“When we are able to grow the resources we need, we’ll finally be on the road to sustainability” was the takeaway message Prof left with us. This is very true, because only when we know the method of growing our resources, then can we continually pass the skills on to the future generations and encourage them to explore and discover more and eventually be self-sustainable. It’s just as the saying goes “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”.
In the era we live in, we seek to continually discover more alternative resources or methods to boost agricultural produce. We don’t wait and hope to chance upon resources, we actively SEEK the routes to finding such resources or technology. All these are done in the hope that we could eventually be self-sustainable and one important transition I’d like to highlight is our shift from the GREEN to GENE revolution with the aim of being food secure and sustainable.
Green revolution was highly lauded back in the 1970s because the development and technology initiatives helped quadruple the amount of output with every acre of land, thereby being able to feed a much larger population. However, crops faced the threat of being wiped out by capricious weather and the devastation was even greater when people didn’t have enough food supply.
With the current improvements in biotechnology, we now have the Gene Revolution, and as its name suggests, crops can be genetically engineered to possess favourable characteristics to withstand harsh and unpredictable weather. The video belows explains our transition from the green to gene revolution.
Gene revolution seeks to provide many opportunities for countries like India (an agrarian country), because sensible integration of biotechnology in research can accelerate the pace of agricultural improvement and is of considerable relevance. With no more arable land available for agricultural expansion in India, enhancing stress tolerance in crop plants will permit productive farming on currently unproductive lands. Abiotic factors such as drought, heat, cold, soil salinity and acidity cripple Indian crops seriously constraining their growth and yield. One could extend the growing season of crops and minimise losses due to environmental factors. The shelf life of fruits and vegetables can be prolonged to reduce losses to food spoilage, expand the market vista and improve food quality.
Many other countries, like Mexico, China, Argentina have reaped benefits from the biotech supported agricultural programmes implemented in their country. When crops are engineered to be pest-resistant, drought-resistant and more nutritious, output level will not be greatly affected by invasion of pests/occurrence of extreme weather conditions. This can ensure a steady supply of food and thus increases food security and economic stability as well!
However, there have been certain areas of concern with regards to these genetically modified crops/food, as we discussed in class too. Questions arose as to whether we knew if we were consuming GM food or if we would avoid eating GM food if we knew of its nature. Honestly speaking, I will not seek to specifically find out whether I had been consuming GM food and I won’t avoid GM food unless there are stated components with which I’m allergic to. Furthermore, GM food can sometimes be more nutritious than others, so why not consume it?
But concerns aside, we cannot deny that genetically engineered crops have proven to be beneficial and are the first step towards sustainability in
the area of food. We have to chance people's mindset, like what reading 4 mentioned, and get them to have greater acceptance towards the gene revolution, because technology drives changes. We cannot ignore/stop technology just because of its potential problems. Rather we should follow its natural flow, amplify its benefits and work on the shortcomings so that in future, we can make things better and prevent the occurence of the potential problems.
Likewise, research into the different alternatives sources of energy have yielded positive discovery of say, the use of biofuels to generate energy. Although it has been said that biofuels can threaten food security because it uses agricultural crops in its energy generating process, but it still could serve as an alternative source in times of need. Furthermore, the exploration and breakthrough achieved in identifying possible substitutes are crucial in reducing reliance on a sole source and thereby can increase sustainability in the long run.
Today’s lesson was pretty engaging and the topic of protecting corals was very interesting because it clearly showed how biotechnology could play a role in protecting marine life as well. Overall I’d rate an 8.5/10!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
6: The BioBusiness Revolution 1: Healthcare and the Biomedical Sciences: Past, Present, Future
The first thing that came to my mind at the mention of this topic was on biomedical technology. Honestly, this is not a topic that I am very familiar with but back in jc, my classmates did a presentation on robotic surgery and hence I've decided to draw its link to our current discussion on biomedical technology.
This video here gives an idea of how robotic surgery works.
Indeed, medical technology has advanced to a stage where we no longer have to have surgeons using their hands and tools to make their way through the target organ, (like what Cheng Wei mentioned about laproscopic surgery and NOTES). It means that valves or vessels that were previously too small or narrow to be reached could now be targetted with the use of small yet precise incisions and tools that are connected to the robotic arm which are ultimately controlled by the surgeon. It also bids goodbye to the days when patients were traumatised by the amount of blood loss and scars that took eternity to heal, because what surgeons have now are a whole new technology that increases precision, minimises blood loss during surgery and likewise minimise scarring on one's body. But to date, conventional surgery seems to provide far more assurance than robotic surgery does partly because it is new and has its cons as well.
