Blog Entry #12

Lesson Overview: The very last lesson of technology & world change. Today, I had the opportunity of witnessing four groups present their group website.

Interesting Ideas and Observations
Technology & The Armageddon - An interesting topic that really got me thinking. Indeed, many prophecies, namely the Mayans, have predicted that we are in the end times. The apocalypse is near. This group highlighted possible causes of the armageddon, for example the uncontrolled advancement of artificial intelligence and the rise of a pyramid hierarchy system whereby cyborgs dominate the world and humans rot at the bottom of the pyramid. Although a bit far-fetched, this is definitely a possible direction that we are heading towards, especially since artificial intelligence has been advancing by leaps and bounds. Smart computers such as Milo the virtual boy are testament to this fact.


Shababies & Medical Technologies - The future aspect that this group presented on medical technologies was quite intriguing. I especially like the idea of using mosquitoes to spread vaccines and how a mirror with augmented reality technology can scan the vital signs of your body for traces of possible diseases. A cancer patient could be able to monitor his situation in the comfort of his home through making use of highly advanced ICTs that can scan blood samples and send the information to doctors for analysis.

Technology & Art - Some fascinating ideas that i took away from this presentation was the fact that art could be very different in the future. With the use of just one stylus, artists can have access to a wide array of paintbrushes. An artist can better visualize his art pieces before actually drawing it by the use of computers with 3 dimensional view. It was also mentioned by Prof that the advance in art technology does not need to be at the expense of more traditional forms of producing art. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Women & Technology - Although this all-girl group presented a topic that would appeal more to girls, I found myself enjoying the presentation. An idea that especially drew my attention was the iphone app that could help girls keep track of their dates. Through the use of this app, a girl could store the characteristics and memories of her date for future reference. Also, why limit this app to girls? Guys should need to keep track of their dates too! With the current rise of extremely innovative iphone applications, I don't think that this technology would be too far away.

Key Takeaways
Since this is end of the entire TWC course, I thought that I would share some of the main ideas that I have learnt through the entire course.
1. Always be a change leader - During the session of global dominance, we learnt that companies, and even countries, that adopt a more open and optimistic perspective are the rising stars and dominate the market.
2. Don't rest on your laurels - I learnt that innovating is a continuous process. If Apple stopped at iphone 3, it would find that most competitors would quickly catch up by incorporating iphone features into their own phones. The trick is doing something else!
3. Assessing the impact of technology - When do we draw the line? In the very first lesson, we talked about technology making us fat and lazy people. By performing proper technological assessment, we should be able to manage the implications of the technology, hence reducing the likelihood of us going down this path! Likewise, other negative implications such as environmental degradation and ethical issues should be closely monitored.
4. Impossible is nothing - We should definitely adopt this mindset as we search for new alternative solutions for present problems. I have learnt from TWC to stop constraining my ideas to certain norms, but to always venture 'out-of-the-box' and look for something completely new and outrageous!

Personal Ratings (for the course): 9.5/10. I really enjoyed taking this course in semester 1. It has provided me with many new ideas and insights. I will definitely miss the intriguing and though-provoking discussions that we had during class. As Prof mentioned, the journey does not end here, and I hope to be able to apply the skills that I have learnt in the future, and be a change leader for society!

Blog Entry #11

Lesson Overview: We went through three presentations. The first one on flight technology. The second on space junk and the third was my group's presentation on land space technologies.

Interesting Ideas / Observations:
Having never heard of space junk before, I found the second presentation on the need to clean up space junk extremely though-provoking. The junk consists of stuff ranging from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to explosion and collision fragments. The observation is disturbing. We, as humans, have not only polluted our earth, but even the 'infinite' space that surrounds our world. It shows just how unsustainable the habits of humans are.

Moving on to my group, THE SPACEMEN's, presentation. I feel that we have included most of our important future technologies during our presentation. I would, therefore, like to go into deeper detail on two of our technologies to provide more efficient use of landspace.

The straddling bus: There is great potential in applying this technology in Singapore. Presently, our buses take up large spaces on roads. We have even set aside a whole lane, named the 'bus lane', solely for buses during certain hours of the day. Imagine if we could switch all buses to straddling buses. These buses will not require road space at all, as they will straddle over the road. Bus lanes can be abolished providing more lanes, and road space, for small passenger cars.

Venturing Underground: By building upwards (increasing the height of skyscrapers), we will always be limited by a height limit. In certain countries where wind speeds are higher, this height limit be lower. So imagine if we could venture underground, committing certain land functions underground altogether. Imagine a entirely underground transportation network. Your home is connected to SMU via a series of complex tunnels. We can then free up top land for land functions that require sunlight or other topsoil land functions, for example the harnessing of solar and wind energy.

Finally, there is another technology that could hold great potential for the future of expanding land space.  Underwater homes. Presently, Istanbul has developed plans to build an underwater hotel - the poseidon hotel.


75% of the earth is covered with water. Wouldn't it be great if we could venture into this space as well?

Key Takeaways: We need to be change leaders. In each of our different aspects of study for our group presentations, we have demonstrated our abilities to think 'out of the box'. To come up with ideas that holds the potential to change the future. To not be afraid to come up with ideas that no one has though of, or appears feasible. Underwater hotels may seem outrageously absurd but look what Istanbul and Dubai are planning currently.

Personal Ratings: A fruitful lesson with lots of insights. I managed to gain valuable knowledge on the various different topics that the other groups presented.

Blog Entry #10

Lesson Overview: 
Today, we learnt about the importance of technological forecasting and assessment. How we need to have a vision of the future and devise stepping stones to achieve it rather than just moving forward from the present.


Interesting Ideas and Observations: 
We learnt the importance of strategic foresight. How it is necessary to prioritize whether and when to implement and use new innovations and technologies. This is especially important in developing countries where resources are scarce. 


Prof also provided us with an interesting analogy of a 'crushed paper' to illustrate visionary thinking. Instead of looking at the implementation of a certain technology through a crushed sheet of paper, having to weave through constraints set up by current institution and policies, we need to have a 'clean sheet of paper.' As mentioned in my previous entry, the lack of imagination is the only thing holding us back and once we let our imagination run free, we will be open to so many more beneficial technologies.


We need to gain an understanding of what kinds of changes a new technology innovation might bring. This reminded me of the very first TWC lecture where Prof showed us where technology is leading us.. A fat, lazy person! If we have proper technology assessment procedures in place, the negative implications of this technology will be forecasted and we should be able to shift away from this future!


Prof also mentioned that we need to take obstacles and challenges of today and make them stepping stones in the future. I feel that one reason why people fear to innovate is because they fear failure. I found this video of technology forecaster, Paul Saffer. He speaks about the importance of cherishing failure. 






The quote i took away from this video was "We FAIL our way into the future."


