BRIGHT SIMONS
Bright is the President of mPedigree, a social enterprise working on three continents in partnership with governments, Fortune 500 companies and grassroots organisations to promote innovative technologies, from sensors to software, in health & food security, transparency and governance. His latest work on the application of "smart polymers" to health cold chain problems has been supported by the Harvard Innovation Labs, among others. Bright straddles entrepreneurship and scholarship, writing prolifically for the likes of Harvard Business Review, Quartz magazine, the BBC's Business Daily show, and the Huffington Post. An enthusiastic board-level advisor, recent commitments include the Microsoft Africa Advisory Council, the Lancet Commission on the Future of Health in Africa, the Center for Global Development's Study Group on Technology, the World Economic Forum's Africa Strategy Group, IMANI Center for Policy & Education, the Africa Population Health Research Center, Care International, IC Publications, owner of the New African magazine, and the inaugural Ashoka Globalizer initiative. Other assignments have been at the instance of the World Bank, UNECA, USAID, the EU, and the Commonwealth. Other relevant affiliations include: membership in successive World Economic Forum Global Agenda and Future Councils; the TED Fellowship; the Tutu Fellowship; and Socrates, Braddock, and AGLN-ALIWA scholarships and fellowships at the Aspen Institute. Bright’s recognition include: African Innovation Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement award, MIT's Tech Review Shortlist for 35 most impressive global technology visionaries, Quartz’s top 30 innovators and CNBC All-Africa Business Leader of the Year in the innovation category. In 2016, Fortune magazine named him on their 50 World Greatest Leaders list.