This is week 3 lesson 3 into this Technology world change module. Things are getting more and more interesting with more information flooding into my head. like what prof has mentioned. this module is like "GP on steriods" I kinda agree with him on this because there are just too much information to digest and read up on. Technology is not just technical or electronic aspect of things but it is interpreted as the practical application of things in life. This broadens the scope of technology and really makes me think even harder of issues that technology caused/can cause/or can solve! Lesson 3 talks about how to make technology sustainable and how to manage the innovation process of it.
The first part of lesson 3 is on Sustainability of technology and industrial development. Prof showed us this video "story of stuff" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8 It talks about the way we're living our life now and using the 'linear' system is in crisis because we live in a finite planet where our resources are limited. So we have to go from "linear" to "cyclical" in the sense of recycling, biofuel technology etc. I went onto youtube and found a critic video to this "story of stuff" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5uJgG05xUY It is very interesting to see how the critic tear down her arguments and challenge her claims and statistics. After reading through the readings given in session 3a, I realised that the role of government is very important and essential in technology innovation. For example, in Singapore, the government is looking into the future of hybrid electronic cars. These hybrid cars are generally more expensive than the conventional petrol based cars so naturally people will not want to buy them. So the government issued out subsidies for these hybrid cars to attract more people to buy them. Without actions like this from the government, the future of hybrid cars will be gone and we'll all be stuck with using pollutive petrol based vehicles.
The second part of lesson 3b is on innovation management. I read through reading 4 which is written by Prof himself on bisbusiness landscape. The idea of the valley, summit and cloud opportunities is very interesting. I hope to be able to use this model in future and try and make cloud opportunities into summit opportunities. This is very effective when you are looking for a profitable business or enterprise to start up. Next, Prof also talked on the R-D-A translation process. When I see this model, I thought of a project meeting where many of us have many ideas and new insights to contribute but only a handful or few ideas would really work and make the project a success. Like I said, government contribution is essential in managing the innovation process. For example, the EU launch of the emissions trading program. With this program, they will give out incentives to company to do the R&D to come out with new innovations to reduce carbon emissions. Without the right incentives and government regulations, companies will just continue to pollute the atmosphere and not behave responsibly.
This week, the class has five presentations. All the presentations are very interesting and insightful. I would like to mention a few here. There is a presentation on Apple and it talks about the man behind Apple which is Steve Jobs. I believe he has done a really good job in managing Apple and giving it the right direction. I'm happily using Apple products now (iphone,ipad,macbook) and I hope to see more new products coming out from Apple. Now that, Steve Job has stepped down from Apple, the future of Apple would greatly rely on Tim cooks the new CEO which Steve Job has appointed. I really hope that he can come out with the next big thing rather than just coming out with minor improvements on products that are already in the mkt like the iphone 5, ipad 3. I'll patiently be waiting for the next i(dont know what) product that he can/will launch. But I'll still not lose faith in Apple.
Personal rating for lesson 10/10
Very interesting lesson with 5 presentations and lots of stuff to learn.
Good job!
ReplyDelete