lesson 12

This lesson marked the end of our TWC course.Before I go on to talk about my personal feelings for this course, i will just dwell on one presentation which i found particularly interesting, the presentation on legalizing drugs. It was indeed shocking to find out that drug lords would go to the extent of creating submersibles to evade detection to smuggle their drugs in. Although the group presenting the case was for some drugs to be legalized. I am still unconvinced by their arguments. They have failed to bring up the most crucial reason why drugs have been outlawed in most countries thus far; it's negative consequences to society.The crimes that drug addicts commit coupled with the physical it does to the drug addicts body coupled with the fact that it addiction will probably lower one's productivity ( while burning a hole in one's pocket)are factors that will really hurt society if such drugs are legalized. Hence I feel it would be safer for society to continue to outlaw such harmful drugs.
Overall, I would rate the last lesson an 8/10. Now unto my thoughts for TWC in general :

Of the Modules which I have taken in my first Semester in SMU, this the one I enjoyed the most. TWC, I believe, has brought me up to the state of current affairs ( in terms of technology and trends ) in the world and given me a deep insight of what is likely to be the drivers of change for tomorrow. The articles, discussions and presentations which we had about ICT, bio technology and energy systems in particular, opened my mind to entirely new aspects of these technologies which I never did  hear about before. More importantly, the whole concept of the  frameworks for change, change management and  the innovation process  which we are taught in this module is what is will be crucial to help us one  in making business decisions in the future. While the technologies we have been introduced to will give us areas to explore.As I intend to major in finance, I am genuinely able to appreciate such information. The ability to understand the change going throughout the world, draw out it's implication of such change and at the same time spot revolutionary technologies( and the companies associated with it ) is a skill which is vital for strategic investing. it will allow one to reap tremendous profits by hoping onto the bandwagon early in it's journey.Thus I am thankful that this TWC module has provided me with the basic foundations for my foray into the world of finance.

Signing off now, I hope to eventually revamp this blog during my holidays to create a forum where people can post their thoughts on current affairs through the world and it's implication on society and of course for investors in the long run . A "trend spotting" investing ideas blog I suppose. More details up soon.

Lesson 11

Lesson 11:

This second last TWC lesson featured a wide variety of group presentations which served to further widen my perspective of the world. The first presentation I would list, which I find rather controversial was the presentation on bio weapons. The group introduced us to the possibility of governments engaging in secret projects to develop bio weapons that could target people on race or ethnicity . To be frank, I find it highly unlikely that any government, even the most twisted ones present in our world today would dare try such a stint. The group failed to explore the consequences that would likely follow if any country dared to initiate a biological weapon attack on another country or ethnic group in an attempt to achieve ethnic cleansing. Such an act is firstly bound to be met by international outrage as such an act would be reminiscent to the acts which Germany performed on the Jews in WW2.Dpeending on the severity of the attack, retaliation against the culprit may even include the use of nuclear weapons. This is because bioweapons is considered a Weapon of  Mass destruction ( WMD ) and hence it’s usage may even justify a nuclear retaliation form other nuclear equipped countries .The WMD status of bio weapons alone is what I believe will deter any country form trying to develop it. A s we have seen in the past 10 years, the US has proven itself willing to sanction and even invade countries which are suspected of developing such weapons. HI believe that their group’s vision of bio weapons becoming a norm in the future is very much unrealistic. Apart from the retaliation that a country will face from its usage, any country caught red handed in developing such a weapon is very likely to be face harsh economic sanctions from the rest of the world as we have seen with Iran and Iraq (previously) therefore it is almost a certain no win situation for a country to develop such bio weapons. Furthermore the group did not focus of the ethics behind such a weapon, how would any country’s own civilian population react to leaked information that their government was developing bio weapons? Let alone, race/ ethnic targeting ones. Regardless of how evil their government can be, I believe that the civilian population would find such a revelation very much disturbing and rebuke such projects.Thus a point I wished we could have discussed further in class would be about the ethical issues of bio weapons.

