The U.S. Agency for International Development has long battled poverty, lack of health care and other global problems as a way to stabilize developing countries and advance democracy.

Now, in addition to throwing money and manpower at the problems, the agency is pursuing technology and data-based solutions.

USAID launched its Global Development Lab in April 2014 and is already providing seed capital to projects and searching for ideas through six “grand challenges” to address large-scale problems.

“We bring modern tools and approaches to the field of international development,” Ann Mei Chang, executive director of the Global Development Lab, said in an interview with WRAL TechWire. “We’re seeking out the brightest minds so we can harness that ingenuity to solve some of the biggest challenges we face.”

Chang, a former engineering executive at Google and Apple, was in Raleigh to deliver the closing keynote at the 2015 Triangle Global Health Conference, being held Thursday and Friday at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

The Global Development Lab already works with the Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator at Duke University, development nonprofit FHI 360, medical device maker BD Technologies and other Triangle operations, and Chang said she is looking for more technology partners in the region.

“There are so many innovators in the Triangle. It’s a good opportunity for us,” she said.

Persuading researchers and technology entrepreneurs to invest in fields such as improving agricultural yields in East Africa, providing clean water in Southeast Asia or educating children in Central Asia isn’t as difficult as one might expect, Chang said.

“Many companies want to do good. It’s part of their brand,” she said, adding that, “We definitely see a market in doing good, and there are many cases where business interests can be aligned to solving challenges.”

USAID is trying to bridge any gap by providing funding to those willing to address such issues. The agency has six “grand challenges” that fund promising technologies in the following areas: fighting Ebola, securing water for food production, clean energy for agriculture, global literacy, prenatal and newborn health care and government efficiency and accountability.

The agency also has a venture capital fund to back projects that fall outside the grand challenges, such as an effort to provide solar panels to homes in rural Tanzania so residents have cheap, clean energy for cooking, light and heat.

“We want to bring new ideas to old problems,” Chang said.