Key Takeaways:
The close interaction of governments (policy setters) and technology developers is required. Technology developers' lack of awareness often leads to negative implications in the form of ethical, environmental or economic effects. Governments need to interact with technology developers, and work closely to identify these negative implications and weight the benefits vs the costs.


Benjamin Franklin mentioned, "Look before, or you'll find yourself behind." Innovation is necessary. We need to keep looking forward. The video on teleportation technology was a bit far-fetched to me but who knows? Teleportation could be the next big thing. We should never rule out possibilities as this is what constraints us from innovation.


Personal Ratings:
I would rate this session 7/10. Although the topic was a bit dry, there were many videos which were really interesting. I especially enjoyed the video that gave us glimpses of the future technology awaiting us in the years to come. I must say that i can hardly wait. Also, this session really helped me complete the final section of my topical review paper.

Blog Entry #9

Lesson Overview
Today’s lesson was on new and emerging technologies. Some technologies discussed during the session were claytronics, plastic technology, wireless transmission of electricity and artificial intelligence. We looked at the drivers of the development of emerging and future technologies.
- Market-driven innovation (where there is a clear need for a solution)
- Technology- driven innovation (we need to educate the public that the technology is necessary)
- Supply can create demand (Prof mentioned that we never knew we needed the Iphone until we experienced it!)
- Advertising
- 4 SMARTs – Smart people, Smart Ideas, Smart Money, Smart Alliances

Interesting Ideas / Observation

Vibrational Medicine
I found most of the readings very interesting and exciting this week. A reading that particularly intrigued me was ‘The 10 Most Important Emerging Technologies for Humanity”. The article touched on vibrational medicine – an area that I feel could improve modern day medical techniques by leaps and bounds. A few weeks back, one of my classmates presented his IOP on NOTES, a surgical method to remove kidney stones from the human body. He mentioned that this surgical procedure could be the least invasive procedure in the future. But we can see that change is always constant, and already a new, more improved technology is emerging. With vibrational medicine technologies, there is a possibility that by using two sound sources and coordinating their configuration of standing waves, doctors and surgeons can manipulate internal organs or biological structures with precision without the need to slice into the patient’s body at all. If brought into reality, this technology would be completely non-invasive!

Augmented Reality
Another technology that amazed me in this article was augmented reality, a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery. Prof showed us a video of how our Iphones, or any camera phone, could be improved with this technology. Imagine being able to view data about a certain item simply by looking at it through your mobile phone camera. This article talks about the application of augmented reality in the area of education, where students are provided with imagery, sounds and a user feedback mechanism (like being able to control virtual objects that appear to be floating around).

The below videos are just some other applications for augmented reality. (I particularly liked the app that made trying out new clothes so simple!)

Other applications for augmented reality that may exist in the future:
- Contact lenses with augmented reality apps
- Cars that have augmented windshields displaying directions, time to destination, Internet access?

Wireless transmission of electricity
Last week, we learnt that electric cars would be the ideal, green future for transportation technologies. The shift from fossil fuels to electricity would reduce overall CO2 emissions and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. However the infrastructure to charge these cars would be a major challenge in the implementation of electric cars. Wireless electricity can solve this problem. Prof mentioned that we could fit all roads with this technology such that there is no need for recharging stations and cars can receive electricity ‘on-the-go’. A classmate proposed an even more interesting application of this technology. What if we could transmit electrical energy to developing countries where they lack the proper electrical infrastructure to make use of advanced technologies? This would enable them to leapfrog upon the technologies of developed nations. The results would be better standard of living, higher productivity and economic development in developed nations.

Claytronics
Defined as the concept that combines nanoscale robotics and computer science to create individual nanometer-scale computers called claytronic atoms, or catoms, which can interact with each other to form tangible 3-D objects. This concept has the potential to change many areas of our life. For example, being able to see a 3D figure of your friend, while communicating with him from abroad. This technology could also be implemented in the media industry. Imagine doing away with 3D TVs or Television sets all together and having claytronics in our homes where we can watch 3D figures move around as if the action was really happening in front of us. Imagine being able to watch a football match as if you were actually a spectator at the stadium.

Driver-less Cars
Google has already started on their journey in making this technology a reality by test-driving their first driver-less car. I can definitely see this technology becoming a reality in the next 2-3 years. Such a technology would firstly lead to fewer accidents. With an intelligent computer with programmed commands and route data, cars will be able to intelligently drive their riders to their destinations in a safe and swift manner. By programming a speed limit in driver-less cars, we can effectively reduce the accidents caused by drivers exceeding speed limits and drive dangerously. Although this technology is great with all its benefits and improvements to society, it will still not be welcome by people who love driving, people like me.

Optical Camouflage
One of the Individual Oral Presentations was on the topic of Optical Camouflage. As interesting as the technology sounds, I feel that there is little to no market for invisibility apart from the military. To maintain stealth in covert or undercover missions, commandoes or spies could make use of this technology. Apart from this, however, I feel there the only other market for this technology would be the filming of wildlife, like someone mentioned in class.

It was also mentioned in class that there are some issues that we may need to look at during the advancements of certain technologies.

Falling in love with virtual people
This is an interesting concept in which future men can program artificially intelligent robots to be their perfect partners. I, however, feel strongly that such a future would bring us more harm than good. In this concept, robots are programmed to like their partners / owners. This eradicates the need for men to meticulously build a good relationship with their partners. Consequently, this may bring up a generation of socially handicapped people.

Genomic Sequencing
Genetics is merely a start-point, what you do with it is what really matters. This ideology was clearly not existent in the movie Gattaca, where the ability of people was judged solely on the quality of their genes. Imagine a future where your resume comprises solely of your genetic makeup. Would this technology not be detrimental by bringing about discrimination against people with poor quality genes? Also, if a person finds out when he is young that he has a gene that makes him highly susceptible to getting cancer in the future, what is he to do with this information? I feel that such a piece of information would only serve to make him bitter and sour during the period of time he has to live. I feel that if this bit of information was not given to him, he may live a happy life before succumbing to cancer. Of course, we have to look at the flipside of the argument. Knowing that he will get cancer in the future may lead one to be ready for the disease. For example, he may decide to save up for chemo treatments in the future to combat the disease at an early stage.

Key Takeaways
Like Prof mentioned, “In terms of the development and application of new and emerging technologies, we are limited only by our imagination – and all to often, the lack thereof.” – We need to be open to new ideas, however outrageous or infeasible the idea is. We need to stop being limited by our lack of imagination and simply allow our ideas to roam freely. If you can imagine it, you can make it happen! Like Einstein mentioned,” The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.”
Innovations require the 4 Smarts – Smart people, Smart money, Smart ideas and Smart Alliances. I feel that the most important ‘smart’ here is smart ideas and smart people. Smart people will naturally come up with smart ideas. Smart ideas need to be beneficial and practical to society. Although I agree that for some extremely beneficial technologies, there need not exist a market for the technology to become a reality. However, I feel that looking at the society’s needs provides a good guideline for one to judge whether a new technology is worth implementing and investing in.

