Technology and World Change Week 6

This week lesson is about BioBusiness Revolution, healthcare and biomedical sciences. The class started with a video that Microsoft came out with. Honestly I have seen this video while doing research for my individual paper. However, due to the lack of trust in the social media, I dare not assume that this is truly from Microsoft. But after getting confirmation, I realize that BioBusiness is something which might change our lives drastically in a few years time.

With the kind of technology shown in the video, it can bring so much convenience to each individual and I felt that the information that the doctor is providing to the patient is in much detail as compared to now. Although the patients get to know what their condition is, they are mostly not presented by the facts and also ways to improve in such a great detail. Furthermore, the technology helps in terms of the productivity in the healthcare service as well.

Thus, it eventually leads me to explore the improvement/ direction of the future BioBusiness in the healthcare sector. That also interests to a great extent in the direction of Electronic Health Records which I will be using it for my individual paper. It is a system whereby the health records of each patient can be transferred to another healthcare service centre, even if it is a private clinic as long as these parties have signed a treaty of confidentiality of the information received. With that, it is a sign of taking a first step into reaching the stage of where Microsoft has vision to be in the near future.

All in all, technology can bring us more than what it seems and it definitely helps to improve our current lifestyle no matter if it is in the IT sector or the Healthcare sector. So we must always be prepared for the incoming change and ensure that we can adapt to it as soon as possible as change does not wait for others.

Overall, I rate this lesson 8/10 because I really enjoyed it and felt that technology can actually bring such a GREAT difference in our lives. Looking forward to the next lesson!

Technology and World Change Week 5

We are week 5 of TWC and yet the lesson is still as interesting as ever. What really catches my attention today is the ability of the technology now in the current world. When the video of Project Natal is being shown, I must say it is really an eye opener for me. I have seen tons of role- playing games, the ability to create a virtual person (The Sims) but I have never came across anything like Milo. He is the first virtual character that I know who is able to communicate with humans literally, interpret emotions and even show his own. The awesome part is which it felt so real that I almost believe that someone is literally living behind the machine! However, the thought that came to my mind after being amazed is such that if technology were to go towards this direction and having this ability to create virtual self that is so real, is it even healthy to our growth mentally and physically? With the presence of such virtual character, the time that we used to spent at home will be increased and it might be even possible that Milo will being treated exactly the same as humans.

On the other hand, I feel that cloud computing is really beneficial to us. With cloud computing, files can be easily shared across our peers and the space that we were given enable us to save money on buying gadgets which costs a lot. Even though this new technology has brought us a lot of convenience, but I felt that is might be misused by people as well. With the ability to download movies and songs through the internet or online music and video stores, all these video files can be passed around easily to our friends. This in turn will then impact the media and entertainment industry to a very large extent. So this is one of the cons of the cloud computing.

Moving on, after looking at the presentations I felt that there is really a very high possibility that one day all paper products (newspaper, books, notes) will eventually become history. This is definitely good in the eyes of the environmentalist whereby all tress will be spared by then. Although paper products are being replaced by future digital technology, but does it mean it will be really saving the environment? I am sure some other kinds of energy that needs to be used to power the new technology might cause more global warming. Imagine electricity bills are tripled by the next few years. How can the country provide this high amount of energy to each of the household? Do we have to adopt the strategy of Masdar City (having the technology by solely using solar power) in order to sustain longer?

Overall, I rate this session 7/ 10 because it is really thought provoking on how the future technology can turn into as well as how we are going to sustain/ maintain these new creation when it comes.

My Topical Review Paper Outline

Specific Innovation of Interest 

Technology in the Health Care Industry: Electronic Health Records

Rationale for Selecting this Innovation

While technology plays an important part in our daily lives, but I felt that the impacts it brings to the Health Care industry have to be improved in order to satisfy the needs of the future tech-savvy people.

Background/Introduction 

Online prescription and health screening have been made available but in actual, when one goes to a health care centre or any hospital, they will have to go through the hassle to fill in the form about their past medical history and relevant particulars in order to proceed further. Not only that, upon meeting any new medical personnel or doctors, they will have to repeat the same process again. Electronic Health Records is one technology that was newly introduced but yet not being widely used yet.

Current Situation

The negative impact of the Electronic Health Records:

• How does it affect users?
• Will privacy be invaded easily?
• Is it really error- proof?
• The information of a certain patient might be used wrongly at the wrong time
• The feedbacks from the professional on what issues were faced

The positive impacts of Electronic Health Records:

• The convenience it has brought to patients
• How has hospital and doctors benefited
• How information is easily accessed and retrieved in times of need
• The level of efficiency that have been increase in the Health Care Industry

Future Considerations

• Patients can also get accessed information about their medical history
• Electronic Health Records is being used daily even in private clinics
• Even X- Ray results can be done and transferred at home to the hospitals
• Electronic Health Record can be a part of M- commerce in the future

Conclusions

• Electronic Health Records is not longer a new technology or platform to share information
• Every place is using Electronic Health Records including private and small clinics
• M- commerce will be incorporating such technology in the future to satisfy the future generation who are more tech – savvy than those in the 21^st century

Technology and World Change - Week 4

Time really flies and here we are at the 4th week of TWC.

This week lesson, we talk about the global drivers of change, change management, and change leadership.

I really like the quote that was being mentioned in class, by W. Edwards Deming. He said “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory”. This sentence is very thought provoking to me as it leads me to think about the change I have experienced ever since the day I was born. If we refuse to change, I guess that the technology that we will be using now will be antique. Things like a walkie- talkie (those really big mobile phones that existed in the past), desktop which is really fat and unable to allow users to carry around etc. So if we are reluctant to change, it is as if we are saying "I am staying in my own cave forever" to the entire world. This will definitely lead to isolation or worst, extinction like the DO-DO bird :)

Then my question would be, is technology the driver of change? Or does the need for change forces us to come out with better technology? This issue remains unsolved just like the Chicken- Egg issue. From my perspective, I believe one of the drivers of change is human beings. We are the ones who came out with such technology which impacts the world. With the mindset of wanting to have better lives and convenience at the same time, new technologies were being instigated and formed.

Some of the interesting observations and ideas that I gathered from the class is that environment is one of the drivers of world change as well. This makes me relate to the previous lesson whereby Masdar City is being introduced in Abu Dhabi. The city plans to run entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources, with a sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste ecology. To me, this is a major change made to the world with the consideration of reducing waste and promoting “Saving Gaia”. The topic intrigue questions like: Can humans really adapt to this kind of change in their daily lives? How long can they survive in such an environment? All this is about adapting to the change management and how the government in Abu Dhabi has to do in order to carry out project and helps its people to adapt quickly to this transition to a green and “sustainable” place.

I will give a rating of 8/10 for this session because I really like what is being discussed in class and it also helps me to understand change from another perspective.