The flip side to it is that there could be higher risks involved. Simply speaking, patients fear because doctors are now not looking at them as it is, but rather looking at them using 3D cameras attached to the robotic equipment. If these equipment or robots were to fail in the midst of the surgery, what will surgeons do? Also, a greater pool of surgeons have to be trained in this aspect to endure the longer tedious process of surgery to ensure that patients' life will not be at risk because of their inadaptibility towards robotic surgery. That aside, costs could be another deterring factor as well, because now, robotic surgery is considered as in its early developments and it's costs are still pretty high. Only if eventually more and more surgeons adopt this method then will costs be likely to fall.
Back in August 2008, The National University of Singapore became the first country in SE ASIA to offer robotic surgery for cancer patients, bringing hope of a better surgery and recovery process. With more and more countries riding on this surgical breakthrough, it will be easier to convince patients to adopt a less painful procedure although at a cost higher than conventional surgery. Also, with wider undertaking of robotic surgery, it could, in future, even become the mainstream surgical process and eventually be affordable to many!
alright, enough said about robotic surgery. As always, Prof left us with a message saying "BioBusiness Revolution will transform our lives and our economies. Lives being our health,food,clothes,energy sources, others." This is very true. As in the case of agriculture, scientists are coming up with genetically modified food of various nature, such as being able to withstand extreme weather conditions and containing increased nutritious qualities. This helps reduce supply shock due to extreme weathers and could effectively provide a constant supply of food to the people. Similar, healthcare will go up because of biomedical advancements and the development of precise technological equipment which ultimately leads to improved living standards for the people. Therefore, the BioBusiness Revolution WILL change our lives, and hopefully for the better!
I felt that we could have talked more about the disruptive technologies in healthcare industry and more of other aspects like agriculture etc. I'd rate a 7.5/10!
This video here gives an idea of how robotic surgery works.
Indeed, medical technology has advanced to a stage where we no longer have to have surgeons using their hands and tools to make their way through the target organ, (like what Cheng Wei mentioned about laproscopic surgery and NOTES). It means that valves or vessels that were previously too small or narrow to be reached could now be targetted with the use of small yet precise incisions and tools that are connected to the robotic arm which are ultimately controlled by the surgeon. It also bids goodbye to the days when patients were traumatised by the amount of blood loss and scars that took eternity to heal, because what surgeons have now are a whole new technology that increases precision, minimises blood loss during surgery and likewise minimise scarring on one's body. But to date, conventional surgery seems to provide far more assurance than robotic surgery does partly because it is new and has its cons as well.
The flip side to it is that there could be higher risks involved. Simply speaking, patients fear because doctors are now not looking at them as it is, but rather looking at them using 3D cameras attached to the robotic equipment. If these equipment or robots were to fail in the midst of the surgery, what will surgeons do? Also, a greater pool of surgeons have to be trained in this aspect to endure the longer tedious process of surgery to ensure that patients' life will not be at risk because of their inadaptibility towards robotic surgery. That aside, costs could be another deterring factor as well, because now, robotic surgery is considered as in its early developments and it's costs are still pretty high. Only if eventually more and more surgeons adopt this method then will costs be likely to fall.
Back in August 2008, The National University of Singapore became the first country in SE ASIA to offer robotic surgery for cancer patients, bringing hope of a better surgery and recovery process. With more and more countries riding on this surgical breakthrough, it will be easier to convince patients to adopt a less painful procedure although at a cost higher than conventional surgery. Also, with wider undertaking of robotic surgery, it could, in future, even become the mainstream surgical process and eventually be affordable to many!
alright, enough said about robotic surgery. As always, Prof left us with a message saying "BioBusiness Revolution will transform our lives and our economies. Lives being our health,food,clothes,energy sources, others." This is very true. As in the case of agriculture, scientists are coming up with genetically modified food of various nature, such as being able to withstand extreme weather conditions and containing increased nutritious qualities. This helps reduce supply shock due to extreme weathers and could effectively provide a constant supply of food to the people. Similar, healthcare will go up because of biomedical advancements and the development of precise technological equipment which ultimately leads to improved living standards for the people. Therefore, the BioBusiness Revolution WILL change our lives, and hopefully for the better!
