Lesson 12 (8 Nov 2011)

Reflections on the Entire Course

Today marks the last lesson of Technology and World Change. Throughout this course, I can say for sure that my understanding of technology and how it changes the world has increased significantly. Given how we are swiftly progressing towards an era where technology will be heavily emphasized, the learning gains from this course would certainly be useful in the near future.


Prior to this course, I have been rather skeptical about our increasing reliance on technology due to the detriments that follows. However, upon further understanding about technology, I feel that the benefits of technology more often than not outweigh the detriments. For instance, some may claim that the use of Facebook in the workplace has led to a loss of productivity, and indeed, statistics have proven so. Close to US$1.14 Billion had been lost. However, allowing the usage of Facebook in the workplace had also been proven to improve the mental well-being of the employees and in doing so, improve their productivity. At the same time, firms who are less strict about the use of social media in the workplace will also be more appealing to job applicants who view this generosity as a form of staff welfare. Ultimately, the benefits that firms stand to gain will be greater than the loss of productivity they may experience.


This course has also given me greater insights about what the term technology encompasses. What I found most interesting was the idea of technology forecasting. It had never occurred to me that technology should be forecasted. Rather, I have all along thought that new innovations should merely arise to meet the needs of the present. Thankfully I am not the owner of any firms else the firm is doomed to failure.


To sum up, this course has been a very enriching experience and in my opinion, has achieved the desired outcome of educating students more about Technology and World Change.

Lesson 11 ( 2 Nov 2011)

Learning Gains from Web Report


Initially, the thought of having to create a web report as a project is daunting to me. I had no prior experience in creating a webpage (with the exception of this blog), and I wasn’t naturally good at computer related stuff. Thank goodness for the SIS students in my group who got the website started, and guided us along the way on how to edit the webpage.


There was much to learn about creating a web report, from inserting a picture, to including the references and so on. It was definitely a good learning experience for me and I believe that these soft skills will come in useful in future.


Creating a web report is very different from the conventional report that I am used to. Firstly, the web report cannot contain too much information to prevent the website from looking overly cluttered. In this sense, we faced difficulties in selecting the appropriate information to be included in the web report from our very comprehensive research. Being accustomed to writing a normal report, we did lots of research, failing to take into account the limited amount of information that can actually be posted. As a result, we had to undertake the tedious task of drastically summarizing our findings. On hindsight, what we should have done was to design and plan the outline of the web report, rather than jumping straight into the research first. This could have saved us a lot of precious time.


Next, to make up for the information that was cut out while summarizing, we thought to include relevant videos since pictures speak a thousand words, much less a video. It also helps to keep the readers engaged and interested in our topic.


A web report must also be visually appealing, and at the same time, promotes interaction between the reader and the administrators of the webpage. Our initial idea of including a forum page to promote discussion about our topic on Ecotechnology eventually had to be scraped because of the limits of the web provider. Instead, we dedicated a section for readers to leave their comments, as well as a section where readers can email us directly if they do not wish to post their comments in public. We also included a direct link to our Facebook page that was created as a platform for further discussion as well. A vast majority of our population actually has a Facebook account, and thus, we felt that Facebook will be a good medium to promote our topic. I think what I can learn from here is that the web is truly very versatile and although it may have its limits at times, there could be better alternatives to explore. Thus, we should be more flexible and open-minded in order to identify these alternatives.


In addition, a web report should also be user-friendly so that it is easy for users to navigate around. Initially, we had tabs for every single component that will be covered in our web report. However, it makes the entire page seem very messy and disorganized. Thus, we had to collapse a few topics with some common elements under one heading. However, there was still a section on stakeholders’ roles which was lacking in clear navigation. Upon suggestions by a member of the class, we decided to add sub tabs for that section to improve the ease of navigation.


All in all, this web report provides a good learning experience for me. Apart from hands on learning from my group’s web report, I have also learnt from the web report that was presented by the other groups. I believe that these learning gains can be put to application for future projects.

Lesson 10 (25 Oct 2011)

Technology Assessment and Forecasting


An interesting driver of technology assessment and forecasting that I have learnt from the start of the lesson is ‘the need to prioritize, given limited resources, on whether and when to implement and use new innovations and technologies’. Many a time, countries or firms are hesitant to be the first in the market to test out a new innovation or technology as they are uncertain about the people’s reaction. The fear of failing combined with their risk averse mentality made them a follower, rather than a leader. While this may seem like a safe and risk-free corporate strategy, it may very well lead to the firm being a falling star in this ever changing world. A good example to illustrate this would be the Case study of Kodak.


