what is technological innovation essay

27 Technological Innovation Examples (Chronological Order)

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Technology is anything that is newly created based upon the cutting-edge knowledge of the era.

In today’s information society , when we think of technology, we generally think of machines like computers, smartphones, and cars.

But 500 years ago, things considered technology had no electrical components – they were things like better quality bows, arrows, and shovels.

The definition of technology also encompasses the application of scientific principles to achieve specific objectives, such as increasing crop yields or improving communication networks.

Technological Innovation Examples

Invented: 1.5 Million BCE

According to most historians, fire was first invented by early humans between 1.8 and 1.5 million years ago.

prior to the invention of fire, human beings were restricted to eating raw foods. The discovery of fire changed all of that, allowing our ancestors to cook their food and unlocking a whole new world of flavor and nutrition.

In addition, fire provided warmth and light, making it possible for humans to live in colder climates.

As a result, the invention of fire had a profound impact on human history. It helped humans to gain greater control over their lives, shaped their development as a species, and allowed them to become more civilized.

Related: The 25 Most Famous Innovators of All Time

2. The Wheel

Invented: 4000 BCE

It is unclear exactly when the wheel was invented, but bt 4000-3500 BCE there is evidence of wheeled vehicles and wheels used for the production of pottery.

The invention of the wheel revolutionized transportation and had a profound impact on the development of civilization. Wheels were foundational for future developments, including the steam engine, which operates on an axle, and of course, the car.

Even the wheel has developed significantly over time. For example, the invention of the spoked wheel in the Middle Ages made travel much easier because it was far lighter than simple wooden disks. In the late 19th century, the invention of the pneumatic tire transformed transportation yet again, allowing vehicles to drive more smoothly on uneven terrain.

Invented: 600 BCE

The first known use of money comes from ancient Mesopotamian cities. From as early as 3000 BCE, Mesopotamian cities had central banks that would store assets and provide clay tokens as a proxy for the assets. These tokens could then be traded on an open market.

The first known coin, however, is a cultural artifact that dates to 600 BCE, from the Kingdom of Lidya (modern-day Turkey). These coins were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver.

Since then, money has evolved to become the primary means of exchange in most societies. Today, there are a wide variety of currencies in use around the world, including paper notes, metal coins, and digital currencies.

The invention of money was monumental because it allowed for the development of trade and commerce. Money made it possible to buy and sell goods and services without the need to barter.

4. Gunpowder

Invented: 808 CE

While the first confirmed recording of gunpowder was in 808 CE, it’s likely that gunpowder existed for several centuries beforehand.

Gunpowder is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. It is used in firearms and explosives.

While gunpowder has a number of negative applications, it also has some positive ones. As a defensive mechanism, it helped militaries to keep countries safe from invaders. It is also used in fireworks, for example, and has also been used in Chinese medicine.

5. The Compass

Invented: 11th Century CE

The first compass was invented in China in the 11th century.

Prior to the invention of the compass, people navigated by using the stars and other landmarks. The compass made it possible to travel in any direction, regardless of weather or terrain.

As a result, the compass had a profound impact on exploration and trade. It allowed humans to venture into new and unknown territory and to expand their horizons.

6. The Printing Press

Invented: 1450

The printing press is a technological invention that prints text and images onto paper. The first printing press was invented in 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg.

The printing press is one of the most important inventions in human history. It helped to spread information and to print books en masse . As a result, literacy increased dramatically and human knowledge was accelerated.

Scholar Benedict Anderson also believes that the printing press and subsequent print media were the impetus for the concept of a nation-state, or ‘ imagined community ‘ where people who have never met each other could feel a sense of commonality and shared identity.

7. The Microscope

Invented: 1590

The microscope is an instrument used to magnify objects. The first compound microscope was invented in 1590 by Zacharias Janssen.

The microscope has a wide range of applications, including in medicine, biology, and engineering. It is used to examine cells, tissues, and organs; to study the structure of materials; and to inspect objects for defects.

The microscope revolutionized our understanding of biology. It helped us, for example, to learn about the structure of cells and to discover the existence of bacteria and viruses.

8. The Steam Engine

Invented: 1698 CE

The first steam engine was invented by Thomas Savery in 1698. It was an important invention because it helped to usher in the industrial revolution.

The engine worked by using steam to power a piston, which could then be used to drive a shaft. This made it possible to use steam to power a wide variety of machines, which led to an increase in productivity and efficiency.

In addition, the invention of the steam engine also helped to create new industries and jobs, as well as helping to fuel the growth of cities and towns. As a result, the steam engine was a key factor in the transformation of society from agrarian to industrial.

For more innovations from the 17th Century, see: Seven Innovations from the Second Agricultural Revolution

9. Electricity

Invented: Late 1700s

While electricity had been studied since the 16th century and some primitive forms of electrification were developed in the 18th century, it was not until the late 1700s that electricity became a well-understood phenomenon.

The English scientist Michael Faraday is credited with the discovery of induction in 1831, which laid the groundwork for modern electrical technology.

Today, electricity is an essential part of our lives, powering everything from our homes and businesses to our cars and electronic devices.

10. The Camera

Invented: 1827

The first camera was invented in 1827 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.

Cameras are now used extensively in our everyday lives. They are used not only on our phones to take photos and videos, but also used in security systems.

Cameras have had a profound impact on our society. They have allowed us to document and preserve our memories. They have also given us the ability to preserve and share our experiences.

11. The Internal Combustion Engine

Invented: 1862

The first internal combustion engine was invented in 1862 by Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir.

Internal combustion engines are used extensively in our modern world. They power our cars, trucks, and buses. They are also used in construction equipment, generators, and lawnmowers.

Internal combustion engines have had a profound impact on our society. They have allowed us to travel long distances quickly and easily and have made it possible for us to move heavy loads and equipment.

