Week 13: Session 12

This week is the second round of learning from our coursemates. Overall I must say that the standards have gone up since week 12, with great 'about us' pages which boast of comprehensive information about the group and builds us up as individuals.

Seafaring, Powered Exoskeletons, 3D printing as well as transport were the four topics done. These technologies are continually evolving, and each have their own strength in application as well as certain issues to address. Despite much uncertainty in the future, the key remains in the potential in each of these upcoming technologies, and some of the teams have managed to highlight that successfully.

The video done by the team doing the topic on seafaring particularly caught my attention. I felt that the video did wonders for the group as the video injected a sense of humour as well as highlighted how life as a seafarer might be like...

On a personal level, advances on each of these fields ultimately bring about efficiency and human development, which is the fulfilment of one's potential. However the day might finally come where man's efficiency is at a maximum; we are only human. This is not to say that we should not work on improving these technologies. It only goes to further emphasize that as we progress, we increasingly learn of what it means to be human. What wisdom from a wise man. Till today these sayings are not yet obsolete, and I believe they will be guiding principles for generations to come.

Week 12: Session 11

Presentations start this week and it really excites me because each of the 43 of us are individuals capable of rationalising and analysis of our own (I assume). There are a total of 8 teams presenting on different technologies and there is plenty of information available on the websites created by each team.

All the presentations so far have been really informative with the historical background, current context and future implications. However, I do believe that Prof asks valid questions, although it MIGHT seem like nitpicking.

What is the purpose of these reports? Why are we doing it? These are fundamental questions we need to address and answer to tie in with the entire report. It is interesting to see that a different group has a different focus. Some go in depth into a certain technology eg cloud technology. Others analyse megatrends and aesthetic surgery as a whole (my own group). However I do feel that all these interpretations are relevant, but I guess this is where the purpose of the reports come in. If there is a good reason for taking a macro or micro perspective to address an issue, or a learning objective, I think we have done well.

Individual Topic Review: The Cloud Technology Revolution

Finally, my Individual topic review is complete, with an exact Turn It In index of 16%. Please enjoy!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jmxghcowsrzuzhg/G20%20Cheong%20Ke%20Ming%20IndividualTopicalReview%20Cloud%20Technology%20Revolution.docx

Session 10: Technology assessment and forecasting

This lesson, in my opinion, will be the most useful lesson that we learn. It gives us tools and guidelines to evaluate a technology to see if it is here to stay. All these guidelines only help to suggest if a technology is here to stay for reasons of making economic sense, meeting a global/ national need and more.

I liked reading 1 particularly because it lists the techniques and tools which we can use in a single website with descriptions on what they are and a detailed writeup on how to apply these techniques.

Today is interesting, because we spoke on many technologies which have yet to come into existence, which are in their relative infancies or in their prototype stages. It was like we were talking about nothing but not really. How invaluable it is for one to have sharp acumen in being able to see what will make it and what will not? Priceless, really. Yet through today I recognise that bureacratic red tape is all around the world, in different cultures, languages. It is tough to get funding to push for research of any brilliant project because there are many other pressing needs, and other solutions which require funds as well. Nobody has a perfect answer, and no one knows what could have been. Each nation has their own issues to address, and when the world comes together to set Global Objectives for 2030, I believe that it is a minimum benchmark for people to achieve, but is not applicable to all nations. Irony though, that poorer nations have less say. Poorer nations have been subjected to "aid" from foreign countries in exchange for pillaging of their natural resources. Some even suggest that this neverending exploitation might be the reason why these poor nations continue to be stuck in a poverty cycle.

Next, we also discussed the emergence of conglomerates today. Names such as Google, Samsung, Apple, General Electric and Siemens come into the picture. These giants possess technologies over extremely wide fields and there might come a day where they monopolise the markets. In fact, it might have already taken place. Where technology transcends barriers and the world becoming a global village, would there come a time in the far fetched future where global objectives are set by conglomerates (who possess the basket of technologies and the resources to make change happen)? Certainly, there is much to consider because country, family and individual has been the societal structure adopted since thousands of years ago. Yet in the name of efficiency, I really wonder what it would be like.

At the end of the day, technology changes and the tools used to measure these technologies change. Yet the thought process of checking how it is relevant or not by weighing up different factors and taking up different perspectives of relevant stakeholders remains invaluable. This is what I think I took away today. Only time will tell.

Today's session: 10/10

Week 10: Session 9

Today, we covered emerging technologies in class. It was really interesting to see how Google spearheads many technologies and has many niche areas. Mining space asteroids and google glass were once upon a time things that we only dreamt of, which serves to reinforce sayings that will probably never get old.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.

For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

-Albert Einstein –

There are many avenues and platforms today that help to incubate, develop and improve ideas though debating, discussion and more. TED.com  is one such example. Many brilliant ideas all around, yet many lack the resources, conviction or inspiration to execute them. There is a whole lot of potential in fields such as GRID computing

Technology is great, however since a long time ago, there has been inequality that exists. The poor do not get access to technology as readily as the rich who can afford more. The capitalist economic model, unfortunately, has to reward innovation and creativity. Patents serve that purpose, but stifle competitors from coming up with similar products. In fact, this might discourage innovation. Therefore, it can be seen that while we prioritise rewarding innovation, inequality comes in as the poor are unable to afford these technologies, and patents prevent other companies from producing cheaper forms of the same product.