Issues for further discussion
I would have liked to discuss more on wireless electricity. What further benefits could the ability for developed nations to wirelessly transmit electricity to developing countries bring? Is it even feasible and if so, how long down the road will such a technology take to be commercialized? Will developed nations agree to such a concept knowing that developing nations have little to give them in return?
Since my topical review paper is on biometric technologies, I would have liked to discuss more on this area. Where are we today in biometric technology? In my research, I have read about a technology that is able to retrieve your identity by 3D Body scans. Below is a video of this technology used in airport security.

Personal Ratings
9.5/10. On the whole, this TWC lesson was the most interesting to date! I feel that the topic on new and emerging technologies had a big part to play, as I managed to envision what the future may be like with so many new and emerging technologies. I certainly look forward to experiencing first-hand these technologies in the near future. A message to innovators out there, “Please don’t make us wait too long!”

Blog Entry #8

Lesson Overview

Our lesson today highlighted the key topics and concerns regarding the current sources of energy, and where we are headed in the future in this aspect. Fossil fuels have long been regarded as the world’s primary source of energy. However, this source is highly unsustainable and a shift towards renewable energy sources is inevitable and necessary. Firstly, fossil fuels are limited and finite resources. The continuous burning of these fuels will result in there not being any fossil fuels left for future generations. Secondly, the increased burning of fossil fuels results in an increased production of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide. We discussed the drivers of global energy change such as rising energy consumption and the need for economic development, and key considerations such as energy security and energy as a source of national income. We discussed about emerging and future sources of renewable energy such as solar, wind and the use of biomass.  

Interesting ideas & observations

The days of fossil fuels are numbered

“The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the Green Revolution.” I agree with this statement by Prof Shahi. The continuous burning of fossil fuels has led our environment to a dire state. A study carried out showed that the social costs of all environmental impacts caused by burning of fossil fuels amounted to a total of US$3.8 billion, with health impacts accounting for the largest portion of the costs. Furthermore, the finite nature of fossil fuels is another indication that a change to a more renewable source is needed. The figures produced by the world’s oil industry say it all. Already 50% of the world’s entire oil supply has been burnt through. If we continue with our current oil consumption pattern, our future generations may not have any oil to consume. Hence a change is definitely needed. Renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind, and other emerging technologies like biofuels, look like the solution to this problem and an adequate replacement to fossil fuels. Although solar panels in deserts and windmills in the seas may have environmental implications towards desert and marine life respectively as mentioned by one of the presenters today, I feel that the negative effect of these energy sources on the environment is nothing compared to the impact of fossil fuels. This, and the finite nature of fossil fuels, brings us an imperative need for change.

The paper ‘Energy technologies for a sustainable future (transport)’ proposed an interesting action plan to push a more sustainable transport system to the market. The goal: All transport modes (except air travel) dominated by hydrogen-fuel-cell or electric vehicles fuelled by near-zero-GHG emission biofuels. The action plan is divided into 3 phases; the first phase (2000-2030) would see the commercialization of at least one of the 3 technology groups. The second phase (2030-2050) would see the mass market of consumers accept these new technologies and high demand for these vehicles and the third phase (2050 onwards) would see the goal fulfilled with nearly all new vehicles utilizing the new technologies. I think that this goal is definitely attainable by 2050. The Chevrolet Volt is set to go on sale this November as General Motors recently began an intensive campaign to explain the car.

The transition process from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources has already begun in the transportation industry. I will not be long before other industries follow in this direction.

Sustainable energy sources waiting to be harnessed

These were the figures provided during the lesson:

Solar Energy: 3850,000EJ

Wind Energy: 2250EJ

Biomass: 3000EJ

Primary Energy Use in 2009: 487 EJ

Electricity: 567 EJ

From these figures, we can see that these alternative energy sources can provide an adequate amount of energy that would fulfill and even exceed our future energy needs.

The above video link shows how a farm can be run where farmers will be able to generate their own energy to run their farm and agricultural equipment. Technologies like solar, wind, hydrogen fuel cells and bioenergy are all utilized to enable the farm to function as one giant self-generating ecological cycle. The energy sources proposed are also completely green and have little to zero environmental impacts. I feel that these are the type of energy systems that we need to move towards in the future in order to preserve our earth and resources for the use of future generations. We do not need to decide which type of renewable energy source serves us best as existing together as one system is the best approach in shifting towards sustainable energy sources. Each source of energy fills in where other sources fail. For example, in times of little sunlight and heat, we can shift from solar energy sources to wind energy sources. The large diversity of energy sources also increases our energy security.

As Randy mentioned in his presentation, however, mainly nine challenges are faced in the search for alternative energy. Two challenges that struck me as strong hindrances to the shift towards alternative energy are intermittency and commercialization. As mentioned before, I feel that having a variety of alternative energy sources that can be used during periods when one source is unusable can solve intermittency. Commercialization is a problem as it is a long process (20-25 years) for technologies to successfully penetrate the global market.

In the paper ‘Energy Technologies for a Sustainable Future’, under the section Beyond R&D, it advocates that apart from R&D, it is extremely vital for governments to provide more direct support for bringing these technologies to a commercial state. Certain policy tools facilitating change to a green energy, as mentioned in the lesson, are subsidies, incentives (as exemplified in Germany) and education campaigns (which are likely only to work in the long term).

Renewable Energy Sources in Singapore

It was mentioned during the course of the class that the energy security in Singapore is zero. Why? We depend on other countries for energy imports and have not invested in anything capable of energy generation. Though one key concern is the lack of available land space in Singapore, I feel that we should stop using this as an excuse to continue depending on other countries for energy.

Just look at what Germany has done. Every roof is a potential site for a solar panel. They even deployed solar panels along the highway. Kinetic track pads, as someone mentioned, could help harness kinetic energy from people who step on the pad and the energy harnessed could be used to operate a traffic light.  

The following ‘speed bump’ technology is an enhancement of this technology, which can be used to harness kinetic energy from the weight of your car. The technology has already been implemented overseas in several high volume traffic areas.

Nuclear Energy

Lastly, it was addressed in one of the presentations today that Nuclear Energy has the potential to be the sustainable energy source of the future. Personally, I highly doubt this. Too many people have attributed nuclear energy to a dangerous and highly hazardous source of energy. Health concerns, such as genetic mutations leading to tumors as a result of exposure to radioactive materials, dampen public acceptance of nuclear energy into the market. I also feel that one key concern is the production of nuclear waste, which is long-lived and has no safe means for disposal. That, and the high maintenance costs, makes the shift towards nuclear energy highly unlikely in my opinion.

