Sustainability and Innovation Management

During the development, people face trade-offs. In the past, people use surrounding resources to survive. They hunt animals for food, cut tress to have enough land for agriculture. Nowadays, with the emergence of industrial development, people exploit more natural resources, destroy nature to build houses, factories… People are facing trade-offs between economic development and environmental well-being. Do we have to face this trade-off? We can only have either economic development or environmental well being or is there any approach that gives us the best of both worlds? That is the topic we discussed in our TWC class this week.

We are introduced to concepts of linear models and cyclical models. Linear models represent movements of products from the beginning point, which is natural resources, to production, distribution, consumption and to disposal. The model is simple and logical but it is the system in crisis regarding the beginning and ending point. Since the system is linear, the beginning point is not sustainable. We use resources for production but have no solution for the reduction and exhaustion of natural resources. Moreover, the system stops at disposal, which may lead to environmental problems.

If the world continue to use this model as its production model, its next generations may have to face with pollution and natural resources exhaustion. That is the main reason for people to consider more sustainable production and consumption methods. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. To be sustainable, we need to change the linear model into cyclical model, which balances all factors and maximize value without taking all natural resources or turn the world into a place of pollution.

So how can technology help people to achieve sustainability? Technology has enabled people to have alternative energy sources such as solar and wind energy. Although these sources are not sufficient but they still make people more independent of fossil fuel, the traditional energy source. One of the presentations in class is about the production of palm oil. Although palm oil is potential, it still needs more considerations on the cost and efficiency.

As technology have an important part in sustainable development, innovations are more and more essential. The reading “Environment fact sheet: industrial development” puts emphasis on technology innovation stimulation in order to drive progress towards sustainable industrial practices. Innovation refers to the creation of more effective products or ideas that are accepted by markets and society. It means that creative ideas are innovations only when they can be applied. “The R-D-A Translation Process” demonstrates three steps of an innovation. Through researches, people get new ideas and insights about problems and try to translate understandings into practical solutions and finally apply solutions in reality.

The most interesting point in this topic is the concept of “advantages of backwardness.” “Advantages of backwardness” means that countries, companies and individuals can learn from those who went before. They can reuse, reapply technology and innovations which others spent a lot of time and money to think about. Therefore, countries, companies or individuals can shorten their research process and simultaneously can also their own innovations. Moreover, they also avoid making unnecessary mistakes. Therefore, the concept of “Advantages of backwardness” is worth considerations, especially for developing countries so that they have better opportunities to catch up with the rest of the world.

Around topics of this week’s lessons, I have one issue for further discussion. How can developing countries can use the advantages of backwardness effectively to develop as fast as possible? And for this week class, I rate it 8.5 out of 10.

Human Development & Global Dominance

Brief overview/Summary:

Topics of this week’s lesson are global dominance and human development. Dominance means some companies or countries have power over others at one or some fields. There are many dimensions of global dominance; Different companies or countries are dominant in different dimensions. But the most remarkable thing that Prof shows me in this topic is the “Organizational behavior model for identifying innovation leaders and dominant players”, which tells me that all people have opportunities to be better and dominant. The second topic for class is Technology and Human Development.  In my perspective, technology and human development are mutually affected. On one hand, technological innovations can lead to global development (E.g.: world wide web…) On the other hand, world developments motivate people to invent new technology (The change in how people use internet leads to the boom of Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Facebook…).

In this week’s lesson, the first three students had their presentation. They talk about Google; Technology & singularity, transhumanism & immortality; Technology and Genetic Engineering. They are all well prepared and bring new interesting information to me.

Key takeaways:

• It is a changing world

Plough deep while sluggards sleep – Benjamin Franklin

“Organizational behavior model for identifying innovation leaders and dominant players” of Prof really catches my attention. Dominant players are placed at the top of a triangle, showing that they are better and have power over others at one or more fields. However, that fact only shows one part of the story. There are also rising and falling stars indicated in the graph. Rising and falling stars are distinguished by many features, which can show their potential developments. Dominant players, although have more advantages than others, can be a falling star and lose their dominance in the future. History has proven this point by many examples. In conclusion, the most important factor is not whether you are dominant but is the attitude of always changing and refreshing yourself.