Another Presentation that caught my attention was the Presentation on 3 D technology, mainly ecause it was similar to what our group was planning to share in next week’s lesson. Nevertheless I do share their views that 3 D technology is a technology that can and will impact our lives going into the future.I personally believe that 3D based entertainment will be THE main form of entertainment of the future. Just as coloured TV’s replaced the balck and white TV’s an revolutionized entertainment. 3D technology I believe will take entertainment to a whole new level. It present an entirely new method of immersing the viewer in content by further blurring the lines between the content and reality. In fact it’s ability to replace monitors  for  computers will enhance our virtual world, adding a 3 dimensional perspective to it would taking our virtural experiences to a whole new level. Just imagine being able to navigate through your desktop in 3 transforming it into an essentially “real” workspace., or being able to Skype with your friends in 3D. The potential applications of 3 D technology are limitless and far reaching, offering endless opportunities for the future. This is one avenue of technology all of us should keep our eyes on.

Below is a link to a teaser which gives a glimpse of 3D messaging in the future.http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1439451/holographic_text_messages/

class rating 7/10

Lesson 10: Technology assessment and forecasting.

This lesson focused on  the different methods of technological assessment . Reading one provided a wide perspective on the different methods of technological assessment(TA). An interesting method of TA discussed in this paper which caught my attention is interpretive structural modeling, ISM Begins with an identifying an issue or problem, the elements which the issue comprises of are then listed out and a relationship matrix is then formed between this element. This Structured approach provides a simple but yet effective approach to identifying potential problems and results that may result whenever an element which the issue comprises of is changed. This provides a simple, flexible and logical approach to forecasting potential changes that may arise when from a particular technology is invented.

Another noteworthy point discussed in class was the alternative approach to strategic foresight. Instead of extrapolating forecast from pst to present the alternative approach presented to us was to work back from the future. This essentially calls us to see where we want to go with in terms of our vision for technology and development and then addressing that facts that have to be changed in the present in order to realise this vision .Such an approach will allow people to break out of the constraints of our limitations which may be subconsciously embedded in us due to our perceptions of what cannot be achieved based on past data, which may bind potentially revolutionary ideas. Thus I believe such an approach is one that change leaders should adopt .This was probably the topic I wish we would have discussed in greater detail, as we only spent about 5 mins on it. 

Class rating 8/10

Session 9: future and emerging technologies

The focus on this Week's TWC lesson was what I found to be most interesting topic covered thus far, Future and Emerging Technologies. We were introduced to two important concepts related to the development of future technology, namely Market driven and technology driven technological methods of developing new systems and products. We were introduced to several interesting videos on emerging technologies such as  smart grids and plastic logic. The readings for this session were covered a whole spectrum of emerging technologies which ranged from nanotechnology to genetic engineering and even augmented reality. Presentations for this session were also equally interesting, comprising of driverless cars,  spider pills and cryonics.

Some interesting ideas that captured my attention :

1)Molecular transistors from reading 3. This essentially explored the possibility of using molecules to act as transistors . What is fascinating about this is that it would allow for further miniaturization  of our electric components. One must remember that not too long ago, in the early 50's transistors were visible, bulky chips which was then considered state of the art, helping to create the transistor radio. The fact that scientist can envision 'shrinking' transistors to the molecular level is a testament of man kinds technological progress.

2)The Smart energy Grid video by Siemens gave a fresh look to how future green technologies could be combined in an energy efficient way to ensure the optimal usage of energy. What intrigued me the most form this was the approach to overcoming the shortfalls of renewable energy.(It's non continuous energy supply ) The smart grid system advocated the storage of energy in idle systems, this energy would be fed back into the grid during times when there may be a shortfall in renewable energy due to unforeseen circumstances ( eg: cloud cover reducing the solar energy output ) hence providing a unique, innovative solution that has plagued renewable energy sources.

