TWC Lesson 3

Brief Summary/ Overview of lesson

This being my first TWC lesson in Mr Singh's class, I felt that I had learnt alot pertaining to the areas of how technology has influenced sustainable development and also how we may come up with solutions to overcome these problems that technology has created for us (from the various presentations that students have made). In the second part of the lesson, we learnt about how companies do technology and innovation management and i better understood this with the presentation from leon about "how google grows and grows."

Interesting Observation and Ideas

1. Industrial development today should move from a "linear" to "cyclical" process.
We hear about all the different movements today with the more pertinent idea of recycling and conserving resources. Which would be more effective- recycling or conserving? I think that the former would leave a greater impact on our planet for the simple reason that we do not diminish the resources that are available on our earth, but instead maximise the lifespan of such resources fully. Not to say that conservation isnt important, but looking at the amounts of natural resources that we are using today, isit really possible to conserve and use less? In the short term, I feel that getting countries, corporations to use less would not be a probable idea because having already expanded their production to such a level, it might not be possible to reduce usage of resources. Nevertheless, with more education and emphasis by various unions and movements on this aspect, in the long run there might be possible reduction. A cyclical process would allow these organisations to continue at their production rate, but not totally diminish resources in a sense because they will be able to reuse some of the waste produced. Ultimately, there will need to be a combination of both methods in order to achieve sustainable development in the future but for now, recycling should be key.

With respect to some of our classmates presentations, I enjoyed learning about the new technologies that have been invented to conserve and maximise our resources. For example, aquaponics and hydroponics. Both seem to be good ideas for urban landscapes because of the little land they take up and possibly, more output per crop. Yet, the question lies in its feasibility. In Singapore for example, I don't see a need to grow such crops because of the high fixed and variable costs involved, the market size and the demand for such products. Organic products are present, but not that popular in Singapore, similarly, given the higher costs of such products, will the average Singaporean be bothered to buy them in the face of cheaper, tastier crops from China? I doubt so. But given time, and these crops are made cheaper, switching may be an easier option for Singaporeans.

2. Innovation Management and Key elements to successful Innovation

Innovation Management by definition would be creating value by increasing the efficiency of translating promising concepts into high value products and services. Opportunities are always present, but when you decide to take one up, will fall in one of the three-Valley, Summit or Cloud opportunities. And this is important in deciding how high the barriers to entry of a market should be. Successful innovation only happens when there is a "right"combination of factors from the people who work in your firm to make-it-happen, to the ones who fund the project. Firms may choose different ways to make sure that innovation keeps happening. Some choose to motivate their own workers because happy workers will put in more effort into their work, and churn out more special innovations, for example Google. Others might look at more external ways to make sure their project works.

Key Takeaways:

People in my generation may be the ones that might actually spearhead the R&D in technology towards more sustainable development for the future. There are lots of opportunities present, but it would probably be our loss of we don't see them, or choose to do nothing for sustainable development.

Issues for further discussion:

Currently, there are many efforts to move towards sustainable development. But the laymen would not notice or know unless they make an effort to find out through their own research. Are our efforts today enough to make these messages known throughout community? What else can be done? Are there more drastic measures that can be taken?

Ratings:

7.5/10