Bill Gates Visits Carnegie Mellon Qatar

Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently visited Carnegie Mellon Qatar to discuss innovations in global health research and development projects to help the world's poorest people. Speaking at the 3rd International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Development (ICTD 2009), Gates emphasized the need for world governments, individuals, the private sector, and philanthropists to come together and work toward a common goal.

"The great challenge is to figure out how a software can work in a rural setting," he said. Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, recently turned his focus from private enterprise to philanthropy. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation works to eradicate diseases that are preventable and treatable, which present a substantial risk to people in developing countries who cannot afford or do not have access to proper medical care. Often the most defenseless persons, mainly children, are at the greatest risk.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar also welcomed Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, wife the Emir of Qatar, and other Gulf leaders.