I felt that we could have talked more about the disruptive technologies in healthcare industry and more of other aspects like agriculture etc. I'd rate a 7.5/10!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
5:ICT and World Change
Indeed, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the main drivers of change. From the past to present, it has completely altered the way we work, the way we communicate, and the mindset in which we operate. We are gradually headed for a digital world, where everything we do or use revolves around technology.
I feel that the rise of the modern internet has played a significant role in our changed communication, such as emailing and skyping as compared to the primitive methods of phone calls and letter-writing. Take a look at this video that shows how the internet has progressed over time.
The above has introduced the 4 basic components that make up our modern internet: Arpanet, Military network by RAND Corporation in US, Commercial network by National Physical Laboratory in England and finally the Scientific network by Cyclades in France. It clearly described as well, what kind of problems faced at each level of networking and the constant improvisations made to address these situations, such that we have our Modern Internet now. Amazingly, behind all these technological advancements are groups and groups of intelligent people who slog their guts out for the betterment of Man. With the modern internet, we can do basically everything, ranging from information sourcing, personal entertainment, communication, e-commerce to e-services. It is just so pervasive in our lives that it has become indispensable.
It may hence seem like we’re moving towards a digital world, where all products or whatsoever are based on internet and interactive user-inter faces (like what Raymond talked about) etc, but the fact is that digital content remains dependent on the physical world as well. This is because data still has to be stored in machines needed to process this information. Quoting from Bill Thomsom, a BBC journalist, “the digital world is really a hybrid world where analogue and digital co-exist, where the physical and mutual come together in a mutually dependent relationship.” These technologies still have to rely on humans to operate it. Even if cloud computing comes into the picture, where virtually no data is stored on computers, just purely stored at the open of browsers, there is still a certain reliance on the physical world too.
Speaking of cloud computing, it was a completely foreign topic to me until I read the readings and saw the video in class describing what it was exactly. It was pretty interesting because the article on cloud computing showed how these future technology could aid businesses in cost reduction and the provision of greater convenience to users, and also what policymakers/entrepreneurs could do for cloud computing to achieve its maximum potential.
Okay, now back to my point. ICT has also played an active role in changing the medium of interaction in the education aspect because more schools are now engaging their students through the use of learning portals, visual enhancements and simulation exercises. Gone are the days when passive learning was adopted. Now are the times when students take the initiative to access the learning portal, gain insights through sourcing information via the internet and for personal enrichment. With reference to a BBC article, “When 13-year old Taylor, who lives in Modesto, California, wants help with her homework, she no longer goes and asks her mother for help. Instead she goes to her computer and gets on the internet, where she dials up an e-tutoring service, Tutor Vista, based in Bangalore, India, for help with her maths and English.” Across the world, the same thing happens; ICT has become a tool to education material.
Hence, from the above, ICT is clearly a catalyst that facilitates the knowledge revolution because of the massive amount of information and knowledge which we can derive from the internet.
However, the poor may be excluded from these ICT advancements because it is expensive while the rich are better furnished to adopt these costly developments, inevitably widening the rich-poor divide. This thus brings into picture the importance of including the poor in these technological progresses as well, be it through subsidies by uptaking these ICT or direct provision, policymakers or business individuals should actively seek to bridge this digital divide for ICT to have its maximum impact.
Overall today’s lesson was quite well-paced and topics that the other presenters came up with were fresh and interesting. 8/10!
I feel that the rise of the modern internet has played a significant role in our changed communication, such as emailing and skyping as compared to the primitive methods of phone calls and letter-writing. Take a look at this video that shows how the internet has progressed over time.
The above has introduced the 4 basic components that make up our modern internet: Arpanet, Military network by RAND Corporation in US, Commercial network by National Physical Laboratory in England and finally the Scientific network by Cyclades in France. It clearly described as well, what kind of problems faced at each level of networking and the constant improvisations made to address these situations, such that we have our Modern Internet now. Amazingly, behind all these technological advancements are groups and groups of intelligent people who slog their guts out for the betterment of Man. With the modern internet, we can do basically everything, ranging from information sourcing, personal entertainment, communication, e-commerce to e-services. It is just so pervasive in our lives that it has become indispensable.
