Week 11: Session 10

This was the last formal-teaching session, and was centered on the theme of ‘Technology Assessment and Forecasting; Developing a Framework for Understanding What Comes Next’.

Keeping in mind the vast and drastic changes that have already taken place in the world, and those that will possibly arise, we must focus on seeing the future.

Technology can be a double-edged sword. It can be used for good or bad, depending on how you use it, and what you use it for. This is why it is important to implement safeguards to prevent the use of technology to serve bad purposes.

There is no way of knowing what is going to happen in the future, and how it may change the world. We always need to be prepared for unexpected events. We must decide whether we want to wait for problems to arise in the future, or be proactive and predict the problems that we might face, and come up with solutions for these problems as soon as possible.

Global mega-trends are changing the world as we move forward. As we have already seen, the shift from agriculture to urbanization has brought about great changes in the world. We must be prepared for such mega-trends that may occur in the future, as well as the implications that they might have on the world.

A change that we are already beginning to witness today, that will have a greater impact in the future, is the aging population problem, wherein the number of older people in the population is increasing, and the number of younger individuals is decreasing. There is a need to start preparing for such problems. For example: Singapore has already started preparing for the aging population problem by changing the designs of various buildings and so on, to make it more easily accessible by the elderly.

One of the quotes that Prof shared with us this session, that I found very interesting and thought provoking was:

“My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.” – Charles Kettering

I think this quote emphasizes the importance for us to plan for the future, plan for various possibilities, and generally be aware of what might possibly happen in the future.

For example: Due to urbanization and industrialization, we can reasonably predict that our reserves of natural and other resources will become more and more scarce. This will result in a bigger problem in the future; a problem that we must prepare and provide for. Therefore, it is necessary to develop efficient methods of resource extraction and utilization so as to conserve our resources and may be even extend their lifespan.

With regard to the concepts of ‘forecasting’ and ‘technology assessment’, it is important to look into the future and predict where it may go, and also assess technology and what it is capable of doing, while being able to improve the future.

Considering the fact that we have limited cash and resources, we must take into account various factors such as the implications of a particular technology, how it contributes to the development of individuals and society, and where we could get the biggest return on our money, and invest in those areas.

We watched a video which said that the word ‘Future’ is an acronym for a Fast moving and Frugal world, which will be more Urbanized and Tribal in the future; changes will happen all over the world and will be Universal, and these changes will be Radical, and that the Ethics in business will become more significant.

In conclusion, we see that the world is constantly changing, and global mega-trends are likely to bring about more changes in the future. It is important for us to predict and provide for such changes, and develop solutions to problems that we might possibly face in the future. Keeping this in mind, it is important for us to have foresight, get a sense of where the likely hotspots for development are going to come from, and invest in technologies appropriately.

I give this session a 7 out of 10.