TWC - Week 03

On our third lesson, we have two objectives, mainly to be equip with:
1) A conceptual framework for intelligently considering the potential economic, social and commercial impact and significance of technology innovation;
2) A solid foundation for considering issues of development, technology policy, change management, and the management of technology.

However, due to a small hiccups, our week 2's presentation topic is brought backward to lesson 3. I was one of the presenter. So let's just start with what i have presented.

I shared an article "High Technology and Human Development" by Stephen K.Ainsah-Mensah. Reason why i chose this article is because he led me to think about issues like how we human have been trying to advance our technology blindly, destroying the environment and how these resources used to build our technology for war could have been better reallocated else where.

His final message which I picked out from the article was that "It is the irresponsible proliferation of, say, war technology, high-tech products, among others, that are in need of criticism and have to stop." Which i agree with him. I feel that in the society that we have now, though people are enjoying themselves, living in high-tech houses, driving huge cars, purchasing all the high-tech products for pure entertainment purposes, there are many people who don't even have a roof over their head. When has the world become so unbalanced? Why are people so focused on building war technologies and harmful products that will destroy the environment and themselves? Why can't they just reallocate these resources to the ones who are really in need? Why has the world been devoid of all love and become a power driven world? Why is it that the one with the biggest gun has the right to say? These questions were hounding within me after the presentation was over.

However, i know that due to the lack of time, i did not do a good job bringing these messages across to the class. Which i deeply regretted because i have just lost one chance in which i could have change someone's mind.

Moving on, on the topic of Technology and Industrial Development: Toward Sustainability, one of our classmate Samantha C***, she brought forth a very interesting article "Masdar City: The World's Greenest City". The article talks about an eco-friendly city that produce zero waste.

Masdar City is a custom-designed settlement, "the world's first zero-carbon city," It would rely entirely on renewable energy — mostly solar — and would produce zero waste. There would be no traditional cars inside the city — all transportation was to be via PRT vehicle — and it would use half the energy of a settlement of the same size. The urban layout — by the green-minded British architect Norman Foster — would combine classic Arab design with 21st century technology.

I find this innovation to be very interesting and really look forward to the day it will be complete.

Key takeaways from lesson 3 was that, personally, i really have to work harder to live life with no regrets. Looking at the effort of certain part of the world to make the world a better place really inspire me to do more for this world that i live in. Of course, there are many times in life where you can't control the situation nor change the world. But the truth is, if everybody thinks that he cannot make a difference, no one will.

My rating for the lesson.. 8/10. 2/10 was due to my extreme tiredness. I find it so hard to concentrate on not sleeping in class..