With regards to my presentation on Fusion technology: Here is an alternative project on nuclear fusion running parallel to the ITER concept. Enter the NIF ( national ignition facility )The NIF aims to attain nuclear fusion but bombarding a fuel pallet with lasers. Check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmIHD6P3rdo&feature=related

Key takeaway point:

A fascinating debate  which we had about in class was on cryonics.  Of the many points being brought about a few moral issues which I overlooked was brought to my attention. Firstly, Cryonics would be dabbling with the  scientific ,moral and spiritual aspects of life and death. This is because cryonics would firstly involve "killing" the subject by freezing and then "defrosting" the subject at a later date, possibly using nano bots to repair the internal damage done by the freezing process. While Scientist may have had good intentions in envisioning such a technology, there is simply too much uncertainty involving the potential implications of killing and resuscitating a person back to life ( if it is even possible )

Another key point which I found interesting was from reading 2  and our discussion in class which covered the topic of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology offers benefits  that are wide ranging and which will influence  many industries and sectors. For example, nanotechnology could be used to improve the efficiency of solar panels , it could also be used in the materials science area to help develop new composites such as carbon nanotubes which could be even used for space elevators, nano bots could lastly also be applied in the medical arena. I believe that because of the almost limitless application which nanotechnology offers to a wide spectrum of industries, We should be willing to spend more on further research in nano technology as breakthroughs in this field are likely to have significant positive impact in different industries worldwide through it's wide reaching effects. There is however an interesting point which was raised up in class. While nanotechnology may have the ability to influence all industries, in some areas, it may not be necessary. Take the medical arena. Injecting Nano bots into the bloodstream to cure a cancer may sound really advanced. But in actual fact it may be solving the problem In the wrong way. Nature has already been coping whit these "nano" problems thorough it's biological systems, Shirking down machines to do a job that could be solve by biological cells does seem to be an over complication of the situation.

Some food for thought:

A  particular technology I wish would have been discussed would be telepathic information processing( the ability for computer systems to read our thoughts ). I believe , such technology, if possible that is , would drastically change the way humans interact with machines and the virtual world

Overall rating 10/10

Session 8: Energy and World Change: Past, Present, Future

The Focus on session 8 is on an issue which I believe is going to be evermore crucial as mankind progresses into the future. Energy. Out reliance on energy has grown exponentially in the past century with mankind ever so reliant on his usage of energy for development. Yet the primary means which we get our energy ( fossil fuels ) is almost primitive an comparison with all the other technologies that we are using nowadays. Furthermore, burning fossil fuels or any fuel’s in particular is based on simple chemical reaction of combustion and whatever fuel is burnt, be it fossil ( natural gas , oil ) or renewable ( bioethanol ) carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, is still a by-product. In this lesson, the class and (some) readings gave an interesting perspective on alternative energy sources that could wean us off this addiction to fossil fuels.

There were two particular presentations which I must applaud for exposing us to revolutionary ideas. The first being the presentation about KiteGen. Although the thought of using kites to generate power seemed somewhat childish initially, however upon further elaboration into the workings of the one can deduce that there is strong scientific rational behind such a system ( exploiting the higher altitude winds ) albeit the airspace constraints, such a system could work well if employed in remote corners of the earth ( such as in remote parts of Russia ) where they could possibly provide energy for a myriad of scattered towns in the area.

Amanda introduced us to the idea of pumping geo – engineering and the somewhat controversial concept of pumping Sulphur Dioxide into the atmosphere. Although it may temporary help too cool down the earth, I fear that such a move would have even more disastrous effects in the long run. Just imagine the acid rain fall out that would occur form injecting large quantities of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. Surely this would be enough to cause wide spread damage to the forest of the world ( which will surely suffer from the effects of acid rain ) In my opinion, the side effects of destroying or damaging our forests and plants ( which act as a greenhouse gas absorber ) will outweigh any short term effects of reflecting some sunlight from the earth’s surface. It would probably be setting us up for an even worse ecological disaster, once our forest are slowly wiped out by a world wide flood of acid rain due to this unconventional idea.

Lastly, as I mention in the start of this blog.  A particular topic I wish we could have discussed further would be the quest for entirely different forms or energy producing reactions ( such as antimatter or nuclear fusion ) . Would it be worthwhile for us to divert significant portion of research funding to perfect possible energy systems that could be derived form these two areas of cutting edge physics ? ( or any other similarly efficient , non-carbon dioxide producing chemical reaction ? )

class rating : 9/10 

The BioBusiness Revolution 2: Agriculture and the Environment: Past, Present, Future !

