Week3

This week, the first session’s focus was on the sustainability in the face of technology and industrial development. To go deeper into this topic, we firstly watched a youtube video called “The Story of Stuff”. This video talks about the possible extreme destruction of the world’s nature resources in the result of America’s over-consumption and the behaviors of the government and the private enterprises. Though I regard myself as eco-conscious and not that I am against the avocation of protecting our Earth, I find that, at a certain level, the reasoning in this video is fallacious and extreme. Example mentioned is the “planned obsolescence” – designed for the dump. Is this really how the society is operating now? We make stuffs to be useless as soon as possible? We chuck them and buy new ones? I disagree. Despite the replacement of computers is rapid, how could we say the creation of computer is USELESS when it brings better efficiency and productivity?

One fact we could not deny is that we manufacture more than our share. The manufacturing process indeed exemplifies how selfish Mankind is. Love Canal, Great Pacific Garbage Patch and excessive use of fossil fuel are the results of the absence of the consideration of consequences before any action taken. Everyone is just looking after their own interests. Fulfilling their level of satisfactory is what concerns them most.

However, I do not think that the selfishness of everyone is the main cause of the negative environmental impacts. When human is not going for their own benefits but others’, the world becomes even more complex. Economics hardly comes in place and maximization of utilities becomes unrealistic. It is near to impossible that equilibrium can be reached in the premise of taking every single entity into account. Hence, a certain extent of self-interest is essential to keep the world relatively simple. Being ego-centered is not wrong, but we ought to have win-win mindset too. This could benefit every individual greatly.

Additionally, EVERYONE IS SHORT-SIGHTED. THEY ARE TOO EAGER TO OWN WHAT IS PRESENT AND ALWAYS FORGET THE WORD – SUSTAINABILITY! We should think of the environmental well-being in parallel to the economic well-being. Have a cyclical methodology of creating value to society. Besides the legislations to protect the irrational use of resources and to set constraints to the exploitation of the environment, review of manufacturing process and environmental awareness is also vital.

The second session went into the discussion on technology and innovation management. Due to the limitations of time and resources, not every innovation can be realized. Sometimes, the long reaction time makes innovation hard to be recognized. Therefore, one measure we can take is to increase the efficiency of translation and maximize the utilities of the innovation.

We need to manage our existing technology to ensure its greatest potential is unleashed. A funny phenomenon is people who have access to certain technology may not need it and vice versa. Developed countries spend hulk amount of capitals on R&Ds such as medicines for HIV/AIDS and to increase immune tolerance. Despite so, diseases are still easily spread around in less developed countries. This question is the transfer of technology so as not to reinvent to build. The ideal stage is when less developed countries could benefit from receiving advantages.

Another point that brought to my attention during this session is The Shahi Landscape Model for Technology Assessment: Conceptual Framework. In this model, opportunity is classified into 3 types – valley, summit, cloud. The suggestion from the powerpoint slides from session 3 is to “focus on summit opportunities – putting people, technologies and resources together to capture the value proposition”. I partially agree with this approach. The type of opportunity to grasp depends on which perceptive we are looking at. Summit opportunity indeed benefits entrepreneurs with deep pocket and it continues to maintain the premiere that people are going to pay. For valley opportunities, the existence of the product sometimes creates the market. It is a market-driven opportunity for starters with short-term projects and immediate returns. If we incorporate the consideration of environmental well-being and the development of sustainability, cloud opportunities should not be missed as people are required to foresee things in the long run, to predict the development of future and to develop a viable model.

After all, we should create values without limiting options for future generations.

Session Rating: 8.5/10

Week2

This week, the class discussed on the dominance of technology in global and social perspectives during the first half of the lesson. “Nobody is ever superior forever,” said Prof Shahi as he began the lecture. There are ways of being dominant – exercising direct control and authority over others, being either positive or negative influencers. However, one being the dominant player is not an eternity especially when one fails to selectively forget the past and create the future while managing the present. Sometimes, it is merely that people lose interests in the status quo and hope to seek for something fresh and more attracting.

Through some readings and contemplative work, I have concluded a few factors that contribute to the rising stars and the falling stars:

• Attitude

Besides having an open perspective, the eagerness to learn and invest in unfamiliar fields and the optimism, it is the corporation which seeks for hidden opportunities during difficult times that counts for a rising star. Instead of looking at the dark sides, companies see the slightest possibility of bringing themselves to a whole new level in the face of recessions, unexpected crisis and a change in their target audience’s interests. Companies that stand out do not easily get beaten down since they are mentally prepared to accept what is given to them and break free from elements that may drive them away from success.

