Discovery

  • Advance Personalized Learning

  • Make Solar Energy Economical

  • Enhance Virtual Reality

  • Reverse-Engineer the Brain

  • Engineer Better Medicines

  • Advance Health Informatics

  • Restore and Improve Urban Infrastructure

Any human-engineered system must be deployed into the prevailing social, physical, cultural, and economic environments; and the technologies applied to systems solutions must be tailored to relevant local or regional capabilities and resources. The world context strongly influences these systems solutions, so it is useful to look at important global trends forming that context.