Week 5/Dosage 5

Brief Overview/Summary:

Week 5, back to a single topic. This week we focused our attention on Information & Communication Technologies (ICT). ICT may sound like a very simple and straight forward term, when in fact the potential and possibilities it holds is surreal. Initially, before this session, I did not know much about ICT but now I am awed by the potential that ICT possesses. However, with a plus side also comes a down side. With the development of ICT negative impacts previously experienced could be amplified to a global scale. For example, global warfare, mass mobilization of hatred and coordinated simultaneous international crime.

 

Interesting Observation and Ideas:

In the past, many forms of mass media were passive. Ranging from radios to the printing press to the first form of the World Wide Web. Now, the development of technology has empowered humans/consumers the ability to interact with others/the producer. This has brought about a major change in mentality and perspective in the human mind. People were now able to criticize, praise voice out their opinion. They have the ability to do so and in certain countries the right to do so. With this two way interaction, producers could accustom to the wants of the consumers. Governments could receive feedback from the people. Ideas could be discussed and developed worldwide. International collaboration for the development of technologies were made easier. Not that these were not possible before, but now it has been made much more feasible. On the other hand, with that much interaction happening there are bound to be redundant or less useful information being put forth. At present people have to filter out those information by themselves. Knowledge management has to occur. As individuals we have to equip ourselves with knowledge and awareness to do so. Hence, there is an increasing need for people to be educated so that they would not be so gullible to believe everything that is presented to them.

Currently, the world has only began to explore and harness ‘the tip of the iceberg’ of the potential of ICT. “Today’s real borders are not between nations, but between powerful and powerless, free and fettered, privileged and humiliated.” With this being said by Kofi Annan we can infer that inequality is a persisting problem yet to be solved. However, ICT could be one of the solutions to inequality and other issues in the world. The Millennium Development Goals could be achieved with ICT. For example, a poor individual in Sudan could be linked/connected to a rich sponsor in the United Kingdom by just a click. In addition, if everyone was given the access to ICTs the playing ground would be level. A fellow peer brought up a question “Should access to the internet be a human right?” Indeed it should be, imagine what would happen if everyone in the world had access to the internet. Would education be so much of a problem? Boundaries and invisible inequality lines would slowly dissolve, bringing people together. It would ameliorate the persisting problems in the world and boost the progress of mankind significantly.

 Reading 6 left a deep impression on me. It was on The Project Natal. Upon watching the video, I was blown away by the technology presented. It was kind of scary though that a virtual being could be so human like. Yes, as discussed in class the possibilities and benefits we could reap from this technology were endless. However, I guess what bothered me was the possibility that the line between reality and the virtual world could be blurred. People could get ‘lost’ in the virtual world, especially children. At such a tender age, children could be lead to believe that the virtual world was indeed real and favour the virtual world to the one they are in. Negative psychological and societal impacts would definitely arise.

One interesting thought I had was that in the future, when the technology is sophisticated enough, people could actually upload their consciousness into systems and ‘live’ virtually. Humans would then be able to live forever as a machine. Another though I had was whether computers or systems would one day have the same analytical abilities as a human being.

 

Key Takeaway Points:

1)    The world has changed from an industrialised economy to a knowledge based one.

2)    Knowledge management plays an important role in today’s world.

3)    It is not the technology invented but the application of the technology that makes a difference.

4)    Expect the unexpected. The future is filled with possibilities.

 

Personal Rating:

9/10. The session today was a really insightful one for me.