• Action

Knowing the behavioral traits and operational attitudes does not guarantee the future prospect of the organization if no action is taken. Nowadays, having a positive attitude is universally known as the key to the company’s growth. Nevertheless, what it should deploy is a more relevant question to the corporation’s survival. Hence, company should spend more effort on analyzing the current trend and predicting the future. Draw out a realistic plan, implement it and tailor the initial project along the time of changes.

• Assets

Monetary asset determines how much the organization can invest into its future development and the ability to handle unprecedented risks. Other assets such as labor, human capital and technological knowledge are also vital to the companies. Certain times, corporations with valuable assets and fully utilized resources could reach the monopoly stage in their respective fields. Examples are Microsoft OS like DOS and Windows. Despite the threats imposed by the increasing popularity of Apple products, Microsoft still manages to find its position in the IT industry.

From my own perception, the listed factors are inter-linked. None of the elements should be missed out while climbing up the dominant ladder.

The second part of the class carried out a discussion on the impacts to human development through technology. It is prevalently seen that technology brings advantages to our lives. Despite so, the disadvantages along should not be neglected.

A point to note is that technology brings merits to a particular group of people from mainly the developed countries and the developing countries. It maximizes the potentials of people by providing us more options. Social networking platform is also available for us to interact with people from around the world where internet is supported. However, the wonderful miracle technology has brought to our lives has its down side. There are still people who live on less than US$1 a day and those who died of starvation. Additionally, due to the global culture, several dominant cultures are drowning the cultures of the minorities. With that, I have to say that the focus of current technology is widening the disparity of the poor and the rich. Technology indeed does good to the rich while taking advantages of the poor.

Eventually, what is the inception of the revolutionary technology? To improve the lives of ALL mankind or just of the rich who can afford the cost of current technology?

Through this, we will come to realize that a long-term perspective is essential in the face of innovation. We ought to make sure that the option given people today does not limit the options for people who come after that. Technology should be a tool that meets the needs of present and future under the consideration of the whole world as one.

Session Rating: 9/10

Week1: Introduction

Technology. World. Change. Literally, these three words can be easily understood. But how much more do we see behind these words? This course TWC makes me start to ponder a lot. Why do countries that were once on the cutting edge of trends are not the dominating ones? Despite the world making unrelenting progress along with the innovations and technologies these years, why not every region catches up with the fast pace?

This week, the class started off with the "ice-breaker". A self-introduction of myself made me realise how little I knew about the internally mutual relation between technology and the world which leads to what we have achieved so far. I guess this is one of the reasons that I am attending TWC, besides it being compulsory, to study how we come about throught the technological changes and how we should response effectively in a dynamic world.

Two videos were shown in class, namely "Do you know?" and the beginning of "Guns, Germs and Steel". I was impressed by the former which illustrates that shift happens by showcasing facts that we usually hardly notice such as supercomputer can take over human brain's capabilites in the future. The later brought up the issue on the imbalance development of countries and regions around the world. The lesson went on with an intensive discussion on the evolution of the world and the start-up and impacts of civilization based on three articles the "Timeline Of Time", the "Argiculture and the Origins of Civilization" and the "Cutting Edge Science in the Middle East". The last two articles clearly depict that innovations and technological changes are vital and evitable so as to do good to the societies. Nonetheless, the last article brought me to think that the constant emphasis on technology some times leads us neglecting the sustainability of the development. A typical example mentioned is the Aswan Dam built in the Nile. The dams did control the water flow, but in the meantime, resulted in the accumulation of rich silt which caused the downstream farmers compelled to use hulk amounts of artificial fertilizers, which eventually pollute the river, to substitutue the scarcity of rich silt as fertilizers.

Key Takeaways:

1. Some countries, such as China and India, have been blessed with rich natural resources and pre-matured skills. Despite so, they are not in the dominant position like America nowadays. A few crucial factors are civilization and the urge of innovations. Their late realization of industrial revolutions and urbanization put them behind their competitors. While they retreated toward the reliance of their labour supplies, America has worked its way toward technological changes.
2. The ability to access new technology parallels the disparity of lifestyles around the world. This can be seen through people from developed countries who are earning a living through technology while others are still amused with perhaps outdated technology. However, technological change could be a double-edged sword. Hence, as the latest technology is emerging, we should not neglect the sustainability and feasibility of such development.

Session Rating: 8/10