Prof mentioned an interesting idea that entailed nuclear energy being transmitted from plants in the US to other countries. No maintenance costs are imposed on recipient countries and the US handles the waste disposal.

Key takeaways

-       The complete shift towards renewable energy sources is necessary and inevitable and the sooner we move in that direction, the better.

-       Governments have to play a key role in pushing these technologies to be commercialized by using policy tools to facilitate this change.

-       Renewable energy sources should exist together, as a system, like in the energy-sufficient farm, and not be seen as a tradeoff with other renewable energy sources.

Issues for further discussion

-       The investment in renewable energy sources in Singapore was an interesting topic and could have been discussed further. I can see solar and kinetic (Kinetic energy track pads and ‘speed bumps’) being key energy sources in Singapore in the future, but highly doubt that wind energy will be feasible. Because of the number of high-rise buildings in Singapore, there is a lot of obstruction to the free-flow of wind. Hence the full potential of harnessing wind energy will not be realized here.

-       The question on Carbon Capture Recycling could have been further tackled. The question posed was “If CCR on a large scale removed CO2 from the atmosphere, which is a key component of the carbon cycle, should we continue to remove CO2 from the atmosphere?” Personally, I feel that the proposition that we will run into a scarcity of carbon dioxide in the future after implementing this technology on a large scale is quite far-fetched. Carbon dioxide is so abundant in the environment today that a net decrease in CO2 levels will only lead to a benefit to the environment. However there is a possibility that energy-intensive industries may use this as an excuse to burn more fossil fuels resulting in further depletion of already scare non-renewable resources.

Personal ratings

9/10. The lesson brought up many important issues regarding the ‘real’ and current problem of finding sustainable alternatives for fossil fuels. Many interesting ideas were raised and I learnt about many new technologies preparing to enter the energy arena such as osmotic power and fusion energy. A very informative & thought-provoking session!

Blog Entry #7

Lesson Overview:

During TWC session 7, still on the topic of the Bio-Business Revolution, we moved from technology in Healthcare and biomedical sciences to technology in agri-biology, environmental life sciences and industrial biotechnology. Can technology in this area really provide us with a solution to the issue of sustainability? Can agricultural biotechnology really help us get more out of agricultural land with a lesser ecological footprint? We also discussed Biofuels – a possible way to a sustainable energy future, as well as the long argued GM VS Non-GM food argument.

Ideas & Observations:

I found Reading 7, “How to feed the world in 2015”, very interesting. With the increase in population growth, urbanization and incomes, the demand for food is likely to increase leading to a shortage of food. Although through positive growth in food production, we have managed to ensure an adequate supply of food globally and nationally, hunger and malnutrition, especially in least developed countries, has persisted. Why? The paper states that lack of income opportunities for the poor is one factor that has limited the effect of positive growth for the poor. The people in developing countries are stuck in a poverty cycle where they cannot afford to buy food even if there is food available. Poverty leads to hunger and hunger leads to poverty (because hungry people are vulnerable to diseases and lack of productivity at work). The solution offered is GDP growth originating from agriculture. Agriculture would appeal to the 75% of the people living in rural areas. Discrimination against this large portion of rural farmers, especially in growth policies, has to stop in order for the overall country’s economy to progress.

This brings me to a quote I read in “Hungry Corporations” by Helena Paul, “Food insecurity is highly complex and requires careful analysis of the problems and possible solutions. Issues such as poverty, lack of access to land, water, seed and food, poor infrastructure and distribution, unsustainable farming practices, national debt, wild fluctuations and inequalities in the world market are seen as more fundamental … Enough food is produced for everyone now, yet 800 million people are hungry, thus indicating that production levels are not the real problem.”

I agree with this statement to a large extent, hence I am unsure that advances in the biotech industry in the form of increasing crop yields is really the solution to combat world hunger. I feel that what is more important is to make food accessible to the poor by societal changes and political will (as mentioned in the reading).

“When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability.”

Growing the resources we need would definitely put us on the road to sustainability. For example, biofuels could provide us with a sustainable source of energy. But the resources used to grow these resources are far from unlimited. In the situation of biofuels, the usage of land and water supplies is a key factor. One really needs to consider the opportunity costs of such technologies. Furthermore, there is significant environmental degradation through the increased uses of pesticides.

GM food and whether they should be pushed upon developing countries as humanitarian aid.

Firstly, I have to say that I have no problems with genetically modified crops. The ability of these crops to fight pests and diseases and produce increased yields is definitely essential to the pursuit for a sustainable solution to world hunger. Furthermore, as we are facing a future of severe climate changes, such technologies in the biotech industry could be vital for food security in the future. Learning how to make crops resistant to droughts or that can grow on arid land could indeed be beneficial. My concern, however, is the intentions of these biotech corporations. If they are more concerned about profits and returns, this may lead them to make irresponsible decisions based on their own greed. For example, pushing technologies that are not totally safe or healthy or beneficial to us. And since one of their key methods of pushing GM tech is by using their crops as humanitarian aid, developing countries that accept this aid will be the first ones to suffer as a result of the corporations' irresponsible actions.

“We strongly object that the image of the poor and hungry from our countries is being used by giant MNCs to push a technology that is neither safe, environmentally friendly, nor economically beneficial to us. We do not believe that such companies or gene technologies will help our farmers to produce the food that is needed in the 21^st century. On the contrary, we think it will destroy the diversity, the local knowledge and the sustainable agricultural systems that our farmers have developed for millennia and that it will undermine our capacity to feed ourselves.” – FAO statement by 24 delegates from 18 African Countries.

As for the IOPs, I found Cherie’s presentation on coral reefs and marine life really interesting. It is quite appalling to see how humans continue to blatantly destroy all forms of natural beauty and life forms around them. Hence, I am definitely happy to see that chemical technology has given birth to biorock, a way to increase and accelerate the growth of corals and hence boosting its survival.

Key takeaways:

Though according to Norman Burlog, biotechnology can and will help us meet the growing demand for food while preserving the environment for future generations to come, to complement this, we must also look at solving more fundamental problems like poverty and poor infrastructure especially in developing countries if we really want to solve the problem of world hunger.

In knowing that food is precious, we as people of developed countries should be more careful with food wastage. The little food that we waste could save the life of a hungry child in Africa dying of malnutrition.

Issues for further discussion:

I feel that the issues regarding GURTS (Genetic Use Restriction Technology)– the technology that Monsanto produced that restricted the use of their crops by causing second-generation seeds to be sterile could have been further discussed. There were many ethical concerns raised that hindered Monsanto from making this technology commercially available.