Kodak had played a significant role in our lives with their domination in the traditional film cameras. However, as the trend heads towards the digital image, Kodak gradually began to lose its market dominance. What many do not know was that Kodak was in fact the first to develop the digital camera in 1975. However, as the directors of Kodak were not keen on this idea and thus, the launch of this digital camera was pushed back to 1996. By then, many other brands had already developed their version of a digital camera and Kodak had lost its competitive advantage in the camera industry. More information about this incident can be found in the following website:


http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2010/03/features/kodak-develops-a-film-giants-self-reinvention


Had Kodak been more adventurous and into technology assessment and forecasting, it could have remained the dominant power in the camera industry. Such is the importance of technology assessment and forecasting!


In today’s world, the trend is such that there are economic and skills insecurities and power is more diffused than before. The US is quickly losing its position as the economic powerhouse and the non-western societies are rising faster than ever. As shared in one of the videos shown in class, the word ‘Future’ is used as an acronym to represent the following:


Fast


Urban


Tribal-new tribes in this world


Universal


Radical


Ethical


These are the emerging trends in the future. In light of this, technology assessment and forecasting is ever more so important. However, should we look at the past to project the future or look at the future and try to work backwards? The former is a realistic behavior, while the latter is more of a wild behavior. To put into the context of technology, the former will be the mindset of a falling star while the latter would be that of a rising star. Shocking?


As emphasized repeatedly, changes are occurring at a rapid rate. New innovations are churned out at an unimaginable pace. We can no longer afford to merely create something that is based on information gathered from the past. People are now looking for refreshing innovations.


An interesting reading that supports this point is reading 2, which is about Futurology. Futurology is basically the scientific means of predicting the future. The article did a comparison between Futurologists and Sci-fi writers. While futurologists use logical and scientific methods, Sci-fi writers are more creative and imaginative. In a way, they stretch the idea of what is possible. The article mentioned that living in such a world of uncertainties, we must sometimes rely on our creativity rather than logic to resolve the pressing issues.


In general, I think that technology assessment and forecasting is a very essential tool that firms and countries alike must possess. Failure to do so will merely limit their chances of achieving success. Furthermore, it is also critical in ensuring sustainable development. After all, technology may have negative externalities on the environment and this is something that the developer of the technology should take into consideration.


On a personal note, I would rate this lesson an 8 out of 10. This lesson is definitely refreshing. However, I feel that the presenters could perhaps be a little clearer on how their presentations tie in with the topic of technology assessment and forecasting.

Lesson 9 (18 Oct 2011)

Emerging & future technology


Technology knows no boundaries. With strong desires, wild imagination can be converted into reality through technology. This is nicely summarized by a quote from Kahlil Gibran, “There is a space between man's imagination and man's attainment that may only be traversed by his longing”. Indeed, who would have thought that phones are now able to interact with humans through SIRI, a software that was developed by Apple and made available in iPhone 4S?


The readings for this lesson mentioned some rather interesting emerging technologies like the vibrating gloves that give the wearer superhuman touch powers and the possibility of the transparent phone. Both innovations actually draw reference to the popular movie Iron Man. Clearly, this illustrates that the development of technology can be brought about by mass media which changes the perception of what humans actually want and need.


Other upcoming technologies include things like robotics, biotechnologies, nanotechnologies etc. An interesting emerging technology that was brought up in 2 separate presentations was the brain computer interface technology. It involves the controlling of an external device by using the brain. In other words, thoughts are transmitted as a form of signal to the device. It may sound fictitious or something that will only occur in the movies, however, it has in fact been in practice to assist the diseased. Regardless of how cool it may seem, there is always the morality issue that will be raised by some individuals. Some religions may be against this form of technology as it alters the original creation of human beings. Furthermore, this technology may be exploited for use in acts of terrorism, which further endangers the world. Personally, I think that this is an interesting issue and provides scope for more discussions in class.


It is unknown as to what the future holds for us. However, as of present, a critical problem would be that of erratic climate change. It not only threatens our food stability, but also increases the occurrence of natural disasters like flood around the world. Thus, I feel that an important aspect that the future technology should focus on will be the protection of ecology. Ecotechnology has been found to be able to contribute significantly in the mitigation of climate change as it can reduce the carbon footprints in human activities. As such, I think that more efforts should be made in developing ecotechnology.


On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate today’s session 8 out of 10. It is fascinating to see what the up and coming technologies are and how they can benefit human lives. However, I feel that there could be further discussions on the possible implications that these technologies might have on us. Nevertheless, it was still an interesting session for me.

Lesson 8 (11 Oct 2011)

Energy and World Change

The lesson started off with an interesting fact about how much more (solar) energy the sun can provide as compared to other natural sources of energy. Just a small fraction of the solar energy provided from the sun is sufficient to meet our energy needs. Yet, we have not fully harnessed the full potential of the Sun’s energy due to the high costs incurred by the large number of solar panels needed. However, this is a sound concept and will definitely reduce the burden on the limited natural resources and cut down emissions significantly.


