Technology Assessment & Forecasting; Developing a framework for understanding what comes next

This week's session was on technology assessment and about forecasting the future. The topic that was discussed this week was really fresh to me. The term technology assessment, i have never really considered it before. Technology assessment (TA) is the study and evaluation of new technologies. And in reading 4, it states that TA is the practice intended to enhance societal understanding of the broad implications of science and technology and therefore, improve decision-making. One of the reason for establishing TA that was brought up in the reading was because of the need to respond to new and long-standing challenges posted by technological changes. It was interesting to look at how the future technologies will be like. Also, it is important for us to do that as we have to always look forward so as to remain competitive in the society. I believe that forward looking is the way for us to go as we continue to improve.

The lesson started off with prof showing us videos on what the people would think the future will be like, the changes in the types of technology that would be present in the future. Then the idea of teleportation came along. I thought teleportation machine would really be a hot seller if there is one. It saves a lot of traveling time  and saves us all the waiting and walking time. This means that we can use the spare time to do stuffs that are more productive as compared to traveling. However, just like a coin having 2 sides, teleportation has both benefits and harm. The harm would be that we will be over dependent o the machines and if one day the machine breaks down, we would all be handicapped and hence, affecting our lifestyle.

I found reading 2 interesting as well. We were introduced to the term "Futurology" and was also given the different perspective of science fictional. Futurology is mainly driven by collective effort of think tanks. Science fiction tend to be result of individual. They are both different in a way that science fiction is more of individual findings while futurology is driven by a group effort where they predict the future together. Previously, i had the idea that these 2 terms were similar as they both have to do with new findings hence, this reading has really given me new insights on the 2 different terms.

We were also introduced quotes and one of which is, " The present is pregnant with the future"- Voltaire. I agree with this statement as the present holds the things that lies in the future. We can say that what we do now, in the present shapes how the world will be like in the future. Hence, we should be more careful as our own future lies in our own hands. Whatever our actions are, it plays a role to how our future will be like. I found this quote really cool as i feel that it's a quote that kind of bear a really "heavy responsibility", as it explains the significance of our actions today and how we live in the future is really up to us to crave.

Also, another quote that caught my attention was, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it"- Alan Kay. This shares the same idea as the previous quote as it also mean that the future is out there for us to crave it. This falls along the same idea as a change leader, where we are the one that is causing the change and make things happen and not just waiting for things to happen and react and respond to it. I agree with this quote also as, we know ourselves the best and hence, we know what we want the best. Therefore, the best way to predict the future, to predict one that we all favor and look forward to, we have to invent it on our own and create it the way we want it to.

In conclusion, i felt that this week lesson was really engaging and it also gives us a perspective of what we should be thinking of when working on our individual report. It also ended this whole module well as we have discussed in previous lessons the things that were influenced by technology, the past, present and future of it. Hence, we should start looking towards the area of future technology and explore the wonders that it carries.

Class rating : 8/10

New and Emerging Technology

Today’s lesson was on new & emerging technology. I really enjoyed this week’s lesson as I felt that it really stretched our imaginations on the future types of technology that we’ll have. We cannot control what lies ahead of us and hence, it allows room for our imagination to run wild. With the rapid advancement of technology, I firmly believe that the future technology will be much more magnificent. Quoting from what Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. Knowledge is what everyone knows and hence, it’s the same across everywhere. People all get the same information and there’s nothing special about anything. However, imagination on the other hand is different. It is based on how an individual thinks and rarely do people think alike.  And this makes it different from the rest. It is more important as it allows us to differentiate things and people. Hence, with this imagination, it leads to more innovative inventions being introduced and we can expect a great difference in the area of technology as compared to now.

This leads me to one really interesting thing that I got out of reading 4 and that is augmented reality. It states that augmented reality holds both tremendous creative potential and truly horrifying potential for abuse.  The reading links augmented reality to education. It gave an example of having a tiny computer worn on the wrist or around the waist, would recognize the geometry and the content user’s immediate environment and overlay that environment with meaningful images and sounds for specific purposes. It went on to talk about augmented technology immersing individuals in experiential learning environments. I found this really interesting and really look forward to such a technology. This would greatly help us in learning and allow us to learn in a faster way, as we’re able to experience what we are learning. Also, I feel that it is easier for us to learn new things when we experience it. This is because; we are able to remember better the things that we have done before. This also brings us away from the mundane school lessons that we now have and it’ll also bring more fun towards learning.

