Today's session was on technology assessment and forecasting, and it elaborated on how it is important to be forward-looking. And being forward looking didn't simply mean just looking at what we have today and thinking about what might happen, but today we discussed how it was more important to go back from the future rather than going forward from the present. This meant that we are only limited by our imagination and it is vital for us to view the possibilities of the future, and to start working on them today.
The process of strategic foresight as the next business frontier was also perceived to be a viable option that would prove to be successful for organisations if they chose to have strategic foresight as one of their practices.
This video mentioned that the capacity for a business to generate different more accurate images of the industry's future will be his greatest asset. And i thought this to be really true as competition within industries soar high and it's always better to stand out with your unique future innovations. One other quote that was mentioned in the video was- "To be successful in the future, your business needs to develop the understanding of the future as its foundation for strategy and innovation development". This summarises what we discussed in class today, that we need to extrapolate into future possibilities so as to anchor ourselves in methods and strategies today.
One interesting thing that Prof mentioned was to "take the obstacles and challenges of today and make them into stepping stones into the future". I thought that this optimistic mindset was interesting and would be beneficial to all who adopt this thinking. Most people see obstacles and challenges as dampeners to their growth, but what they do not realise is that these obstacles can be taken in a positive light and in turn be used to generate more ideas on where the use of technology can lead them into future possibilities.
What I managed to pick out from the presentations today was that it’s easy to overestimate ST gains and underestimate LT ones. It allowed me to realize that society is often short sighted and we’re unable to fathom the various benefits and gains we can inherit in the long run, if only we were willing to not let anything restrict us.
Overall I'd rate today's session a 8/10 as it summed up what we've learnt over the past 10 weeks and is helpful in my understanding of how the future can shape the present.
Today's session covers emerging and future technologies and was an enriching session to me cause once again, twc lesson lets me in on the new world of technologies that I'm unaware of. And this new world of new technologies owe to the innovators that dared to imagine.
You say things and you say 'why?'
I dream things that never were, and I say 'why not?'
- George Bernard Shaw
One quote that was mention in class pretty much sums up how most of us aren't open to imagining and creating new stuff on our own, and the opposite- how a group of people look to break the "it cannot be"s and are open to thinking of alternative ways to improve various aspects of our lives.
And another quote that is relevant to the issue of people being closed-in on their imagination was prof's 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 thereof"
Of the many videos that prof showed us, I particularly liked the one on Augmented Reality. Augmented reality is the adding of a layer of useful information to the reality we see on handphones and computers. And here's the video:
It was interesting to see how you could just raise your mobile phone to say, a row of restaurants in front of you, and with this you are able to know the details of this restaurant. This is certainly a breakthrough for convenience, saving people the hassle of ploughing through the Yellow Pages, or even the need to turn on computers to look for information. This then brought to my mind another type of augmented reality that i came across while researching for my group project. This is about virtual make up where women (or men if they like) can just position themselves in front of a screen that takes a snap of their face. And through this, you can pick up the cosmetics that you think would benefit you, and as and when you scan their electronic tags, you're able to see the results on your face instantly in the video screen. This also enables women to get a better perspective of both before and after pictures displayed side by side.
One other point mentioned was that supply can sometimes create demand. I thought this to be really true as people in the past were always satisfied with whatever they had, and they didn't need more. But when has progressed from then till now is that due to the wide imagination of various individuals, leading to the emergence of new technologies, it has created a huge jump in supply of new innovations that can have possible impacts on society. And due to the onset of such innovation, people are increasingly intrigued and curious about such creations that hence led to the increase in demand of the new stuff. This illustrates how people don't realise they need it until they experience this new technology, and one example would be the iPhone.
Other quotes mentioned was that "there is a space between man's imagination and man's attainments that may only be traversed by his longing" and a more significant person would be the main founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, who mentioned that "innovation distinguishes the leader from the follower". I thought that these 2 quotes summed it up pretty well, that it is up to the Gen Ys to be willing to imagine and break boundaries, leading to technological advancement. It certainly is important to rid ourselves of the rigid mindset that innovation is only for intelligent people who have done tons of research, but what we fail to remember is that the root of all ideas begin in creative environments where there is no restraint on the kind of ideas that are churned out.
One interesting take away from the presentations was the one on the electronic paper which is the new form of paper that was flexible, water-proof and could store multiple information, making things a whole lot more convenient for people since information was all stored on a single sheet. What excited me was that you could line your room with e-paper and these could change colour or images according to however you wish! I guess this suits the ever-changing wants that society so often has these days, and this in turn explains how there is a need for new innovations to sprout out constantly to ensure that our ever-changing needs and wants are met.