Session 7

This session dwelled further into the bio business  revolution. Much of what was talked about in class was on the issues  brought out in reading one.  The first focus of the reading and some of our discussion in class was on the need to help farmers in the agricultural sector who are by large stuck in valley opportunities (due to their low value added farming processes  ) and through the use of technology transform their businesses into high value added " summit" opportunities. 2 of the most promising ways suggested to increase the earning of such farmers which I believe will yield the highest "bang for the buck" would be the introduction of bio pharming  to farmers  and attempting to move farmers up the value chain. With respect to the former, the relative infancy of this sector means that the market has not been saturated, hence bio pharming may provide farmers with fantastic profit margins. The Latter proposal is perhaps the most efficient method of improving financial status of farmers, the capital requirements to package goods ( and hence move closer up the chain to the end consumer ) would be minimal compared with the increase in margins that would follow in suite.

In our general discussion in class ( and also in reading 1 ) we also dwelled into how bio technology could be used to solve environmental problems and promote industrial development . Certain technologies that attracted my curiosity, particularly Bio remediation and the usage of plants for extraction of metals. Bioremediation indeed looks to provide innovative solutions to environmental clean up ( of our mess !! ). But as mentioned by proff,  there still may be negative side effects from its employment, as seen by the dead fish ,possibly killed by the biofilms used to break up oil slicks in the BP oil rig incident this year.

The usage of plants for mining is a totally mind blowing idea, I initially though it was too good to be through when I read about it tin article one. But as Proff did explain in class. It does work ! I believe if this process could be further enhanced and perfected, it will provide us with a much " greener " alternative to mining the earth for minerals Surely plating plants would have less negative environmental consequences then carving big holes in the ground and polluting eco-systems in the process.

One of the presentations that I found quite interesting was the presentation on biofuels and particularly why the USA has not embraced it.( which is due to oil price falling significantly in the most recent recession ) Sadly this show's that sometimes our free market economy sometime fails to efficiently price in the negative externalities of oil. Furthermore, the global economy and governments adopt a short term view in their policies ( choosing to step down efforts to promote biofuels whenever oil price dropped from it's highs )  which results in overly sluggish progress in adopting alternative, greener forms of energy. In light of this, perhaps something that I wished could have been discussed in greater detail would be : would it even be possible to implement global policy changes such the price of oil could accurately reflect it's negative externalities ?

Lastly, the another topic covered in the presentations was related to Intellectual property for GM crops and how Monsanto's business model is seemingly un-ethical. The real issue behind this debate however is more to do with fundamentals of capitalism then is it to do with Monsanto's business model.  In essence, we have to ask, when do we draw the line between being profit driven and the need  to be humanitarian ?  This is particular relevant to the bio business industry and will be called into question whenever famine arises due to a lack of crops or low yields. Should  companies such as Monsanto release their patented GM crops to farmers who are unable to afford it such as in the situation such as Haiti, without any strings attached. A question to ponder about based on this situation is : whether companies involved in similar cases should come up with Corporate Social Responsibility ( CSR )guidelines in which they will intervene ( by providing their higher yielding GM crops freely ) to avert famine caused by the lack of crops ? This is particular pertinent in the event of natural disasters in developing countries, such as Pakistan ( 2010 )or Haiti, where many farmers corps have been wiped out and at the same time, they lack the financial means to purchase a seeds for a new harvest.

Overall rating : 9/10

Healthcare and Biotechnology

Healthcare and Biotechnology

Readings for this session were, as usual eye- opening ! I’m not sucking up but TWC class is really useful from the business sense, that it opens us our mind’s to a wide array ideas and concepts which present in the world.  What’s the importance of such knowledge in the business sense ?  It gives us the knowledge of what are likely to be the sectors in the world which are possibly going to be future growth drives of the economy, presenting us with some foresight into business opportunities in the investment prospects in the future.