Are we blurring the lines between species by creating transgenic combinations? It is argued by some that the mixing of species is unnatural and immoral. With the birth of the Zorse (Zebra-horse), how soon will it be before we start mixing animal genes with human genes?

Personal Ratings:

8/10. Interesting topics raised with lots of room for discussion.

Blog Entry #6

 Lesson Overview

Today, we focused on Technology and the Biobusiness revolution. Prof showed us the various areas of biobusiness and further narrowed our focus to healthcare and biomedical sciences. We looked into the different parts of biomedical biobusiness including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, herbal and traditional medicine.  We differentiated between healthcare revolution, which focused more on services and biomedical science revolution, which focused on treatments.

Key Ideas / Observations

“The biobusiness revolution has the potential to / WILL transform our lives (Health, food, clothes, energy sources, others) of our economies.

It is indeed impressive what the bioscience and healthcare arena has achieved till today. For example, IVF has become a norm to overcome female infertility. Indeed the future looks bright for this arena. With our knowledge of DNA advancing, and the completion of the human genome project, personalized treatments has become possible to dealing with diseases. Personalized medical care in oncology is currently a reality for a select group of cancers. With improved knowledge of tumor biology and the advent of novel technologies allowing identification of molecular targets, it has become possible to develop therapies against different subsets of cancers.

Even Netrogena has come up with a personalized treatment approach to solving teenager Acne problems as shown in the link below: http://www.skinid.com/econsumer/clearskin/index.view

Teenagers can purchase netrogena products according to their skin type, their type of acne and even their stress levels. And all this can be done online!

NOTES – the new method of surgery to remove kidney stones boasts less pain and less risks of infection as compared to other forms of surgery. I personally would prefer such a method as compared to open surgery as less ‘cutting’ is involved. However the claim that NOTES is the least invasive method that can ever be attained is probably untrue. Prof already mentioned about an advanced treatment using wave energy to rupture the kidney stones. I found this extremely interesting and went to read up on it. Extracorporal shock wave Lithotripsy is a non-surgical treatment in which shock wave energy is use to break the stone into smaller fragments which then can pass more easily through the urinary system. The success rate is 70-90%, however there are several limitations of this procedure such as large, hard or impacted stones and treatment in overweight patients.

In the reading on disruptive innovation, the paper talks about the need for disruptive innovation in the healthcare industry. Innovations that improve a product or service in ways that the market does not expect are required. One of the ways suggested is by enabling a larger population of less-skilled people to do in a more convenient, less expensive setting things that historically could be performed only by expensive specialists in centralized, inconvenient locations. Rather than asking expensive professionals to move down-market, we need to focus on enabling less expensive professionals to do progressively more sophisticated things in less expensive settings. For example, equipping nurses to treat more advanced diseases without the need for a physician. In a way, I feel that Netrogena is doing just that with its personalized acne medication. There is no longer a need for dermatologists to recommend these products to teenagers based on their skin condition as they can order their own personalized products online.

I found Nicholas’ presentation on policies that would cause a positive impact on the healthcare scene in 3^rd world countries very interesting. I feel that in the short term, the pricing of the drugs is most imperative. In the short term, making drugs more accessible to the poor needs to be the government’s main priority. In the long term, governments need to focus on R&D. I feel that most pharmaceutical industries may not be interested in researching in better ways to due with 3^rd world diseases like Malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis because the poor people there cannot afford to purchase their treatments. On the other hand, they are keener to research on western diseases like cancer and heart diseases because the people who have these diseases are rich and can thus afford their treatments. Of course, I do realize that this may depend on level of CSR in the pharmaceutical industry. I feel that governments can play a vital role here by putting in money for R&D into specifically, third world diseases. They can do R&D jointly with pharmaceutical companies to cover their costs and risks. Governments can also invite foreign pharmaceutical companies to set up plants in 3^rd world countries so they can understand 3^rd world diseases better and can provide first-hand help to people living there. Hence R&D is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, we need to focus R&D on specific diseases that would benefit the 3^rd world.

Key takeaways

There is much potential in the biobusiness arena. As Clayton Christensen mentioned in his report, we do need to focus on ‘disruptive innovations’. We need to enable a larger population of less-skilled people to do in a more convenient, less expensive setting things that historically could be performed only by expensive specialists in centralized, inconvenient locations.

R&D is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. In terms of diseases, developing countries and developed countries may have different needs. Hence, to benefit developing countries, we need to focus R&D on their diseases.

Issues for further discussion

I feel that the topic on genetic engineering and cloning could have been discussed deeper. In predicting whether cloning will become a norm in the future, Prof showed us the example of IVF (test-tube babies),which was also widely rejected when it was first discovered, but now is accepted as a norm to dealing with female infertility. Will cloning, in the future, also become a norm?

Ratings

7/10. There were a lot of readings but I found most of them rather interesting and though-provoking. The number of presentations was also less than usual and hence gave us more room for discussions.

Blog Entry #5

Overview / Summary

Today’s topic was Information Communications Technology (ICT) and World Change – past, present and future.  We talked about the types of ICT’s present in the world today – Mass media, Internet, gaming, wireless technologies, interactive telecommunications, info systems, cloud computing and knowledge management. We went in greater detail on cloud computing and knowledge management. For cloud computing, shared information, resources and software are provided to computers upon demand. We recognized the fact that cloud computing is a better way to run businesses. The shared data centre takes shorter to set up, has a lower cost and is easier to maintain and use. However we did take note of the issue of security of data, when companies store data on a shared database, the fear that other companies can access their data is always there. For knowledge management, we learnt the characteristics of data, information, knowledge and wisdom. Data is just symbols. When data is processed to be true, we gain information. Knowledge is the appropriate collection of information, such that it’s intent is to be useful, and when we have evaluated and understood knowledge, we have gained wisdom. We also talked about whether we are harnessing the full potential of ICT’s and if we are not, what will it take to capture ICT’s full potential.

Key Observations / Ideas

Lets talk about Milo, the interactive virtual boy. He can recognize and interact with humans. He can detect emotions and display his own emotions! Microsoft should be applying this technology into their gaming industry soon enough, but lets look at the big picture of the future prospects of the application of such a technology:

-       Prof suggested this technology could provide lonely elderly with companionship

-       I personally like the idea of a virtual secretary (like in IRON MAN) minding my timetable, deadlines as I deal with the hustle and bustle of life. Such an application of technology would definitely improve work productivity.

I feel that the invention of this technology has opened so many new doors. Imagine if our future security guards, bank tellers, cashiers, taxi drivers are all Milos! Of course, over reliance on this technology is a key concern.  A system being a system always has a chance of failing / crashing, hence while being open to using these technologies, we should remain adept in functioning if we were to one day lose these technologies.

 “The most exciting breakthroughs of the 21^st century will not occur because of technology, but because of an expanding concept of what it means to be human.”