However, there are setbacks to this as it was mentioned that the copyright of materials might be an issue. With the transfer of information so easy and at your finger tips, it would be no surprise that the existing issues of intellectual property would be worsened further. One method of countering this is possibly the topic of copyleft that allows people to use other people's work as long as they cite where they took their material from.
Overall, I would give today's session a 9/10 as I'm always awed at this whole new world of emerging technologies that are unknown to me, well probably cause I'm not sufficiently well-read. And this I'm sure, is that many others out there are also unaware of such developments that have been taking place, and this is a pity. I think it's important that commoners like you and i recognise the effort and time spent into such innovations, and more importantly, recognise the boundaries they broke and their never-ceasing imagination that allowed the advent of new technologies.
First session after our break from Recess week led us to talk about energy! Oh how we need the energy to continue studying till week 14 :((((((( But that wasn't the kind of energy we were talking about today, instead we spoke about the various types of energy, and how important it is for humankind to keep going in the search of new sources of energy, since old ones are running out.
Prof pointed us to one of his many quotes again and today's read this:
The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the Green Revolution.
- Gurinder Shahi
This is definitely true in all sense of it, as sources of energy used in the past are fast depleting, with people consuming more energy than they actually should. This use of energy can be attributed to various sources, like the use of energy as a source of national income, energy for the poor, and energy for transportation technology. Such usages can perhaps be advantageous in helping a country grow economically, but what it fails to realise is that our consumption is more than the availability, leading us to the road of energy deficit in the near future.
Hence, people have turned to research on renewable and sustainable energy, that are better options for everyone to turn to. Renewable technology are naturally replenished, and hence would not run out anytime soon, or ever for that matter. Some of these include solar energy, wind energy, and geothermal energy. I guess my favourite for Singapore would definitely be SOLAR ENERGY! Since it's always so hot here, we might as well put the heat into some use.
Solar energy has been put in place all over the world, with solar panels covering huge acres of land, and in turn generating a substantial amount of energy! One hurdle for singapore would be our lack of land space, but one solution would be installing these solar panels on rooftops (since we always like to go upwards). From what I know, my alma mater, SAJC, has previously installed solar panels on the rooftops, and it was said that even though it provides only a small portion of energy, it is no doubt still helping to contribute to energy consumption. In fact, SAJC was in the news yesterday about these solar panels! And it was talking about how Dr Amy Khor, senior parliamentary secretary for the ministry of environment and water resources, mentioned that this solar energy project "takes Singapore further in realising its goal of switching to clean energy technologies". Here is a picture of the solar panels, dr amy khor, and my principal, haha.
Apart from solar panels being installed in SAJC, Singapore has also progressed to install solar panels atop Changi Airport's Budget Terminal. It is said to save up to $60,000 annually and can convert about 346,750 kilowatt hours of energy each year! I'd say it's definitely worth the investment and proves that even a small country like Singapore, with limited land space, can still do its part in helping conserve energy globally. And again, here's a photo of the solar panels, with a plane flying in the background!
Also, in reading 5, it brought to my attention the vast number of sources of energy we can tap on! These include wind power, solar power, solar photovoltaic power, geothermal, solar thermal & ocean energy! T'was quite cool, I thought. And perhaps we should indeed turn to such renewable sources of energy, and fully make use of what's given to us naturally.
This brings me to remember about how one presentation mentioned reusing CO2 exhausted from cars, to power cars! It's like you don't even have to use petrol and diesel anymore (and what more about fossil fuels), cause what you produce from your car can drive it! No pun intended. But seriously if such a thing came to light and use one day, it's gonna put oil and petrol companies out of business, and that was something we discussed in class as well. But I like that thought, though, that we can save money on petrol, and use it to buy more cars!!!!!!!! Ok, you know I'm kidding.
One other highlight of the lesson was this animation that Prof showed us, which I thought brought the message of the problems that global warming bring, and how new ideas and new technologies can help conserve what we have. Going green, and using cleaner technologies, friendlier to the environment, can help us use energy more efficiently. Here's the video!
So all in all, my key takeaway for today's session is that turning to alternative sources of energy would be a decision well-made. And it would leave countries with more hope than regret as such sources of technology can conserve the fragile environment that we live in, and is no doubt a good investment.
And to end off, i'd rate today's lesson an 8/10 as I can finally see some use of Singapore's sweltering heat other than making us perspire like mad dogs.
