Alaskans work to analyze and reduce risks of glacial outburst flooding

In Honduras, tens of thousands of people have hearing disabilities. The National Autonomous University of Honduras has developed software that converts spoken language into an avatar on the computer who signs for the hearing impaired. Teachers in classrooms can teach hearing impaired students with this new software.

Software and apps are helping millions of Americans trying to solve civil problems on their own.

New apps like Tap Tap See and Be My Eyes are helping blind people solve everyday problems by combining smartphone video technology with an army of volunteers. The app allows a blind individual to take a photo or video of an item that the person needs to "see"; it then either automatically interprets the photo and announces it aloud to the user, or, if the app itself cannot identify the object, sends it to a real person somewhere in the world who can.

In the Netherlands, city councils are piloting remarkable new technology to make roads safer and friendlier for cyclists and pedestrians through the use of apps that improve the efficiency and sensitivity of traffic lights to the elderly, disabled, and young children. Improved traffic flow is a key part of the way forward into a greener, safer urban future.

Two major pharmaceutical companies are offering discount cancer drugs in some African countries in an initiative modeled on the aids campaign. In African countries access to cancer treatment is scarce due to high prices of medicine, lack of medical staff and equipment and lack of awareness about the disease among the population; leading to higher death rates than in the developed world. The partnership to combat this also includes the American Cancer Society and IBM who are working to simplify cancer treatment guidelines and to make them available as an online tool to any hospital with an internet connection

When you step on an airplane, you might not be thinking about people who use wheelchairs, neither are airlines. People who need to use wheelchairs have faced a number of challenges on airplanes, like lost and damaged wheelchairs, not being able to use the restroom, and feeling dehumanized. Some people, are taking matters into their own hands.

Prosthetics can change lives, but in some countries there aren't enough people trained to make the needed limbs, braces and splints. To address the shortage in Bangladesh, the Center for the Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed is partnering with Red Cross and international donors to offer free training for local clinicians, and free treatment for patients.

ColorADD is a system of symbolic shapes representing colors for those that are challenged to perceive shades or are colorblind. The system is used extensively throughout Portugal on subway maps, crayons, and other appropriate places as well as being available as an app.

A family business in the Czech Republic is manufacturing what they call an Elbee car, an "urban micro-car designed specifically for disabled drivers." It's a vehicle that opens at the front to allow for wheelchair users, and its been officially certified and on the market since 2014. While the car's cost is a limiting factor for its success, the Elbee is seeing interest from wheelchair users and investors alike.

The way cities are built in the United States makes getting around without driving a car difficult. This means that, for an increasingly aging population, mobility can be a significant issue, leading to challenges such as missed medical appointments and loneliness that can actually decrease lifespan. But in the age of the sharing economy, ride services such as Lyft and Uber reach out to the demographic that arguably needs them most, partnering with medical centers and hospice providers to get smartphone technology - or more "old school" alternatives such as hotlines - into the hands of senior citizens.