I agree with this quote by John Naisbitt. Essentially, with the invention of ICT’s, we have become more globally connected. As mentioned during our discussion, our perception and interaction has been expanded. We are now capable of interacting with people halfway across the globe. For example, thanks to live news coverage on the Internet and media, we were kept well informed about the hostage situation that took place a half a month ago in the Philippine capital. We shared the experience even though we are geographically separated, such is the impact of ICT on human perception. As for interaction, ‘Skype’ should be a good enough example. The ability to have a videoconference on the Internet with another person anywhere in the world really shows how ICT has expanded human interaction.

“Today’s real borders are not between nations, but between the powerful and powerless, free and fettered, privileged and humiliated.”

With the rapid improvement in ICTs, geographical borders between countries are surpassed. But the inequality in other aspects has not been solved. For example, the divide between the rich and the poor has not gotten smaller.

Have we captured the full potential of ICT?

Definitely not. From the executive summary reading on GITR (Global Information Technology Report 2001-2002), experts came up with several reasons why we are not maximizing the benefit of ICT.

-       Computers themselves will not improve the learning process if we do not change our skills and learn new skills to maximize the benefit.

ICT’s are merely tools to manage OUR knowledge. Youtube, facebook and wikipedia would not be able to function, for example, without our knowledge inputs. As prof mentioned, ‘Garbage-in-garbage-out’.

-       Companies especially in the developing world, have to adapt to reap the benefits of ICT.

-       Most developing countries lack the appropriate managerial and organizational infrastructure.

-       Firms are not convinced that ICT could help their business.

-       Rural markets still have no contact with ICT.

What will it take to capture ICT’s full potential?

Some of the measures proposed in the reading above are to develop infrastructure in developing countries, constantly educate and impart ICT knowhow, and reach out to rural markets. The next chapter, “How ICT could really change the world” proposed a method which I think is quite interesting. The article stated that for technology to be used effectively to revolutionize economic development, we must match technology with need, and ICT’s can be used as a platform for doing this. One idea that one of the experts suggested is using ICT to create direct person-to-person financial links (linking poor people to a sponsor in a rich country). I feel that in this way, ICT can benefit society greatly. In terms of the MDG goals, ICT can help us succeed in eliminating world poverty and hunger, and also help us develop global partnerships for development.

We also discussed how ICT could be better used in certain industries, such as education, healthcare and agriculture. I feel that, to a large extent, ICT can continue to improve education in a country.  In SMU, most of our traditional textbooks and readings have already been digitized. Are we moving towards a future where all lessons will be carried out online through Skype or online courses? While it is definitely possible, I fear that such a system may be detrimental to students. A personal touch (a teacher that really understands his student’s needs) is required in this industry for optimal learning. A computer system cannot replace this. If a student wants to know more about a certain topic or has doubts to clarify, he cannot ask the computer. On the other hand, a human teacher should be well equipped to answer these questions. For agriculture and healthcare, we can use ICT to complement development. For example, we can use GPS to detect epidemic outbreaks or monitor climate conditions that are optimal for growing certain crops. However, I feel that, for the full potential of ICT to be harnessed, people need to keep abreast of the latest ICT developments and brought up to speed on new technology. In this way, especially for the IT illiterate or elderly folks, the implementation of workshops may aid their integration into the ICT era.

For the Individual Oral Presentation’s segment, I especially enjoyed the presentation on Interpersonal Communication and Intelligent User Interfaces.

Interpersonal Communication

 So, 1 in 8 couples last year met each other over the Internet. 70% of our interaction with friends is through the usage of ICT. Has ICT, after becoming the major platform for areas such as education and healthcare, also become the platform of our social interaction with friends and loved ones? From the above statements, we can gather that this is already partially true. We definitely SMS, MMS, MSN our friends more than we talk face-to-face. However I feel that using ICT in such a personal area has its disadvantages. Most importantly, as we interact with a person through an ICT, we are not exposed to the true spontaneous character of that person. That person can also hide behind the ICT and pretend to be someone he’s not.  I feel that this has the same concept behind why most schools and jobs require a ‘face-to-face’ interview for potential employees. To really get to know a person, we must interact with ‘face-to-face’ and not through the aid of an ICT. However, the use of ICT in this area is not completely redundant. ICT can help long distance friends or loved ones keep in touch. You also have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and expand your network. In conclusion, we should not depend completely on ICT’s for social interaction, but rather use it as a tool to complement and facilitate genuine, face-to-face interaction.

IUIs

As for IUI’s, I feel that this technology could spell a bright future for our society.  Having such an efficient ‘secretary’ like the one in the movie ‘Iron Man’ would definitely make our work more convenient and productive. But I feel that we need to be concerned about the trust and controllability issue here. Normal computers and programs function according to a code designed by their programmers. This makes their actions predictable and controllable by humans. Giving computers the ability to adapt and learn makes it more difficult to predict their actions. Will people trust IUI’s with their personal information given that there is a level of unpredictability in the actions of IUI’s? I am sure that everyone who has watched the intepretation of Judgement Day in ‘Terminator’ will be concerned about this issue.

Key takeaways

Harnessing the full potential of ICT still boils down to the level of human contribution.

a)    The knower – is the knower willing to share his knowledge on ICT. Wikipedia without information posted by people will not be very useful.

b)   People need to keep abreast of the latest ICT developments and possess the IT knowhow and skills to utilize ICT’s.

We also need to reach out to rural markets who have had no contact with ICT’s.

Although the development of ICT’s has spelled a bright future for us, we need to beware of over-reliance on it and furthermore, of the dangers that it brings. (Security, espionage, invasion of privacy, exposure to corrupting influences and identity theft)

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” – Albert Einstein

We should always be aware of the impact that technology has on society and always use our moral and ethical judgment as to deciding whether a certain technology should be implemented. Certain technologies, like the Atomic Bomb that Einstein is talking about here, has brought more harm than good.

Issues for further discussion

ICT’s impact on the medical field – How can ICT further impact this field? I recently read an article in The Economist titled An Online Medic. It talks about a device known as the Tempus tele-medicine monitor used in planes, ships and at remote locations like oil wells. Basically, the device can transmit data for vital signs including ECG, blood-sugar and blood-oxygen levels, along with voice and video feed. Crews of aircraft or ships can connect to remote medical centres to help make a diagnosis or obtain treatment advice. Now, the company RDT has come up with an even tougher version which is waterproof and soundproof, and has new functions like a video laryngoscope that can be used to view and open a patient’s airway by inserting a tube. This new technology is to be implemented in the military. What new technologies could ICT offer medicine in the near future?

Humans and technology: too close for comfort? What is the limit for technology?