It may hence seem like we’re moving towards a digital world, where all products or whatsoever are based on internet and interactive user-inter faces (like what Raymond talked about) etc, but the fact is that digital content remains dependent on the physical world as well. This is because data still has to be stored in machines needed to process this information. Quoting from Bill Thomsom, a BBC journalist, “the digital world is really a hybrid world where analogue and digital co-exist, where the physical and mutual come together in a mutually dependent relationship.” These technologies still have to rely on humans to operate it. Even if cloud computing comes into the picture, where virtually no data is stored on computers, just purely stored at the open of browsers, there is still a certain reliance on the physical world too.
Speaking of cloud computing, it was a completely foreign topic to me until I read the readings and saw the video in class describing what it was exactly. It was pretty interesting because the article on cloud computing showed how these future technology could aid businesses in cost reduction and the provision of greater convenience to users, and also what policymakers/entrepreneurs could do for cloud computing to achieve its maximum potential.
Okay, now back to my point. ICT has also played an active role in changing the medium of interaction in the education aspect because more schools are now engaging their students through the use of learning portals, visual enhancements and simulation exercises. Gone are the days when passive learning was adopted. Now are the times when students take the initiative to access the learning portal, gain insights through sourcing information via the internet and for personal enrichment. With reference to a BBC article, “When 13-year old Taylor, who lives in Modesto, California, wants help with her homework, she no longer goes and asks her mother for help. Instead she goes to her computer and gets on the internet, where she dials up an e-tutoring service, Tutor Vista, based in Bangalore, India, for help with her maths and English.” Across the world, the same thing happens; ICT has become a tool to education material.
Hence, from the above, ICT is clearly a catalyst that facilitates the knowledge revolution because of the massive amount of information and knowledge which we can derive from the internet.
However, the poor may be excluded from these ICT advancements because it is expensive while the rich are better furnished to adopt these costly developments, inevitably widening the rich-poor divide. This thus brings into picture the importance of including the poor in these technological progresses as well, be it through subsidies by uptaking these ICT or direct provision, policymakers or business individuals should actively seek to bridge this digital divide for ICT to have its maximum impact.
Overall today’s lesson was quite well-paced and topics that the other presenters came up with were fresh and interesting. 8/10!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
4:Drivers of World Change, Changed Management & Changed Leadership
As the name of our module, Technology and World Change, suggests, we spend time looking in depth at these aspects and often discover far more knowledge than we probably would have already known. And this week, the focus had been on drivers of world change with respect to globalization, technological innovation so on and so forth.
Globalization has first and foremost caused a notable change in the world in terms of integrating the world via trade, telecommunication and transportation. It has created means to increase the efficiency of communication and thus enhanced co operations between many foreign firms which ultimately results in the rise of more prosperous economies. With that, globalization has continued to spark off a chain of changes such as that of food security, values and people, infectious diseases etc. In terms of food security, probably because when countries prosper, their people are achieving higher standards of living and thus find it less financially burdened if they were to have more children. Thus when the birth rates increase, as with other countries whose birth rates may rise for a different reason, it’s going to gradually change demographics in the world. Our human race will continue to rise and is expected to peak at about 10 million before the end of this century. This implores on us a greater need for resources and food to sustain the people, and the truth is that the population and wealth increase drives global demand so high that there isn’t enough to cater to our needs. Coupled with other climate changes that we’re facing due to massive industrialisation processes and natural reasons, crop yield are predicted to be lower than what we really require.
That aside, globalisation has likewise increased the spread of diseases because of modes of transportation like aeroplanes, where tendency of bugs to be transferred, from one country to another, is very high (as in the case of the SARS epidemic when people travelling to affected areas were being quarantined for about 2 weeks). And one of the more important changes is that migration will also go up as globalisation encourages mobility of labour and population shift following unrest in a country or climate change. These can essentially lead to a cultural mix in one particular country and the national cultures will become more internally diverse. Hence change is inevitable with occurrence of globalisation and technological innovation because that’s when the world becomes more inter-connected, which itself is a massive change already.
Following which attention was shifted to change management and change leadership. Change is not just at the global level, change can happen at the national, company, individual level, of which company level served as our priority during the discussions on Monday. In the reading, Herding Cats, it clearly showed that in order for a behavioural change among employees to occur, leaders/managers cannot force upon them the makeover that was going to be implemented. Leaders/managers have to explain the rationale for the change, gather feedback on how the change could be worked on, involve the followers, equip them with the necessary skills for a smooth transition of change and if possible let them take charge of certain areas to anchor their sense of ownership&belonging. Through constant reviewal of performances & rewarding to appreciate one’s efforts, the leader is well on the way of mastering process of implementing change and also to help their followers acclimatise to the change.
