The Blue Marble Energy team has been in New York City for the past week, attending the World Technology Network Summit and Awards gala. We were nominated for a WTN award in the category of Energy, and had the honor of attending alongside innovators such as Honda, the Phoenix Mars Mission, Facebook, and YouTube. Among the attendees was Rwandan President Paul Kagame. During a keynote speech, His Excellency discussed the growing global resource competition, both internationally and as it applies to the continent of Africa.

Elected President of the Republic of Rwanda in April 2000, Mr. Kagame has won numerous awards for his promotion of peace, reconciliation and sustainability for all of Rwanda. Speaking at the WTN, Mr. Kagame’s discussion focused particularly on information and communication technologies as a vast resource.

There is no denying that we live in a particularly volatile time. Technology has obliterated the boundaries between both nations and individuals. Mr. Kagame used the recent political struggle in Iran as an example of how technology has lifted the “shroud of silence” behind which political and civil strife has previously hidden. As a global society, “we have come into a time of transparency,” said Mr. Kagame. Nations now have access to real time information as technologies increasingly mold our identity as a global society.

However, as Mr. Kagame points out, the disparate access to information technologies has created two distinct global realities. The competition for raw materials, market access, and skilled labor is now staged through information and communication technologies. The rate of technological change is incredible, and many are left behind. For those who lack access to education and technology resources, this global struggle will go poorly and “inability to compete can affect [ones] dignity.” While the growth of technology has allowed a portion of the global society to distinguish themselves, the cost has been “the exclusion of billions”. Mr. Kagame highlights the importance of technological innovations in healthcare, manufacturing, and particularly in education: “Investment in our children is the only investment with infinite returns”.

We are indeed entrenched in a fierce competition for global resources, and it will only worsen as fixed supplies dwindle. It has never been more urgent to develop replacements for unsustainable resources, not only to alleviate environmental degradation but social degradation as well. We must undergo a fundamental shift in thought and action as we seek new material resources. As Mrs. Pratibha Gai, Professor of Electron Microscopy and Nanotechnology at the University of York, succinctly stated: “Materials drive the industrial market.” Thus far, petroleum resources have been that driving force. With alternatives such as Blue Marble Energy’s biomaterials, we have the opportunity to supplant this unsustainable trend. Innovations in energy, finance, design, medicine and policy will be essential if we are to move forward as a global society. As individuals and as a company, the Blue Marble Energy team remains deeply honored to have participated in this event, and thanks the WTN for the opportunity to share thoughts and develop relationships with the world’s leading innovators. “We can feel the tug of the currents of history right now,” said WTN founder James Clark. “People are counting on us to figure it out.”