So this week's TWC lesson was about Technology & Industrial Development: Moving Towards Sustainability and Technology & Innovation Management.
Class commenced with the remaining two presentations from last week, about Technology and Human Development. In one of the presentations about high tech and human development, the issue of the different usage of technology over time was discussed. It talked about how technology was used to help mankind in the past, but now, we use technology to build up our military so as to defend ourselves from threats from others. One issue I found interesting was: why is it common nowadays to find people taking self-interest as priority and in the process 'screw' others, instead of realizing that we are all in this together. Its like a win-lose vs a win-win situation. Why is it so difficult for mankind to live in peace and harmony? Bringing this issue down to the personal level, I guess at some point in our lives, we would have been let down by others. We then use our acquired knowledge to better prepare ourselves for similar situations in future and will inevitably raise our guards on the world. Moreover, the people around us may instill the fear in us that the world out there is one cruel place, thus causing us to be more protective of ourselves. Similarly in the world, countries have learnt from past war and sufferings and have thus used advancing technology to better prepare themselves 'just-in-case'. It is indeed difficult to break away from such a mindset.
Technology & Industrial Development: Moving Towards Sustainability
Moving on to sustainable development, I have learnt that it is a matter of parties deciding between pursuing economic and environmental well-being, or deciding to pursue both. The latter, is sustainable development. To briefly define what sustainability is, it is the pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for future generations to come (Wikipedia). More often than not, we are aware that much action needs to be done to help improve the environment. We are also aware of the many changes and adjustments that needs to be made. However, many of us are resistant to these changes. We find it a hassle to change what we are used to and some may even feel that what them as an individual can do, is insignificant in the world. But when it comes to saving Mother Earth, every little bit of action counts. "Unless we are pushed and shoved, we will not change." This is the mindset that limits us in coming up with solutions to solve world problems. We do not sense the urgency.
For this lesson, I presented to the class about Masdar City, an upcoming sustainable city in Abu Dhabi. I was really intrigued by the article I have chosen because every sentence in the article was learning something new. To quickly sum up what I talked about, Masdar City aims to be the world's first zero-car, zero-carbon-dioxide-emissions and zero-waste city. Some of the technologies that were going to be used to help Masdar achieve these standards were also discussed. Zero, zero, zero. Is this really possible? Will it become a reality, or is it just a fantasy? I guess we all have to wait and see. Nonetheless, I do think that this is really a commendable effort by the Abu Dhabi government in its efforts to help to conserve the environment. Moreover, some of these technologies can also be copied elsewhere in the world. I do hope that some of the successes from Masdar City will be picked up by other countries and that it will cause a chain effect in motivating countries to make their cities more and more sustainable.
Technology & Innovation Management
In today's world, stiff competition in the global economy means that no company can rest on their laurels. Continuous innovation is needed for the company to continue rising, or else they risk becoming a falling star. Take Apple for example, innovation for the continuous improvement of their products is very intensive. At this point in time, they already have the launch of products for the next five years or so carefully planned out. This shows how up-to-date they are and how passionate the company is to want to improve itself, and continue to be a dominant player in the market.
The class was introduced to The Shahi Landscape Model for Technology Assessment which explains valley, summit and cloud opportunities. While listening to Prof's explanation, I couldn't help but compare it to my sport, synchronized swimming. We are currently at the stage of summit opportunities, where our short term goal is to get a medal at the upcoming Sea Games in November. Huge amounts of time and some money is being pumped into achieving this goal because it is a target that the organization has set. They want medals. In the meantime, as a synchro community, we are actually working on cloud opportunities, which is to one day send a swimmer or two to the Olympics. It seems far-fetched at the moment, and it is, and no one is expecting us to be there, but every single step of the way makes a difference. The recent qualification for the World Championship finals has helped us to build some support back home but unless we continuing delivering, we will be forgotten quite quickly, and there will no longer be a 'market' for our sport.
Also during the lesson, I have realised that it does not take a genius to be a genius. Prof pointed out that some of the most creative innovations have come from people who are experts in one field, who is looking at problems from another field. It is one thing to be creative, and it is a whole other thing putting these creative ideas into action. In one of the presentation in this topic about 3M's revival, we realise that the small things count. A company like 3M have solved thousands of our problems with products which may seem to have little impact. In fact, it is only true that these innovations seem small because we are so used to them. Who would bother thinking about who invented scotch tape and postits? These are some of the everyday items we use that have came from 3M. Yet when it comes to innovation, we often rank Apple higher than 3M because Apple introduces their goods to the market with pomp and circumstance. Whereas for 3M, they are the ones silently solving our problems with their little innovations everyday. If you asked me, I'd say that both companies are equally successful.
Lesson Rating: 9/10
Class was exceptionally exciting this week partly because I was faced with my first ever presentation in SMU, which went pretty well :) I also found myself actively thinking and thoroughly engaged in the discussions.
The class was introduced to The Shahi Landscape Model for Technology Assessment which explains valley, summit and cloud opportunities. While listening to Prof's explanation, I couldn't help but compare it to my sport, synchronized swimming. We are currently at the stage of summit opportunities, where our short term goal is to get a medal at the upcoming Sea Games in November. Huge amounts of time and some money is being pumped into achieving this goal because it is a target that the organization has set. They want medals. In the meantime, as a synchro community, we are actually working on cloud opportunities, which is to one day send a swimmer or two to the Olympics. It seems far-fetched at the moment, and it is, and no one is expecting us to be there, but every single step of the way makes a difference. The recent qualification for the World Championship finals has helped us to build some support back home but unless we continuing delivering, we will be forgotten quite quickly, and there will no longer be a 'market' for our sport.
Also during the lesson, I have realised that it does not take a genius to be a genius. Prof pointed out that some of the most creative innovations have come from people who are experts in one field, who is looking at problems from another field. It is one thing to be creative, and it is a whole other thing putting these creative ideas into action. In one of the presentation in this topic about 3M's revival, we realise that the small things count. A company like 3M have solved thousands of our problems with products which may seem to have little impact. In fact, it is only true that these innovations seem small because we are so used to them. Who would bother thinking about who invented scotch tape and postits? These are some of the everyday items we use that have came from 3M. Yet when it comes to innovation, we often rank Apple higher than 3M because Apple introduces their goods to the market with pomp and circumstance. Whereas for 3M, they are the ones silently solving our problems with their little innovations everyday. If you asked me, I'd say that both companies are equally successful.
Lesson Rating: 9/10
Class was exceptionally exciting this week partly because I was faced with my first ever presentation in SMU, which went pretty well :) I also found myself actively thinking and thoroughly engaged in the discussions.
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