I felt that the introduction of Positive Deviants in changed management and changed leadership was something interesting because I’ve never come across it before. I believe that if a positive deviant were to exist among the followers, it could even ease the difficulties that leaders/managers may come across when getting the followers to work in tandem with them. This is because, when the positive deviant is of the same level as the followers, he tends to understand his fellow mates better and could even convince them about the positives of the change (for those who are resistant to change). These positive deviants may serve as representation of the followers and thus facilitate communication between the superiors and the workers, thereby contributing to both a successful changed management and a rising productivity level.
In order to change, we should either step forth to make the change or adapt to change in a responsive manner and not to be “surprised” at the change. There is always a leader in us. It’s really up to us whether we want to showcase that ability and to help make a difference to the world we live in. Because when we brace ourselves to step out of the comfort zone, we are already making the first move in changing our attitude and behaviour, which could ultimately create an impactful change on the world.
Monday's lesson was insightful and engaging, great job presenters! I'd rate an 8.5/10 :)
Globalization has first and foremost caused a notable change in the world in terms of integrating the world via trade, telecommunication and transportation. It has created means to increase the efficiency of communication and thus enhanced co operations between many foreign firms which ultimately results in the rise of more prosperous economies. With that, globalization has continued to spark off a chain of changes such as that of food security, values and people, infectious diseases etc. In terms of food security, probably because when countries prosper, their people are achieving higher standards of living and thus find it less financially burdened if they were to have more children. Thus when the birth rates increase, as with other countries whose birth rates may rise for a different reason, it’s going to gradually change demographics in the world. Our human race will continue to rise and is expected to peak at about 10 million before the end of this century. This implores on us a greater need for resources and food to sustain the people, and the truth is that the population and wealth increase drives global demand so high that there isn’t enough to cater to our needs. Coupled with other climate changes that we’re facing due to massive industrialisation processes and natural reasons, crop yield are predicted to be lower than what we really require.
That aside, globalisation has likewise increased the spread of diseases because of modes of transportation like aeroplanes, where tendency of bugs to be transferred, from one country to another, is very high (as in the case of the SARS epidemic when people travelling to affected areas were being quarantined for about 2 weeks). And one of the more important changes is that migration will also go up as globalisation encourages mobility of labour and population shift following unrest in a country or climate change. These can essentially lead to a cultural mix in one particular country and the national cultures will become more internally diverse. Hence change is inevitable with occurrence of globalisation and technological innovation because that’s when the world becomes more inter-connected, which itself is a massive change already.
Following which attention was shifted to change management and change leadership. Change is not just at the global level, change can happen at the national, company, individual level, of which company level served as our priority during the discussions on Monday. In the reading, Herding Cats, it clearly showed that in order for a behavioural change among employees to occur, leaders/managers cannot force upon them the makeover that was going to be implemented. Leaders/managers have to explain the rationale for the change, gather feedback on how the change could be worked on, involve the followers, equip them with the necessary skills for a smooth transition of change and if possible let them take charge of certain areas to anchor their sense of ownership&belonging. Through constant reviewal of performances & rewarding to appreciate one’s efforts, the leader is well on the way of mastering process of implementing change and also to help their followers acclimatise to the change.
I felt that the introduction of Positive Deviants in changed management and changed leadership was something interesting because I’ve never come across it before. I believe that if a positive deviant were to exist among the followers, it could even ease the difficulties that leaders/managers may come across when getting the followers to work in tandem with them. This is because, when the positive deviant is of the same level as the followers, he tends to understand his fellow mates better and could even convince them about the positives of the change (for those who are resistant to change). These positive deviants may serve as representation of the followers and thus facilitate communication between the superiors and the workers, thereby contributing to both a successful changed management and a rising productivity level.
In order to change, we should either step forth to make the change or adapt to change in a responsive manner and not to be “surprised” at the change. There is always a leader in us. It’s really up to us whether we want to showcase that ability and to help make a difference to the world we live in. Because when we brace ourselves to step out of the comfort zone, we are already making the first move in changing our attitude and behaviour, which could ultimately create an impactful change on the world.
Monday's lesson was insightful and engaging, great job presenters! I'd rate an 8.5/10 :)
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