I find this week’s presentation much different from the usual presentation topics since we’re talking about emerging technology and hence the topics discussed were really fresh.  I find the presentation on driverless car really interesting; the fact that we won’t have anyone being our chauffer picking us up or the fact that we’ll be in a taxi without a driver. It’s really amazing how technology can get. However, I don’t think I’ll have the full 100% confidence to sit in a driverless car. Like what was brought up in class, it’s really dangerous to have cars with drivers and without drivers on the road. 

Then again, just like how there are 2 sides of a coin, I think that driverless car has its advantage too. For instance, it saves us all the trouble standing under the hot sun, spending a long time hiring a taxi and also, there may be cases whereby the driver will not be certain of the directions of certain places. Hence, with the driverless car, we need not afraid that the driver will not be familiar with the place that we want to go.

Another fact that I found rally amazing was from the presentation on nuclear fusion. The fact that our computer battery can actually provide us with so much energy really strikes me. We were told that that the computer battery that we use, which makes use of lithium, mixed together with water can actually provide us with electricity that can last us for 3 years. Hence, I don’t see any harm for us not encouraging nuclear fusion. Never knew a small computer battery that we all own, can do so much wonders. Imagine how much electricity we can generate given the fact that almost everyone owns a laptop.

We were also introduced to a new quote, “In terms of the development and application of new and emerging technologies, we are limited only by our imagination- and, all too often, the lack of there of”. I agree with this statement as nothing is impossible and impossible is nothing. It only depends on our own imagination and how we let it run. 

Class rating: 9/10

Energy and World Change

Today’s class was on Energy and World Change. We talked about renewable energy where it is the energy, which comes from natural resources. We were also reminded of the many different forms of renewable energy, for instance, hydroelectricity, geothermal energy, solar energy and energy from biomass and wind turbines that we have. I’m certain of the importance of all these renewable energy looking at the rate at how our energy sources are depleting. Such alternative sources of energy are crucial to help sustain the world today. Commercial activities by mankind have caused much damaged to our Earth today and that our demand for energy will just continue increasing, like what one of the presenter said; where energy is needed is almost every part of life. Hence, having all these renewable energy is important to us and important for sustainable development.

Also, with all the usage of the fossil fuels; burning them, we are emitting harmful gases especially CO2 into the environment. This then lead to global warming which will affect our goal for sustainable development. Hence, renewable resources are important to us. Citing from reading 2, it states that there is an increase in CO2 emission and use of energy supply.  It also states that the rising CO2 emission from energy will be 60% higher than what they are today. Also, it states in it that this has caused climate change. Due to the rise in CO2, it has led to global warming and hence, is a contributor of climate change. Furthermore, climate change will influence economic prosperity, environmentally sustainability and energy security. This greatly affects us as I feel that it is an obstacle to us in achieving sustainable development. We have to ensure the survival of our environment and yet, we are depleting it ourselves. Like what reading 2 stated, “human induced climate change”. This reading further talked about transport technologies where technologies could provide the foundation for a sustainable transport system, with zero or near zero emission of CO2. I feel that with the advancement of technology, we should make use of it to help improve our environment and help sustain our environment, where we transform the way energy is supplied and used.

I found the presentation on Fly Kites Fly really interesting. It talks about a new alternative energy, Kitegen, which uses flying kites to capture wind, which will then translate it to energy. I thought this was a really creative idea, to make use of kites to get energy. However, honestly, I wouldn’t support it 100% at the moment. I feel that there are still many things that we have to take into considerations. For instance, will the kites cause any obstruction to the things in the sky? But then again, considering the size of Singapore, it’ll be really cool if we actually build this Kitegen on HDB flats, where we save up space for other purposes. Or like what one of our classmate said, where we build if above the area where we place our solar panels. 

Then we were introduced to a new term Geoengineering. Personally, I have never came across this term before. I found it really amazing. We have bioengineering and now, Geoengineering. Where ways are invented to help decrease global warming. However, I agree with what was brought up in class, where this solution will only help cover up the problem and not solve the root cause of it. Hence, it may not be very effective in the long run. I feel that we have to tackle the root of the problem like coming up with alternative sources of energy so as to work towards sustainable. 

We ended class with a new quote,"Days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the green revolution". I agree with this statement. With the continuous research on new renewable energy and other alternative sources, i feel that we are working towards a stage where we will not depend on fossil fuels anymore. Which i feel will help us also, in terms of our environment state.

Class rating: 8/10