Especially when by technology we mean the RFID chip implants in humans. Would we be willing to implant a chip in our arm to experience the convenience of technology? Would we be willing to sacrifice our privacy for convenience?

Personal Rating

8/10. The videos that Prof showed us about ICT, particularly the one about Milo, the virtual boy, were really intriguing and thought provoking.  

Blog Entry #4

Overview / Summary

Drivers of World Change – During this session, we defined the role and function of a driver of world change, which was simply something that forces the world to change. We went on to explore some examples of drivers and categorize them. For example, under environmental drivers, we talked about the impact of germs and environmental change on society. Other types of drivers of change included competition, globalization and business innovation.

Change Management / Leadership – We defined the difference between managing change and leading change.  How one is reactive and the other is proactive.  We discussed possible reasons for resistance to change and some possible solutions for these. We also discussed the two models of change – The first being the freeze-unfreeze-refreeze model and the second being the modern model with continuous monitoring and constant renewal.

Interesting Ideas & Observations

Charles Robert Darwin said: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change.” In the reading ‘Directing and Managing Change’, a simple analogy is given which I feel is quite relevant here. A man is walking in a jungle and sees a tiger. He climbs a tree and survives. A change happens, the man assesses it and acts accordingly. How does the man survive? He adapts to the jungle. When SARS hit us, we were able to assess the situation and adapt. For example, we quarantined the sick and developed a treatment for the disease. We survived the SARS outbreak because we adapted. Thus adapting is vital to our survival.

George Bernard Shaw goes a step further and states that it is not enough to adapt, we need to cause the change. “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – Is it, therefore, good to be unreasonable? I agree that when we have a vision, we should not let it be destroyed by the constraints and limitations of the world. And definitely this persistence has led to progress in many areas of our society. But is this not the attitude that has led to our environment’s current dire state? Our persistence to adapt the world to our needs, by replacing Earth’s forests with lumber mills and by setting up factories which pollute her air, has led to environmental issues such as global warming. Hence I feel that leaders of change have the responsibility of being aware of the negative effects of their ideas / inventions. If the costs outweigh the benefits, maybe we should reconsider if our idea is really for the good of mankind.

This brings me to one of the readings, ‘Zambia-The Construction Industry’. Zambia is suffering from stagflation (high inflation, low GDP). The article proposes a few approaches that the construction industry can adopt to alleviate this problem, such as building core competencies and flexibility, using knowledge for competitive advantage, training and development of staff, customer satisfaction and innovation. My opinion is that improving knowledge and training of staff are the two key areas that need to be done. Zambia needs to gain knowledge in the construction industry to be competitive. But to do this, they first need to learn from other countries (either send people abroad for training or hire experts from abroad to come and train their workers). Following this, they can then innovate and come up with their own technologies. I feel that they also need to adopt a less rigid mindset, as mentioned in the article, and be open to change.

The 12 pillars of competitiveness – I feel that the system is quite an effective method of comparison as most of the factors of competitiveness of a country have been included and I do feel that introducing such an index for countries would encourage countries to be competitive in all aspects and this should breed efficiency and greater productivity. However, I still feel that such an index might have a negative effect on poorer countries low on the index, as companies may be reluctant to invest in them, hence affecting their future economic and social prospects.

MNCs VS NGOs? or MNCs + NGOs – This different perspective brought up during one of the individual oral presentations was rather though-provoking. I personally feel that it is possible for MNCs and NGOs to work hand-in-hand. NGOs need to show the MNCs that their cause need not be at the expense of the MNCs’ profit maximization objective. For example, most NGOs are pressuring MNCs to go green. Instead of being destructive by holding protests and riots, they should try and convince the non-green companies that if they go green, their pool of customers will be higher, since more customers are inclined to buy their green products.

Traditional Model for change VS Modern Model – As mentioned in my overview, two models were discussed during the second half of the session. The freeze-unfreeze-refreeze would be effective if change is a discrete event. But in reality, change is constant. We have to be flexible and hence the modern model, which adopts a continuous approach, is definitely more effective. I agree with Prof that when adopting this approach, there needs to be a good form of change management, otherwise the whole process would be chaotic. The reading, ‘Directing and Managing Change’, introduces a rather systematic approach for managing change. It is divided into the deciding policy and the implementing policy. Under the deciding policy, the management states the aims and its present position, evaluates opportunities, reviews strengths and weaknesses and then derive alternative strategies. Following this, the best strategy is decided upon. The management then prepares a quantified and precisely timed forward plan to implement the change.

Herding Cats – I found this reading extremely interesting. The crux of the article suggests that an effective way to implement change programs is to make employees feel involved in the process. This will provide them with the motivation, skills and knowledge required to adopt the new systems and procedures. I strongly agree with the article. Humans only resist change when it makes them feel out of control. They will definitely be more open if they felt involved, understanding and accepting the reasons for change and most importantly having a say in the process. Managers need to understand that, as mentioned in the article, ‘the human element is the most critical ingredient to technological success.’

Moderation of information in WEB 2.0 – We had a debate about this. I personally feel that some form of moderation is required for the verification of information on WEB 2.0.  Otherwise extreme and contentious comments made on the internet, especially on sensitive race and religion issues, could lead to the occurrence of riots. But Prof raised an interesting counter-point, who would be responsible for moderating? So I guess it falls on the users to post comments responsibly and I do agree that eliminating anonymity would reduce misinformation and such extreme comments, as people are held accountable for what they post. Readers can also check the reliability of the sources of information.

Key Takeaways

There are essentially 3 ways to cope with change

-       Make it happen

-       Respond when it happens

-       Be surprised when it happens

I feel that this probably sums up what the whole session is about. There are 3 ways in which we can interact with change. Take the leadership role and make change happen, take the manager role and adapt when it happens, or take the follower’s role and be surprised when it happens. From the video clip that Prof showed us, we could see that it takes a lot of courage to be a leader, to do something different from the crowd. But I feel that to lead the change is essentially the best way to deal with change. Hence we should always strive to be leaders of change and not merely managers. We should definitely not be ‘laggards’ whom are caught unaware and unprepared when change happens. The reading, ‘Directing and Managing Change’, also suggests that an effective way of overcoming problems set by change is to forecast what is likely to happen, plan ahead and act accordingly. For example, we observe that the population of the planet is increasing steadily. Most likely, this will cause the shortage of food to increase in the future. Hence we need to act accordingly to deal with this potential problem.

Humans resist change when they feel ‘out of control.’ As a manager, we should make them feel more involved in the change process.

Can small companies with great leaders and management still succeed? – The question of insufficient resource and funding hampering ideas was brought up during one of the individual oral presentations. Prof quoted Leon Kaiser, “I choose to live outside my budget.” If we have a vision, we should not let the lack of funds or resources limit that vision. Instead, we should persist and look for ways to solve these problems.

