A Case Study: Developing Technology for Good

Remember when being able to speak to someone on a video call was the kind of future technology you’d only see in movies? Today, especially for those of us working remotely, it’s a daily occurrence. Technological advances have fundamentally changed the way we consume media, the way we interact, how we shape our opinions and how we manage our lives. Technology is a powerful enabler of change.

For some companies, the change that technology is capable of goes beyond cool gadgets that help us do new things faster, better or with less effort. It’s the kind of change that affects our global future. Today’s technology can solve some of the world’s most challenging issues — health, hunger, poverty and the urban water crisis. We call this tech for good. One company that is bringing this to life — consumer packaged goods giant, Procter & Gamble.

An Innovative Approach

PG is showing up at CES 2021 with brands from its oral care, home care and fabric care categories that are based on a deep level of consumer understanding and cutting-edge technology that can impact your everyday. But they are also showcasing technologies that are focused on driving change for a better future.

This year P&G is highlighting 50L Home in its virtual exhibit. This innovative concept brings together companies, policymakers and communities to develop and scale innovations for the home that help solve the urban water crisis. They believe that through technologies and innovations they can reduce the amount of water that people use each day from 500L down to 50L without any tradeoff. This tech for good would not only reduce the usage of water in the home but improve the water crisis that is being experienced around the globe.

P&G has also brought Oral-B iO, a smart toothbrush featuring a linear magnetic drive designed to make electronic brushing frictionless. So, how exactly does a toothbrush do good in the world? Consider this: Oral health issues, such as gum disease and tooth decay, affect billions of people around the world. In the U.S., about 25% of people will lose all of their teeth by the age of 65. Schoolchildren in the U.S. lose 34 million hours of school time every year because of oral health issues. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

A growing body of evidence suggests a clear link between oral health and whole-body health, as explained by Steve Bishop, CEO of P&G Health Care, at the CES Research Summit in 2020. This further suggests that improving oral care habits and oral health can improve health and quality of life around the world. Creating a toothbrush that helps you brush better and more completely, that shapes healthy oral care habits and that can create a better dialog between consumers and their oral health care providers, isn’t just about having a whiter smile. It’s building healthy, effective routines out of everyday actions that are bigger than they seem on the surface.

Can a toothbrush change the world for the better? P&G thinks so.

To learn more, visit pglifelab.com or view P&G’s LifeLab exhibit at CES 2021.