It cannot be overly emphasized that countries have to reduce their emissions. While it is pleasing to see that countries are increasing their investments in green technology, more efforts should be put in by countries, such as India with only a marginal increase. Germany has set a very good example in their investment in solar energy. Germany experiences all four seasons and does not receive a lot of sunlight. Yet they still chose to invest in solar energy. Their target was to derive 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, and not only are they on track, but they may even surpass the 20% mark to hit 30%.


Moving on to the readings assigned for today’s session. Reading 6 offers a good overview of what we should do to progress towards a renewable energy future. It mentioned suggestions like government to enforce strict sustainability criteria, and supporting climate and energy agreements. However, the recommendations may not be effective due to self-interest. For instance, in a bid to revive the US economy, President Obama reduced the budget Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2011. Where the welfare of the country is at stake, efforts to go green and sustainability are often compromised. Furthermore, there is imperfect information available to all. Thus, it would be difficult, say to monitor the amount of pollution caused by a particular firm.


 Presentations given today and the discussions generated were refreshing. It was brought up that the plan to construct wind farms has generated much protest from the local community due to the loss of the natural habitats and landscape. Their concerns were understandable as I would personally be against the idea of having a beautiful view in front of my home being ruined by a wind farm, especially if a premium was paid for that view. Thus, an alternative offered was to develop an offshore wind farm. For me, my preference would be the development of the offshore wind farm because land is scarce. On the other hand, the ocean offers plenty of space as very few physical structures are actually found on the ocean. Furthermore, my guess is that the offshore wind farm may actually generate more wind energy due to the sea breeze. Another presentation was about creating artificial tornadoes using residual gases from nearby plants as a source of energy. The issue raised was about the safety of using such sources. Personally, I feel that safety is not much of a concern since the tornado is artificial and within our control. Rather, people may be slow to accept such technology as they perceive any form of tornado to be dangerous.


On a whole, I would give today lesson a rating of 7/10. While the presentations given were certainly interesting, some were overly technical, making it hard to follow. A brief coverage of what the technology is about and the changes that it could make would make the presentation easier to understand.

Individual Topical Paper (draft)

Hi all,

My individual paper can be found in the following link. The topic is on Integrating the use of the Internet in Religions. Please feel free to look through and review.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/44476189/TWC%20indv%20paper.docx

Lesson 7 (27 Sep 2011)

Biobusiness Revolution: Agriculture and the environment

“When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability” (Gurinder Singh)

Indeed, to be sustainable, we need to find means to be self-provident for our energy usage rather than be dependent on the limited pool of natural resources that are depleting at an alarming rate. The same could be said for the growth of agriculture.

Sustainability in the realm of agriculture involves maximising the growth of crops or the production of meat within a limited plot of land. This has perhaps led to the increasing movement of population from the rural to the urban areas. Since 2008, more than half of the world’s population have been residing in the urban areas. This shift is an attempt to alleviate the problem of rural overcrowding which limits the growth and development of new crops. With more land, one will have more capital and incentive to invest in new seeds which can improve agriculture. However, urbanisation does have its own set of problems. Being in closer proximity and having greater interaction with people, an epidemic breakout would result in faster spread of the disease.

Given the increasing world population, there is a need to invest in agribiology to increase the productivity of crops. A major innovation in the agribiology field is the concept of genetic modification which can be used to increase the resistance of crops to pests and extreme weather.

 Interestingly enough, meat production can also be enhanced in the lab. As what Sheryl had presented, scientists are currently exploring the idea of in-vitro meat, which is essentially growing of muscle cells into a large amount of meat. It was mentioned in Wikipedia that the nutritional value of the in-vitro meat could actually be increased by reducing its fat content and controlling the nutrients added. When first introduced to this idea, one may find it absolutely repulsive. But if we are willing to delve deeper into it, we will realise that it actually brings about much benefits. Only half the energy is required to produce it and the land required for this production is only 2% of the current land usage. Furthermore, a taste test conducted revealed that there is no distinct difference in the taste of the cultured meat and the natural meat. There is really no reason for us to reject this innovation in light of the imminent problem of food shortage, except for the fact that it could potentially redefine the meaning of being a vegetarian. I would definitely support this production as long as the cultured meat pose no health risks and are priced affordably. (If it is cheaper than natural meat, I would consume it without second thoughts.)

On a personal note, I would give this lesson a rating of 9/10 as it is enlightening and the presentations provides many interesting ideas on what have been done to ensure sustainable agriculture practice.