 One of the first  things that stuck me from this chapter was the chart that Proff  displayed, showing the exponential revenue growth of the top 5 biotechnological companies in the US. Being someone who is interested in long term investing, my first reaction to that was : “ oh my goodness! I have to check out that industry when get back home, I see a lot of long run potential for investing in this sector!”  Apart from that I was surprised to find out that bio business accounted for  32.8% of US GDP ! this was indeed  another stunner for me ( although it was mainly due to healthcare )mainly because I tend to focus investing on the leading technological sector in the US . It never did occur that healthcare spending would amount to such a large figure in the USA. Coupled with the changing demographic structure of the USA which is likely to require more health care services in the future, it is my believe that the healthcare and biotech sectors are likely to experience further growth in the future.

Apart from this lessons interesting direct relations with my future fields of interest, the readings in from this chapter also provided an interesting perspective on the concept of Intellectual property rights for farmers. What struck me the most was the argument on why traditional farmers do not get IPR for special species of  crop which the grow on their land, even though they may have been cultivated by  inherited knowledge (of farmers )or communal connection to the land or special crops/ varieties that grow on the land. In sharp Contrast, larger firms, take the same crops ,tweak them under the name and under the name of “innovation” claim patents for their crops!

Lastly an the concept of disruptive innovation was introduced to us in reading four. The concept is indeed very relevant in explaining the process of competition and the need for companies to stay relevant  to the markets they serve. Essentially, the concept of disruptive innovation shows that initially, leaders in a particular industry/ sector will create cutting edge goods that the mass market can enjoy, however, over time the rate of technological advances  for these goods out run the consumers requirements, meanwhile due to technological advances , smaller business set are able to provide the same the services which the consumer actually requires. This ends up disrupting the business of the market leaders  and in cases may end up ending their dominance. This is very useful in illustrating that all business should must not just focus on creating the most technologically  superior products in their field, they have to keep and eye on ensuring that they remain relevant to what is actually being demanded by the markets and provided a cost effective solution to that.

Furthermore, it was argued that the US  healthcare industry needs to under precisely such a shift in order to stay efficient and affordable to it’s citizens. As discussed , Disruptive innovation such as matching the problem of the patient to an appropriate clinicians may indeed yield cost savings, instead of the current “overkill” approach being used now.

Lastly, As a side track from the issues raised during class presentations, a topic that I wished we could have dwelled on would be : When is the line drawn between  providing products for the sake of corporate profit against for the greater wellbeing of society. Should people be denied the right to healthcare just because they are unable to afford it?

Overall the ratings for this class would be: 9/10

Information and Communication Technology

ICT's and it's current flagship, the internet, has revolutionized the world we live in. This week's class on ICT and the associated readings did provide me with and intriguing insight into some aspects of ICT's which I have overlooked in the past.

Cloud Computing was a topic in the lesson that really captivated me. The reading on cloud computing has indeed provided a valuable insight into this new form of technology and it's possible implication to business. As I see it, cloud computing looks like it may very well be a " game changer " in the business sense . Firstly, the benefits it potentially provides to companies such as the reduction in hardware and software cost will indeed go a long way to helping all companies and their bottom line ( be it SME in starting up cost or the big banks and their huge information systems ). Futhermore, shuch systems provide firms with and option to scale up or scale down their data storage or IT system requirements on the go. This is in my opinion an extremely useful benefit. Take banks and their IT services for example.( during working  when consumers are swiping credit cards or people are transferring cash, their IT services usually undergo extreme pressure to cope with such data flow. However, during of peak hours, their servers usually lie idle. Cloud Computing offers a remedy to such situations, instead of banks having to fork out huge sums of money for vast mainframes, cloud computing may indeed allow banks to just pay for the processing power on the go , with demand very much like how they would do so with electricity. It is my belief that it will help banks and big institutions drive down cost since it would no longer need to employ a whole IT team along with costly hardware. Which is sitting idle most of the day, instead by paying on demand for cloud computing, it will greatly help to improve business efficiency and operating cost down.  Cloud Computing indeed offers a whole range of new oppourtunities. The very fact that Google's Chrome operating, system( which is slated to challenge windows)  is based on cloud computing principles also bring to light an interesting question , how will cloud computing impact the masses in the future ?

