Session 3

Session 3
SESSION 3: REVIEW

Topics covered:

• Technology and Industrial Development: Toward Sustainability

• Technology and Innovation Management

Brief Overview/ Summary

• Technology and Industrial Development: Towards Sustainability

To give a little background information on Industrial Development, the Industrialization process is commonly attributed to being one of the major causal factors in rapid economic development. Perhaps the best example of this would be the Industrial Revolution.

In class, we discussed Industrial Development and how it may progress towards greater sustainability. We identified the need for industrial processes to shift from a linear process to a cyclical one, where resources used during the process may be reused for the process multiple times, hence the “cyclical” process. A linear process is one that is input focused, that is, only focused on the raw products needed for manufacturing. A cyclical process is one that not only focuses on input, but on the output as well. A cyclical process will also take into account any harmful by-products that may result from the manufacturing process.

The class went on to discuss Sustainable Industrial Development and finally agreed on the definition as set by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) – Maximizing value creation without reducing options for future generations. 

This week’s quote was:

Sustainability requires a shift from linear to circular thinking
Old industrial Model: Economic Development vs. environmental well-being
Sustainable industrial model: Economic Development AND environmental well-being

- Gurinder Shahi

• Technology and Innovation Management

What is Innovation Management?

Innovation Management is:

1. Creating Value by Increasing the Efficiency of Translating Promising Concepts into High Value Products and Services
2. The R-D-A Translation Process
3. The Innovation Creation Pipeline:

• Concept
• Technology Validation
• “Productization”
• Business Model Validation
• Market Entry and Growth

Basically, Innovation Management is the discipline of managing processes in innovation. It is the control of workflow from the initial idea to the final product of innovation.

Interesting Observations and Ideas/Key Takeaways

• Technology and Industrial Development: Towards Sustainability

1. We are living on a planet with finite resources depleting at an increasing rate.  It is imperative that more effort be made to develop technologies to shift our natural gas dependency to other renewable resources.
2. The problem with Green-tech is what’s known in economics as “The Free-rider problem” It’s an “every man for himself” situation right now when it comes to industrial processes. As the name suggests, the free-rider problem is when the producers in an economy do not take into account the various negative externalities resulting from their production process, instead, leaving it to the Government to deal with the negative externalities present. Green-house gas and carbon emission are some examples of the negative externalities that not all producers are concerned about.
3. An important question: Should the more capable countries share technologies and aid other developing countries in producing and implementing Green-tech? Currently, Green-tech is very cost ineffective. Until newer, more economically viable technology is developed, the implementation of Green-tech is largely inaccessible to many developing countries. Seeing as developing countries usually have higher levels of pollution and carbon emissions (especially the USA) should they not have a moral obligation to provide aid to the less capable countries so that the issue of environmental well-being is addressed?

• Technology and Innovation Management

1. The primary goal of innovation management is to enable an organization or entity to adapt and respond to an opportunity, and direct its creative efforts to introduce new ideas, processes or products. What sets innovation management apart is the fact that it is not relegated to the R&D department. Innovation management involves people at every level that ultimately contribute creative solutions towards the organization’s growth and other operational activities.
2. This quote by Thomas Peters pretty much sums up the need for innovation and innovation management:
   
   
   
   
   Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some
   works.
   You do more of what works.
   If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something
   else.
   The trick is the doing something else.
   Thomas Peters
   
   
   
3. Basically, Development is the translation process of Research into Application. See the diagram below. It explains the various steps of the process clearly and comprehensibly.

[Source: Gurinder Shahi, The R-D-A Translation Process]

Personal Ratings
(3/10) In my opinion, this week's session was a bit dry. It seemed that there were not many significant contributions towards the discussions. A lot was said about very little. I sincerely hope that next week's discussion will be much more interesting!

Got a pair of Cheap Earphones?

The Secret Scam of Cheap Earbuds


Personally, I disagree with the author of the post. I know of many people who have at least a pair of these "cheap earbuds" (No, i do not own a pair myself). Many of them have admitted to purchasing their earphones for the mere fact that they like the way it looks, not really caring about the sound quality. To most, I'm sure that these earphones are no more than a fashion accessory. After all, not everyone is an audiophile.

How blind people see the internet

 

How blind people see the internet

I found this article really interesting. Up till now, i never really realized that blind people would have so much trouble using the internet. Unlike a book, where everything is linear, web pages are anything but linear! How DO you present a visual equivalent of a web page to the visually impaired?

Session 2

SESSION 2: REVIEW

Topics covered:
·    Technology, Society and Global Dominance
·    Technology and Human Development

Brief Overview/ Summary

• ·    Technology, Society and Global Dominance

How do we build societies/companies that are dominant leaders in their respective arenas?

I believe that in order to address the following issue, the unique traits of dominant leaders must first be explored. Prof Gurinder Shahi presented the class with a diagram addressing this issue.
In his diagram, he identified the various traits of rising as well as declining countries.

[Source: The Shahi Organizational Behavior Model for Identifying Innovation Leaders and Dominant Players]
Countries that are rising tend to have the following characteristics:
Open perspective, optimistic, hungry to learn from others, keen to invest in new ideas

Countries that are in decline:
Closed perspective, pessimistic, not interested in learning from others, not keen to invest in new ideas

Observations: societies/corporations/organizations at different stages of innovation leadership and technology dominance display very different behavioral traits and operational attitudes.

