On a visit to the Al Akhawayn University in Morocco, I saw how the application of technology is improving society, but also the limitations of our traditional approach.

Until recently, the Moroccan government kept records of life events – births, marriages, deaths – by hand. A citizen who needed a copy of a birth certificate would go to the local office where he or she was born, stand in a long line, and wait for a clerk to locate and hand copy the document. Such handwritten records are often inconsistent and difficult to read.