 Another interesting topic that was brought up in class was the transformation of web 2.0 to 3.0 .The internet at it's current state does already seem so advanced  that it at times can get difficult to imagine it getting better. yet as discussed in class, it seems that web 3.0 will further increase the efficiency in the flow of knowledge and information around the world. With people spending more and more time online , it does seem possible that one people spend more time in the virtual world then interacting in the physical one. This makes the argument as seen in the videos in class of the internet becoming the  primary source of revenue for business a likely one. Perhaps another aspect of the future internet that could be considered is the increase in business efficiency brought about by the network itself. What do i mean by this ? Just take a look at g-mail or Google search for example. Advertisements are suited to your personal interest and searches engines can even predict what you are going to search for. The internet is becoming less of a place where unstructured information floats about , but instead , it is becoming more organised, able to cater to the needs of individuals, able to match products to consumers and increase the efficiency of economic transactions.

Lastly, Project Natal, introduced to us by Proff, was a real eye opener. What stunned me was how natural the interaction between the human and the system was. I do have and equally interesting idea to bring up .It is a Defence advance research project agency ( DARPA / the people who created the internet !!  ) project :  mind's eye which aims " to add the perceptual and cognitive underpinnings for recognizing and reasoningabout the verbs in those scenes, enabling a more complete narrative of action in the visual experience." essentially it will allow computers and artificial intelligence to understand their surrounding and not just process it as information. Just imagine the possibilities that could be open to human machine interaction if both these technologies are merged. It Just may be possible that computers may one day to mimic, human to human interactions indistinguishably form the real thing. This would be in fact what I wished could have been discussed more in class : will it actually be possible for artificial intelligence to actually gain "sentience" such that if talking to it , we would be unable to distinguish it from a real human ?

overall I would give this lesson a 9/10

The only constant is Change ( lesson 4)

This Session was particularly interesting, with the primary focus of the first part of the lesson being on the drivers of Global Change. The reading Material for the first session was also though provoking. two articles that really captured my attention were the first and third readings, which were the 1)drivers of global change to 2060 and the 2) 2025 global trends. Both articles highlighted the Shift of cultural and economic power towards the from the west to east. 3 future powerhouses are singles out in these articles : China, India and Russia. These are apparently the rising stars of this century. The West fears this, these countries do not hold share the common values as them, ( with the exclusion of India, which the US sees as an ally). It in fact seems that in this next half a century we will see the conventional western model of democracy being challenged as China and Russia become dormant player in the world. What will be real interesting is how the US will cope with a China that is stronger then them in terms of both economic and military strength and how the turning point in the world's history when China starts to assert it's political, economic  and military power throughout the world. Indeed an interesting issue for discussion is how the wold will be at the point of time (somewhere near the middle of the century? ) where China, India, US and Russia will have almost the same level of economic, military and political dominance.How will the world simultaneously support 4 different dormant players ? Is Conflict between them likely to occur ? What will be the cultural shifts likely to take place ? Will US popular culture still dominate the airwaves ? If not, Who would it be ?

Another Issue brought up in the both these articles is the fact that Climate change and a scarcity of global resources is likely to cause problems throughout the globe as we head into the future . Both reports have mentioned this as cause for concern. What I find worrying however, is that too little is being done to tackle this problem ! In light of the current economic recession, Some countries have actually cut rebates for green energy technologies. The Solar industry was particularly affected by such moves, especially in europe, with Germany, Spain and Italy all reducing their subsidies for solar power. Sadly it does seem that we may be encountering a problem here, as governments choose to cut back on such policies in the name of fiscal austerity.
now to the interesting issues brought up in the class:
During the first half of the class, we were introduced to an interesting diagram on adapting to change. It gave real model of how technology gets disseminated and also introduced us to the concept of the Chasm, the need to cross it so as to produce products that can be used by the mainstream. This is indeed very true, but taken for granted, hence it was a very good learning point for me, that technology need not just be cutting edge but more importantly, getting it across the Chasm is vital for any product to achieve success in the marketplace.
The Secondpart of the class focused on Change management,
Here, the discussion was on change management and the shift for  old model of development( freeze, unfreeze , freeze ) to the new, more dynamic one.articles for reading included one on the different between leadership and management.which i have to disagree with certain point , namely the difference in the relationships that mangers and leaders have with others.It statedthat leaders created human relations that may be turbulent, intense and even disorganized. I have to disagree that on the turbulent part as, i believe that leaders must have a very strong relationship with their followers,a turbulent relationship and even disorganized would be no means help a leader lead !
overall the rating for this class would be 8/10

