Here are some tech philanthropists and their plans to make the world a better place by spending billions

From healthcare, to research, to education, to environment, those who made billions from technology companies have the will and the resources to make the world a better place. Here are the plans and activities of philanthropists who made fortunes from technology companies. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation:  This is the largest private foundation in the world. Bill Gates is one of the co-founders of Microsoft, and has pledged to donate most of his wealth to charity. [caption id=“attachment_336638” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Bill and Melinda Gates. Image: Reuters[/caption] Gates has donated over $28 billion to the foundation so far. The major concern of the foundation is to reduce poverty and provide healthcare in the most impoverished regions of the world. They are working towards healthcare for very young children, to ensure better survival rates, and allow them to thrive. Healthcare for mothers is also an area of investment. They provide education for farmers and accelerate the adoption of new technologies by farmers. A focus on women and girl children is a way for the Gates Foundation to help make better families, communities and countries. Tackling and eradicating life threatening diseases is another major area of focus for the foundation. A major goal is eradicating malaria from the world. Removing the parasite entirely from the human ecosystem is the approach, not just stopping the spread of the disease. New drug regimens are being developed towards this end. A single dose treatment is being worked upon. For tackling HIV, the foundation plans to decrease the rate of infection, and improve the treatment options available. There are ongoing efforts to develop an HIV vaccine. Improving vaccines and preventive measures, as well as eradicating polio are associated goals of the Gates Foundation. Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: Unlike the Gates Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is a for profit organisation, not a charitable trust or a foundation. [caption id=“attachment_336646” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg. Image: Reuters[/caption] Being a private limited company gives the organisation more powers to lobby and make political donations to forward its goals. Being a part of the policy making process, and advocacy groups, are methods through which the initiative plans to make an impact. While scientific institutions around the world develop new technologies to tackle diseases, the institutes themselves are not willing to engage in lobbying or advocacy. This is where the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative hopes to make a difference, with goals that are aligned with the institutions. The main goal for Chan Zuckerberg Science is to help medical professionals cure or manage all diseases with one generation. The idea is to accelerate scientific progress by creating better platforms for collaboration between researchers in the field. Chan Zuckerberg Science is primarily concerned with bringing engineers and doctors together to develop the next generation of medical tools and networks. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is interested in long term investments, spanning 25, 50 and 100 years. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has pledged to donate over $3 billion over the next 10 years to medical science. Michael and Susan Dell Foundation: Michael Dell is the founder of Dell Inc, and made his fortune with the sale of Dell Shares. The foundation has contributed $1.23 billion and counting towards education and health. [caption id=“attachment_336658” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Michael & Susan Dell. Image Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.[/caption] Their primary focus area is to improve the quality of education available to children. This includes providing college education for disadvantaged candidates who do not have the opportunities for a higher education. The health and well being of children is another goal of the Dell Foundation. Ensuring financial stability of impoverished families is an associated goal, which allows for both the healthcare and education of the children. The foundation is active in the United States, South Africa and India. The Dell Foundation has been active in India since 2006. In August this year, Indian education startup ConveGenius raised Rs 6 Crore from the foundation. The foundation works with the Indian Government in improving the quality of education available to students. Beyond the education of children, Dell is also working with the Indian Government to improve job training, and entrepreneurship skills. The Dell Foundation is partnering with NGOs, businesses and community organisations in India, apart from the Government. Pierre and Pam Omidyar: eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam established the Omidyar Group in 2004. The Omidyar Network is a private limited company, and has donated over $992 million to charity. [caption id=“attachment_336669” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Pam and Pierre Omidyar. Image: Omidyar Group.[/caption] The Omidyar Network is just one of the organisations under the umbrella of the Omidyar Group. The Omidyar Network is an organisation that gives people the opportunities to make positive changes for others. The Democracy Fund  was established to ensure a fair election and a productive Congress and is active in the US. The aim of the organisation is to make sure that the political system delivers on the promises made to people. The Ulupono Initiative  works exclusively in Hawaii, for improvement in quality of life for the residents. Sustainable energy and waste reduction are focus areas. The Hope Lab designs technologies to help children and adults better combat diseases. This includes a game called Re-Mission 2 that helps children understand cancer, and how it works within their bodies. Kids gain a sense of control over the disease by fighting cancer on the cellular level with nano bots. Humanity United tackles some of the most difficult global problems. These include human trafficking, mass atrocities and violent conflicts. Gordan and Betty Moore Foundation: Gordon Moore made his fortune as the co-founder of Intel. He also authored Moore’s Law. Gordon and Betty Moore established the private foundation in 2000. [caption id=“attachment_336685” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Gordon and Betty Moore. Image: Susanna Frohman, Mercury News/ Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.[/caption] The Moore Foundation works primarily in the United States, in the areas of science, environment and medicine. The main philosophy of the foundation is to use a scientific approach to tackle intractable problems. The familiarity of the founders with San Francisco and prior activities there has made the foundation focus mainly on the Bay Area, although there are some ongoing conservation efforts in South America. The foundation hopes to strike a balance between environmentalism and development. The foundation accelerates scientific progress by choosing and picking areas of scientific applications and knowledge to invest in. There is a limited investment in improving healthcare, because of the scale of the problem. The Gordon and Betty Moore foundation has contributed to the building of the Thirty Meter Telescope in Hawaii, which can detect objects much fainter than what is possible through current telescopes, and this in turn will increase the scientific understanding of the universe. The Marine Microbiology Initiative hopes to better understand and study the role marine micro-organisms play in the global ecosystem. The Moores have made a long term commitment of $300 million to the California Institute of Technology, commonly known as Caltech for research projects. Elon Musk: Elon Musk is an accomplished capitalist, using the earnings from previous companies to launch new ventures. His ambitions for humanity are far reaching. These include permanent human settlements on Mars and beyond , fleets of self driving electric cars, and sustainable energy. Elon Musk has a vision for this technofuturistic utopia , and the stepladder of capitalism is the way to achieve it. The procedure is to re-invest earnings from low volume, high cost products into producing high volume, low cost products. Improving Autopilot to make a safer automated personal transportation system is high on the priority list. Analysts say some of his efforts are ahead of time, such as the acquisition of SolarCity by Tesla  to bring the solar panels created by SolarCity and the batteries made by Tesla under one roof. Tesla became the world’s first vertically integrated sustainable energy company with the announcement of the acquisition of SolarCity.

The Gigafactory by SolarCity will be the world’s largest battery factory. The factory itself will be powered by wind and solar energy, making it a net zero energy installation. Considering the abundance of Solar Power available in India, it would make sense for Musk to introduce solar products in India. There has been some interest , with PM Modi visiting a Tesla factory, and we cannot wait for these technologies to arrive here. Elon Musk has pledged to give most of his wealth away, like many of the other tech philanthropists in this list. Larry Page, one of the co-founders of Google, has not been particularly active at philanthropy, but wants to just give away his billions to Elon Musk .