Sustainable Growth
This week, we turned our attention to the way we grow our civilisations. Mankind has consistently been progressing and advancing. All this was done at the expense of our environment. Today, we have a HUGE population of 5 billion people, melting polar ice caps, holes in the ozone layer, insufficient space for landfills time to come and more. Something's got to give.
We are transitioning from a linear to a cyclical development. Renewable energy sources come into the picture. Great amounts of planning and infrastructural changes have to be made to transition from our current system which serves us ever so well.
1)Technology, as Prof mentions, is the application of knowledge.
2)Technology is easy. People are hard.
Technology (the solution to an ailing earth) is present. An argument rages on, in cyberspace, talks, laboratories and seminar rooms about how we have ALL we need to save ourselves. The question is, are we moving towards a cyclical development cycle fast enough? The inertia/ reluctance of the present is tough.. The consolation is.. Many in the developing nations are starting to realise and consider environmental factors when making decisions. Some points for consideration:
Maslow's Hierachy of Needs
How many can consider the effects of their own carbon footprint when they are starving/ lack basic necessities? Probably not many....
However, with the Ten Milennia Goals, help from developed countries comes in. There seems to be hope that more can be freed from the cycle of extreme poverty.
With that much change required, plenty is left to the imagination. However, some things are undoubtedly clear.
We. Have. Got. To. Change.
Innovation Management
Today we learnt the art of reinventing and product differentiation. Many tell the success story of Apple with the rise of its innovative technology and cross product integration.
Innovation management, to me, is more like being visionary. Being able to spot trends, knowing the relevant markets and adjusting accordingly.
Other thoughts
Prof's written article about valley/ summit/ cloud opportunities was an eye opener.
The picture painted in my head one that links the cloud (industry in infancy), summit (industry gaining traction) and valley (industry saturation). It is an interesting concept. However I am unsure how the dots connect.... I hope that at the end of the course I would gain some insight wrt this...
To me, inequality exists because of the technology called social fabric we adopt. This would be called capitalism today. Capitalism brings about growth to a country. However in many cases, across nations, healthy rates of growth are also accompanied by increasing income disparity.
The above, continued (increasing efficiency at an exponential rate), coupled with other backward civilisations left behind causes a great rift in productivity and hence wealth.
Education, together with government initiative and willingness to compromise are key factors to address inequality. We can list the factors and tools we require, however getting from the current status quo to eliminating income inequality is terribly difficult. Communism (I guess), to the closest model to that. I guess the world chose Capitalism ask a better form of 'technology'.
Conclusion
All in all, I think its interesting for the guest speakers to present their points of view regarding some articles. However we need to buck up wrt our readings, even tho some are incredibly long.
Rating: 6/10
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