TWC lesson 3

Our 3rd TWC session started off with a an interesting video about the global imbalance in consumption trends and the need for sustainable development. A key point raised in the start of the video which caught my attention is  the scene in which the government is seen trying to serve the Corporation. I really have to disagree with this view, especially in light of the past financial crisis. On the Contrary, governments have found themselves having to intervene and bail out large corporations (such as Citibank, AIG, General motors ) this has resulted in the rise of "Big government " in the recent decade as government finds itself getting more involved in the private sector and the also in the rebirth of industrial policies Interestingly, I do feel that this is better, government intervention is for example, necessary to correct externalities such as climate change. hence the increasing involvement of government in business in the recent years may actually allow the government to steer the development of countries in the correct path, instead of the market driven path which may not be correct way forward as it usually sacrifices environmental well being for economic development. This leads to what we were talking about in class : that the old industrial model of economic development vs environmental well being transition to the sustainable industrial model of economic development and environmental well being. The presentations and discussions that followed encompassed technologies that can help meet the drive to achieving this goals.

        In the second part of the class ,we covered the topic : Technology and Innovation Management

In this part of the class, we were introduced firstly to Shai landscape model of technology : conceptual framework which introduced us to valley, summit and cloud opportunities. Another interesting idea presented to us was the research, development and application ( R D A ) process. A key takeaway about this session of class was this  RDA process which shows that while research may yield good ideas and technology, The key challenge lies in developing these technologies and applying. What also noteworthy is the different skillsets involved along the process. With the Research end being more scientific and the application asepcts focusing more on management and business development

      An issue that I wished could have been covered in more detail would have been discussed in further detail would be the viability of government policies in promoting sustainable development. It is my personal belief that governments play an even more vital role in promoting sustainable development then technology or the free market itself as the only a the government has the power in terms of legislative measures and economic incentives or deterrents to force  the free market to adopt the proper technologies and practices to head down the path of sustainable development.

Class rating : 7 /10

TWC lesson 2

In our second lesson the focus of the lesson was on Technology, Society and Global Dominance, this included a brief discussion on the dimensions of global dominance , such as Social, Cultural etc...and some talk on the reading material , namely on the colonial holocaust. this indeed provided a very fresh, non- Eurocentric view of how the Europeans colonized the "savages" In the second part of the lesson the class went on to discuss about human and technology, there we discussed about what is human development and also had an interesting discussion about the rising equality of women throughout the world and the possible implications of that.

And interesting point in the lesson that took my attention was the simple model which we were introduced to by the proff. This triangle shaped model showed how both countries and even companies can become dominant leaders in their respective fields and what were the factors associated with both these " rising" and " falling" stars .which leads to the  Observation : societies and organisations at different stages of innovation leadership and tech dominance display very different behavioral truths . This also lead to an interesting debate on weather the USA was a rising or falling star. In my opinion, the USA would probably a falling star that has just started it's decent down. This has been greatly accelerated by the current economic recession which has caused the Us government to go deeper into debt, with the government spending spiraling out of control, a political system that can only agree to disagree, it seems very likely the flagship of democracy is losing steam. AS the government will eventually have to scaled down on it's spending, the mighty American military will slowly down size and eventually lose it's status as a superpower. In terms of it's economy, the deleveraging that is occurring in the system is likely to prevent any surge in economic growth as the government has little room to boost spending or support new industries, since it has already chosen to float industries which are starting to see it's sunset, namely the car industry in the USA. Unless the US can settle it's economic woes in the next few years ( ie: keep it's healthcare In check, settle it's housing market and it's national debt ) it seems very likely that people will soon start to loose confidence in the US economy and the almighty dollar. Which would probably mark the end of the era of US dominance.

