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.)