Areas for further discussion

Will MDG goals succeed if they adopt Ghosn’s cross- functional approach? – I feel that it is definitely possible but may be difficult. It is on a much larger scale as compared to ‘Nissan’ that Ghosn successfully revived. Anyway this issue could have been discussed further.

Ratings

9/10 – Although there were many readings in preparation for this class, I felt that the discussions were thought provoking and some of the contributions given by Prof and other students were indeed enlightening.

Blog Entry #3

Summary / Overview

Today’s lesson covered two main topics, Industrial Development and Innovation Management. For the first half of the lesson, we discussed issues such as the aspects of Industrial Development. Is Industrial Development always a trade-off with sustainability? Could we possibly adopt a different economic model that would give us both?  Who plays the biggest role in the sustainability of the environment?

The second half of the lesson began with a very interesting video clip. We witnessed what technology has evolved to today, how a person can interact with a computer and feel that she is in another world completely due to realistic nature of that world.  We talked about Prof’s landscape model for technology and the RDA process. We discussed whether innovation should be market driven or technology, and Prof used another interesting video (Andes Tele-transporter) to illustrate how market demand drives certain innovations.

Interesting Ideas / Observations

Linear VS Cyclical Models – Traditional linear models, that we have used previously, brought a trade-off between economic well-being and environmental well-being. But a cyclical approach promises to bring us both. I feel, however, that adopting a cyclical approach is easier said than done.  The government will need to internalize all externalities. This entails, among other measures, imposing taxes on non-environmentally friendly goods and services and subsidizing environmentally friendly ones. Would society, as a whole be welcome to these measures? Would we be alright with paying more for our furniture because of taxes imposed on non-green timber companies? On the company level, the reading “Sustainability for Tomorrow’s Consumer” brought forward several interesting observations. Based on assessments, it was found that resource views of consumption do not align with economic views. In other words, many critical resources are significantly underpriced. If governments were to raise the price of, say water, the effect on society and standards of living would be tremendous. This change may be too great, especially for the poor. On the subject of change, Prof mentioned that during any change process, people would lose power. The fear of losing power hence contributes to the reluctance to change and thus this cyclical model may be difficult to implement in reality.

If it is difficult for governments to intervene, it boils down to…

After the presentation on “Is development and sustainability always a trade off?”, we discussed how much a role should a government play in the sustainability issue. Yes, I agree that taxes and subsidies (the carrot and stick) approach may help alleviate the problem. Firms can strive to innovate in environmentally friendly production techniques, but it all boils down to the consumer. As the consumer, we control the demand and the market for ‘green products’.  The government can only do so much to promote these products and services, if we do not buy these goods and services, the green firms will suffer a loss and eventually perish.

 Measuring our Ecological Footprint – I feel that this is a good idea to put pressure on firms and companies to be environmentally friendly, however I feel that it may be quite impractical. Measuring a product’s ecological footprint would constitute tracking the product’s impact on the environment throughout its entire lifecycle, from production, to utilization, to disposal. It may be difficult to track these products once they have left the four walls of the store. Furthermore, who would enforce such a monitoring system? Having an Environmental Management System can solve this problem, but the EMS, or systems as a whole, suit larger organizations, as it is likely that organization has already developed a similar systemic approach to management processes. It may not be cost efficient for SMEs to start an EMS.

“The trick is doing something else” (Tom Peters) – In conjunction with Prof’s landscape model for technology, I definitely agree with this quote. With the rapid advancement in information technology, for example the internet, we are much closer to having ‘perfect information’ in global industries than before. How then can we save our products from being commoditized and effectively stay at the summit in the long run? From the model, we can either translate cutting edge new technology into reality (cloud to summit) or improve upon and rethink our existing technologies (valley to summit). In other words, keep innovating to maintain an advantage over competitors! In my opinion, translating cloud opportunities into summit opportunities would be more difficult than the latter, but would give you the advantage for a longer period of time. This is because once your firm puts these technologies into the market, other firms would need to develop these technologies from scratch. As opposed to if your firm comes up with a minor improvement of a product, it would not take much for other firms to follow in your footsteps. Hence, we should always strive for completely new and “out-of-the-norm” ideas. In my previous blog entry, I gave the example of Apple as a company that successfully does this. 

How can Singapore do better to be a more innovative nation? – In the light of the ‘3M’ presentation, this question was raised for discussion. I liked the point of lowering the price of failure in Singapore. Yes, I feel that in everything we do, people calculate the cost of failure and analyze if it is worth it to take the risk. I feel that the government can play a big role in this. They could subsidize or invest in more ‘risky’ innovative projects.  Of course, this can go two ways. It may result in more ‘flops’. This raises the need for a proper innovation management system. Secondly, I feel that the government, or organizations, can provide incentives for useful innovations. For example, in the Singapore Armed Forces, people that come up with ideas that can improve the camp facilities are rewarded with a sum of money. Of course, the quality of our ideas boils down to our education and I feel that Singapore is taking a good stand in making primary education compulsory for all Singaporean children.

Market-driven innovations VS Technology driven – As Prof used the video of tele-transporters to illustrate, market-driven innovations are probably more successful due to the fact that there is already a need for the product, which would result in faster revenue.  Spencer reinforced this concept in his presentation when he talked about knowing the consumer, how engineers met the consumers to get to know their needs.

Key Takeaways

1)   In terms of environmental sustainability, we, as the consumers, play a big role. We control the demand for ‘green’ products, so we should all ‘go green’ and switch to more environmentally friendly alternatives today.

2)   We need to look at the big picture. After reading the article “Sustainability for tomorrow’s consumer”, I realized that one mere product, in its lifecycle, may have a bigger detrimental effect on the environment than we realize.  Producing a shirt, for example, may not have a direct impact on the environment. But growing the cotton needed for the shirt uses 6,500 litres of water, and the regular washing of the shirt uses 2,700 litres. According to this same article, if present trends continue, by 2025, 1/3 of the world’s population will be affected by water scarcity.

3)   Keep innovating! – The trick IS doing something else. We should stop doing the norm, start thinking out of the box. If organizations keep differentiating their products, it will be difficult for other organizations to commoditize their products, hence putting them at the ‘summit’ permanently.

4)   From the RDA process, we can see that different people play different roles for the innovation development process. For the dream to become a reality, we all need to master each of our expertise and work together.

Issues for further discussion

1)   Does green technology have any detrimental side effects? It is assumed that green technology will only benefit the environment. In one of the readings, it was mentioned that a dam being built with the intention of harnessing energy from water as a ‘green’ alternative to burning fossil fuels was in turn destroying the natural habitat of many fishes and water animals living there.

2)   How can we promote greater innovation in Singapore – I feel that we could have discussed this question further!

Personal Ratings

8/10. There was more room for discussion, which was really good.