-
2024: Year at a Glance
Many cities across the world face a shortage of available housing, which drives up the price of housing. This crisis is closely linked to another crisis: homelessness. Unfortunately, there are few, if any, quick fixes for either of these ongoing crises. Stable housing can ease homelessness and is often an important first step in helping individuals tackle other challenges like addiction, mental health issues, and unemployment, but increasing the housing supply is slow and requires significant financial investment.
-
2023: Year at a Glance
In many cases, e-bikes provide people with a fast, reliable transportation option that comes without the worry of timing public transit, the nuisance of parking, or the stress of traffic congestion. Policy makers are observing these changes with interest and wondering if e-bikes are likely to become part of a more sustainable energy plan by getting more cars off the roads.
-
2022: Year at a Glance
Decisions about the use and impacts of working remotely, both on a micro and a macro level, could affect many sectors including government agencies, industry structures, real estate values, the environment, population densities and even career choices.
-
2021: Year at a Glance
While the “digital divide” has been around for decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought it sharply into focus, as many people have seen their work, school, healthcare, grocery shopping, and socializing migrate to a virtual experience—happening within the home, using digital devices. Ensuring that everyone (particularly those in rural and low-income areas) has sufficient access to high-speed internet is a technical, logistical, and economic challenge.
-
2020: Year at a Glance
The problem asked teams to create a model to predict what percentage of semi-trucks will be electric in the next few years and decades, determine the number and locations of charging stations along major U.S. trucking routes that are needed for an all-electric trucking industry, and to prioritize which routes should be developed with electric charging infrastructure first. Photo credit: North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE)
-
2019: Year at a Glance
Substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and narcotics can affect the physical and mental health of users. The consequences of substance abuse, both financial (health care, the criminal justice system, workplace productivity, etc) and non-financial (divorce, domestic abuse, etc), ripple through society and affect more than just the user.
-
2018: Year at a Glance
This problem asked participants to quantify the costs and benefits of repurposing squandered food, and to recommend strategies for communities to adopt.