Today, the photonic gel presentation sparked off a debate. Photonic gel helps us tell immediately if food is spoilt as it detects changes within an environment, changing its colour. Someone mentioned in class that people in poorer countries can get desperate and would therefore consume contaminated food and drinks. This renders photonic gel useless. Prof corrected that if we are able to inform these people of the bad conditions and show them how to solve the problem, there is no good reason why they would not listen to reason. That is a really sound argument, although we might face communicational problems etc. Sometimes, the world seems to function in a way that the life of a citizen in America is more valuable than the life of a citizen in Kenya, for example. The problems faced by a minority in the US might be an outrage, but the same conditions might be simply normal for living in Kenya. What I am saying is, the sanctity of life is being undermined here, and technology, while blazing ahead fast, might cause us to lose the human touch.

In our struggle to become efficient and utilise smarter gadgets more effectively, have we forgotten about our humanity? We are only human, after all.. That is something we hope to never lose.

On a separate note, several speakers today raised the point of education. They said that today, the education system that worked so well for industrialisation in still in place. It is becoming obsolete. That is true. It is more important that we learn to read discerningly now that information is everywhere. To sum it up, one might ask, "What is the source of your information?"

This chapter is different because we are talking about the future, which we cannot imagine. It is like talking about something that is not there, yet. Gives one a very different feeling. Many classmates focused on various implementation problems with technologies in class today. I get that. But I am starting to appreciate the beauty of the possibilities and how a gadget/ innovation can make a positive difference to us. That is, of course, if we use it suitably.

All in all, I give this class 8.5/10. 

Session 8: Renewable Sources of Energy

TWC is the first lesson I've had since recess week! Been a good week. This weeks class is not a new topic. Countless journals, news articles and academic pieces have tried to address the growing issue of a detioriating earth coupled with rising energy consumption amongst a whole myriad of other problems.

Many environmentalists, specialists come to the conclusion that we currently possess all the technology required to switch COMPLETELY to renewable energy sources, and are able to present beautifully their analysis. After the talk, guests mingle with the speaker over wine, giving compliments to the speaker on how well pitched his thesis was. Going on to the second glass of wine, many speakers lose the optimism and vigour that they had an hour ago in front of the listening crowd.

First world countries used to invest billions of dollars into R&D of green technologies. Those countries, however, have now moved on to a metaphorical second glass of wine. The optimism is waning. Developing countries such as China are thus able to catch up to these first world countries in terms of R&D investment. Today, the problems remain unsolved.

While we see many applications in harnessing energy from hydroelectric, solar, biofuel and wind energy, they have their respective shortcomings. However, too much time has been spent on deliberating what is good and what is not. There is a lack of action today, attributed to a lack of governmental support in the fear of losing the people's mandate. Corporations take no action as costs are too high and profitability is in qestion. Consumers are unwilling to pay a whole lot over a certain price. Finger pointing and solution synthesis are useless without action. The world needs to be convicted. This would probably take a catastrophic event, the end of the world's oil supply for example.

However, we also see Germany's positive example in the widespread adoption of solar panels and a power grid, which are concrete steps taken towards an economy running on renewable energy. Clearly, money talks. With the German Government providing economic incentive for the country to move into solar energy, it is proving to be effective!

All in all, my thoughts are that each country has its respective unique situations eg perceived political instability in the Middle East, and therefore require unique solutions to these problems. While Desertec is one of the applications in which solar energy can be harnessed, soil treatment technology could also be worked on to save this arable land, and restore it to a healthy state for organisms to flourish. TED.com also talks it up as one of the solutions to look out for in the near future.



Class in TWC has shown me different angles in adopting technology. A personal topic of interest, this week was 9/10 for me.

Week 7 - Biobusiness 2

Biological sciences holds plenty of potential. Biobusiness takes us 25% of the world economy. However we are not even close to fully exploring that potential.

Humans! An interesting video, where humans are depicted to be a disease. Infectious/ spreads to other planets? True. Instead of finding solutions to feed our needs, perhaps we need some self introspection on our destructive consumption patterns. Technology is merely delaying/ giving us alternative forms to continue our destructive lifestyle. Now that we are running out of options, is it too late to save an ailing Mother Earth? Only time will tell..

Some solutions brought up in class (including presentation topics):

- Norman Bollog? New n smart ways to produce plants etc. Efficiency for growing food vs population. Seemed to be true in 1960s.

- Food being sold in fixed packaging to cut down on manpower requirement? New way of doing things.

- Love canal? New solution to dumping. 10-15years then use land for building.

- GM Foods? GM Pigs. Digest phosphorous etc. (No more fertile pig poo?)

All the forms of technology and adopted technology, I believe, have their own strengths as well as weaknesses. This double edged sword can come back and hurt us if we are not careful. For example, as much as pig poo is "over-fertile", causing rivers to jam up, if pigs are genetically altered to digest phosphates, removing the fertility in their poo, what effects does this have on the ecosystem? The extent of damage done, if any, would only be learnt upon implementing such measures.

All in all, the session introduces many advents in which we can explore to save the world, grow our economies, sustain our consumption patterns with some changes. Innovation is the key. However, we need to carefully manage these technologies and, yet at the same time, adopt them fast enough. We are not sure how much more abuse Mother Earth can take.

Perhaps what we could have discussed more is really the problem of implementation. Brilliant ideas and innovation are key. However, we need the infrastructure and political will to spread these resources to all who need them.

Rating:7/10