Another key  takeaway would be on how technology has help women rise to power in the workplace and given them equal opportunities . It is indeed very interesting that the contraceptive pill has indeed played a part in helping  women enter the workforce. This was a very basic fact that I have always overlooked.  Also with the advent of more machines to aid in household chores, such as the dishwasher, and even the automated vacuum clean . It has allowed women to be freed of their overly stereotyped role of having to stay at home and to the house hold chores. What was most interesting about this topic however was the question of what we MEN should be doing ? I would probably have to say that we guys would probably have to start taking up a bigger role in the house in light of all the calls for equality and women's rights these day. (which totally sucks)

One of the key issue I wish could have been be discussed in further detail would be how would the transition of China  taking over the US as the dominant global player could possibly play out and what are the implications that the rest of the world would face when that happens. Also, would it be possible for the  US to climb back up to become a dominant global power once it has lost it's status? 

Lastly, My personal rating for this session would be 8/10 

TWC lesson 1

        In our first TWC lesson the main topic covered in our lesson was on Yali's Question ( from Gun's Germs and steel ) .The Class also ventured into a short debate on the status of the future direction of mankind's Evolution, or  "Devolution " as I would like to call it.
Yalis questions ( on why white man had so much "Cargo" )as brought up in Guns Germs and Steel is a on  the surface Something that sounds so simple, but yet this simple query has often been taken for-granted by many ( including  me) . Perhaps it because we are so used to using western technology in our everyday life and the effects of globalization make as feel like this same technology is available to all through out the world, that we forget that most of the the technological progress in the the past 500 years has more or less come to past due to the European Civilation. The question on How and why the Europeans had such a superior technology compared with other civilization ( which they then conquered ) Was Something that really bugged me throughout the week !
         I was So troubled by the question that i decided to watch all 18 episodes of Guns Germs and steel on YouTube. I must say I find it really amazing on how one civilization could be have developed Guns, Steel Weapons , Domesticated animals for battle while the others were still using Primitive technology namely the (Inca's and the natives in New Guinea ) However I did find that the argument in Gun Germs and Steel is too one sided, attributing all of the Europeans Technological advantage to their geographical locations. While It may be true that geography did play a part, I believe there is other factors that did contribute to their society rising up to develop technology light years ahead of others.
Factors which Jared Diamond did not include in his argument included the Political Systems which evolved in europe allowed them to be able orgainse themself into relative well run countries which could engaged in exploration and trading with other parts of the world. This for example helped open the europeans civilisation to new ideas and technology from other parts of the world ( such as gunpowder form china ).
Another factor was the presence of many different countries / factions in Europe and their Continues conflicts between each other and external civilizations This gave rise to major Conflicts and Arms race in europe which is a catalyst for how military technology in the Europe as a whole developed at such a fast pace. Tough Jared Diamond inisit that the natives in New Guinea  have been having conflicts , these are mainly tribe or clan conflicts. The Europeans Have been fighting large scale battles right from the time of the Graeco- Persian wars to the Romans battles with the Persians and later the vikings and medieval warfare. Their constant engagement in such conflict could also be cited as a possible explanation for their rise in technological level as they came into contact with various ideas from different civilisation on the battlefield.
          Lastly our debate on the future of mankind evolution was relatively interesting, however, Ihave to disagree with the concept of mankind evolving to become weaker physically for one simple reason. It is far too early ( less the 50 years!! ) s which obesity has been on the rise. furthermore , becoming Fat is mainly a matter of choice, the likeliness of our genes permanently changing to adapt to our new easy life style is too unrealistic.As evolution would take thousands of years for even a small change in out appearance to become permanent.Perhaps what could be considered is how we would use technology to alter and shape our evolution . I believe it is far more likely that we will be able to tweak our genes and correct or even improve our physical abilities before our bodies can even naturally evolve to a state of permanent obesity.
  
    It was a pitty that we were unable to go into a broader discussion on Yali's question as I believe that there would be even more views on this topic. But however ,the lesson was still very engaging and thought provoking.rating :7/10