I wholly agree with this analysis. I find that in order to develop and progress, one must be open minded and receptive towards new ideas. Being closed minded and rejecting new ideas from others only guarantees one thing, you will be left behind and cast aside by the wake of progress! Just take a look at China. Only recently has China reopened its doors to the outside world.

• ·    Technology and Human Development

Firstly, what is development? In class, someone raised the question that there are 2 sides to the development coin. Development will bring about both positive and negative effects. Personally, I disagree. The term development implies positive change. I define development as an improvement of circumstances and understanding. Development is progressing from a lesser state to a better one.
Next, how is development related to world change?
I believe there are many different ways of looking at development. There can be social development, economic development, cultural development, as well as development in terms of the current state of technology.

What about Human Development?

Human development is all about maximizing human potential. It deals with increasing the capabilities of mankind as a whole. However, in order to gauge human development, a method of measuring human development must first be established. This is where the Human Development Index(HDI - http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics) comes in. Part of the United Nations Development Programme, the HDI measures the progress of human development in terms of life expectancy, literacy and income(in the form of GDP)

Interesting Observations and Ideas/Key Takeaways

• ·    The 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/)

The MDG consists of 8 international development goals that all 192 members of the United Nations have agreed to achieve by 2015

1.    Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
2.    Achieve universal primary education.
3.    Promote gender equality and empower women.
4.    Reduce child mortality rate.
5.    Improve maternal health.
6.    Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases
7.    Ensure environmental sustainability
8.    Develop a global partnership for development.

[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Development_Goals]

Here’s a video on the MDG.






Honestly, I don’t think the MDGs can be achieved by 2015. It is highly unlikely that in 5 years, poverty and world hunger will be eradicated.  A cure for HIV/AIDS in the next 5 years? This objective may be achieved. Perhaps by some stroke of genius (pure luck?) a cure is found. Please note that I am not saying that the MDGs will never be achieved. Given enough time, I’m sure it’s entirely possible! I’m merely stating that it seems highly unlikely that anything will happen in the span of the next 5 years.

Personal Ratings

5/10 (I felt that the pace of class was too rushed. Many times, I felt left behind by the discussions. More time should have been spent discussing fewer topics.)

Did you know 4.0

An updated video I found of the Shift Happens series.
Enjoy! :)

Technology and World Change with Dr. Gurinder Shahi

SESSION 1: REVIEW


Brief Overview/ Summary


What happened in my very first TWC class?


I remember the very first thing that Prof. did as soon as class began. He wrote:

Technology is EASY, People are HARD

- Dr. Gurinder Shahi 

After that, we had quite the intellectual discussion about Prof's statement and I discovered that many people in class had quite a wide range of interpretations for something as simple as a 6 word statement. 

Then, we watched a youtube video, Shift Happens; Did You know? (the obvious inspiration for my blog url)

After that, we had another lengthy discussion on the implications of the video. Once again, I was surprised to find that there were many different viewpoints regarding the video. Following that discussion we had the privilege to watch another video.









We were then asked to discuss the thought-provoking question posed by the man named Yali in the video to
Diamond.

Yali's Question:
Why you White Men have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?

What naturally followed was a somewhat heated analysis on whether genetics makes certain humans superior over other humans. Discussion continued until the end of class.




Interesting Observations and Ideas/Key Takeaways

• We are living in exponential times.

Prior to watching the video, I had always somewhat assumed that humanity was progressing forward, but albeit in a somewhat linear fashion. I had no idea that the rate of information generated and exchanged was increasing exponentially. The part of the video where it said that what students in a 4 year degree course learn in their first year will be outdated by their 4th year was especially interesting, as I myself am a freshman commencing my 4 year degree course. Whats the point of even learning TWC then? (Prof, if you're reading this, I'm only joking. :) )

• Are some humans genetically superior to others?

Throughout history, the White Man has always been considered superior over the other races, often imposing their superiority on the lesser developed people groups. However, are they necessarily superior? I'm reminded of the famous quote by George Orwell,

All Men are created equal, but some Men are created more equal than others.

Just why is it that the White Man is considered superior? Is it because they were the first ones to decide to expand, conquer and assert their superiority?

In a slightly different context, what about the super geniuses and world-class athletes? Obviously genetics have a major role to play in their supernormal abilities. Does this mean that the people over at MENSA and the Olympians, especially those my age that are competing in the Youth Olympic Games at the moment, are superior to the rest of us "normal" humans? I believe there is no right answer.




Personal Ratings

8/10 ( The class was thoroughly stimulating and quite interesting. I look forward to having more classes like this.)

An Introduction

Hi there!

Welcome to my blog! You must probably be wondering what this blog is all about? Well, let me give you the background story. I'm taking a module called Technology and World Change as part of my university course. As part of the module, we're required to create and maintain a blog about our experiences in class. I must confess, i've always thought about starting a technology blog, a space for me to post and share interesting morsels of information I find during my regular web crawling sessions (Many thanks to StumbleUpon).

Once again, welcome to my blog! I hope you enjoy reading the articles that I share.

Tim