• People must overcome adversity to develop

The greater difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests – Epicurus

In the lesson, Prof shows a video called “History of the world in 7 minutes.” The video focuses on human development from 15,000 years ago to present. I was really impressed by the development of ancient people since despite the fact they have limited tools, knowledge and were strongly affected by many diseases, they still survived and became more and more prosperous. The video really shows human’s strong nature, people can never be impeded by severe conditions but always try to discover and invent new things and overcome difficulties. That explains the fascinating human development with many innovations, technology to make the world a better place for humankind.

• No one should get left behind

When discussing human development in class, Prof shows the video “The Millennium Development Goals.” It is such a thoughtful video because even when technology is at an advanced level, when many people and countries are so prosperous, there are still many problems existing. Although food is thrown away every day, many people all over the world are living in poverty and hunger, can not access to basic health care and utilities. Many children still do not have opportunities to go to school and women in many places are discriminated. Despite all the magical developments, advanced technology over the world, there are people left behind. Is that what human is aiming for? Are we trying to improve living standards for some and ignore other people being left behind? The answer is no. We are aiming for a world where everyone is equal and has same opportunities to access to basic necessities. That is the reason we have The Millennium Development Goals to make sure that the world is changing for the better for everybody.

Issues for further discussion

• How technology and world change can help to eliminate poverty in all societies?

Personal rating

The lesson brightens me in many aspects. I have learned about interesting concepts about dominances and human developments. Therefore, I rated the lesson 8.5/10

Technology is changing the world

It is my first class at TWC and also my first class for this year. So I am quite nervous and excited at the same time. And the first session really makes a good impression on me because I know I will learn much in this TWC course.

The first session is a brief introduction to technology and its impacts on modern civilization. In the first part of the lecture, Prof shows us a video called “Shift happens”. It tells us about society at different countries around the world and how techonology changes people’s lives. The second part of the lecture is about modern civilization. Prof shows “A timeline of time” which records details on human development from the past till the present and after that, he focuses on the question “Why you white men have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?” which is raised from the video “Guns, Germs and Steel.”

1. Technology is developing fast and affecting society

The video “Shift happens” includes many facts about the society and technology. These facts at first seem trivial but together, they tell a story about human lives in the age of technology.

“Over 106 millions registered users of MySpace (Sep 2006)”

“If MySpace was a country, it would be 11^th largest”

“2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month”

“The number of texts & messages sent & received everyday exceeds the population of the planet”

All these facts show one thing, technology is developing faster than ever. In the past, we had to rely on traditionally delivered paper mail to get in touch with friends, on books to get information. But technology is here for reasons. Now we can share picture, update news from others or access to information and find solution for questions easily. We are truly living in an exponential time, and the essential task is to use the advantages technology brings about to make our lives better.

2. Impacts of geographical differences

“Why you white men have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?”

It seems so obvious that the white men are more prosperous than New Guineans. There are many reasons that explain the situation but the essential reason is geographical features. On one hand, New Guineans live in forests; Hunting and gathering are main ways for New Guineans to have food. However, hunting and gathering is not efficent and therefore, they only have food to support small population. On the other hand, in the Middle East, weather enables farmers to grow crops which is much more productive and food is also more nutrious. They have enough food to serve large population and therefore, the society has opportunities to develop. Even geographical differences are not the only reason but it really impacts development and modern civilization.

After the first session, I have two issues for further discussion:

• Is there any limit to technology development?
• Can technology help to solve the disparity among different parts of the world?

All things considered, I will rate the first session 8/10. I feel engaged and also learn many new ideas and interesting observations.