12. The Telephone

Invented: 1876

The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 and it revolutionized communication. Prior to the telephone, the only way to communicate with someone at a distance was through written messages, which could be slow and unreliable.

The telephone allowed people to instantly connect with each other no matter where they were in the world. Today, there are over 1 billion telephone landlines in use and billions of mobile phones as well.

13. Computers

The first computers were created in the early 1800s. However, these early machines were nothing like the computers of today. They were bulky and required a team of operators to function.

In 1876, Charles Babbage designed a machine called the Analytical Engine, which could be programmed to perform simple calculations. However, the machine was never completed.

In 1937, John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry developed the first electronic computer, called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer. However, this machine was not actually built until 1973.

By the 1990s, computers had well and truly changed the world. People were using them at work and, increasingly, they were used at home for word processing and accounting.

14. The Airplane

Invented: 1903

The airplane was invented by the Wright brothers in 1903. It was the first heavier-than-air craft to successfully achieve powered flight.

The airplane has had a profound impact on the world, making it possible to travel great distances in relatively short periods of time. It has also made it possible to transport goods and people around the world in a way that was previously unimaginable.

It also changed how wars were fought, as airplanes were used in World War I to drop bombs and conduct reconnaissance missions. Today, there are over 100,000 airplanes in use worldwide.

15. Television

Invented: 1927

The printing press was the first form of mass media, followed by radio. But the postwar decades hailed the era of television. During this era, television was a disruptive technology that caused radio to lose its prominence.

By 1960, there was sufficient infrastructure, and televisions were affordable enough, that the television had entered the mainstream zeitgeist . It became one of the most popular forms of entertainment, broadcasting into over 1 million homes in the United States.

It also had a profound impact on society, helping to connect people from all over the world and making information more accessible than ever before. The Vitenam war was the first war to be televised into people’s homes, which was a catalyst for the anti-war movement in the United States.

16. Semiconductors

Invented: 1947

The first semiconductor was invented in 1947 by William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain.

Semiconductors are used extensively in our modern world. They are the building blocks of computer chips and are used in a wide range of electronic devices.

Semiconductors have had a profound impact on our society. They have allowed us to miniaturize electronic devices and to create fast and powerful computer chips.

17. The Polio Vaccine

Invented: 1955

The polio vaccine is one of the most important technological breakthroughs in history.

Prior to the development of the vaccine, polio was a leading cause of disability and death, particularly in young children. The introduction of the vaccine in the 1950s led to a dramatic reduction in the incidence of polio, and today the disease is considered to be Eliminated in most parts of the world.

While there are still a few cases each year, they are almost exclusively in countries where the vaccine is not widely available.

The success of the polio vaccine has led to the development of other vaccines for other diseases, such as measles and rubella, which have also had a profound impact on public health .

18. Artificial Intelligence

Invented: 1956

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence, such as understanding natural language and recognizing objects.

The first AI program was developed in 1956 by a team of researchers at Dartmouth College. The program, called “Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence”, was designed to create a machine that could beat a human player at checkers.

While the program was successful, it was not able to beat the best human players. However, it did lay the foundations for further AI research.

Today, AI is becoming more and more common in businesses. For example, many customer service tasks are now handled by AI chatbots. AI is also being used for more complex tasks such as financial analysis and medical diagnosis.

19. Satellites

Invented: 1957

The first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. This event ushered in the Space Age and the start of the space race between the two superpowers.

Satellites have had a profound impact on the world, providing us with a way to communicate with people in other parts of the world and to observe the planet from space.

They have also been used for navigation, weather forecasting, and mapping. Today, there are over 2,000 satellites in orbit around the Earth, and their numbers are growing every year.

20. The laser

Invented: 1960

The laser is a device that emits a beam of coherent light. The first laser was built in 1960 by Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes.

Lasers have a wide range of applications, including cutting and welding, communications, printing, and medicine. They are also used in production processes, such as in the manufacture of semiconductors.

Recently, lasers have also been used in the military. They can help to guide missiles, for example, to help them to be more accurate.

21. Virtual reality

Invented: 1960 CE

The first virtual reality headset was invented in 1960 by Morton Heilig.

Virtual reality is a computer-generated environment that allows users to interact with it in a realistic way. It is a quintessential example of a wearable technology .

It has been used extensively in gaming and entertainment. But futurists believe that it will become extremely useful for training and education purposes (especially in the media), in medicine, and in manufacturing.pri

22. The Internet

Invented: 1969

The first Internet connection was made in 1969 between two computers at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Internet is now a global network of computers that allows people to communicate and share information. It has transformed our lives. It has allowed us to stay connected with friends and family around the world, to access a wealth of information at our fingertips, and to work from anywhere.

It has also had a profound impact on our economy. It has stimulated technological globalization . created new industries, and allowed existing ones to thrive. It has facilitated the rapid transfer of information and money around the world and been the platform for the growth of countless businesses.

Read Also: Internet Pros and Cons

23. Mobile phones

Invented: 1973

The first mobile phone was invented in 1973 by Motorola. However, it was not until the late 1990s that mobile phones became commonplace in society, and it became one of the central types of communication technology of the 21st Century.

In the early days of mobile phones, there were a number of challenges that needed to be overcome. One of the biggest was developing a way to miniaturize the components so that they could fit into a small handheld device.

This was essential for making the phone portable and convenient to use.

Another challenge was finding a power source that would be able to keep the phone charged for long periods of time. NiCad batteries were initially used, but they had a tendency to lose their charge quickly and were also prone to the “memory effect”, which reduced their capacity over time.

Eventually, Lithium-ion batteries were developed which addressed these issues.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system that was invented in 1973 by the United States Department of Defense.

GPS allows users to determine their precise location anywhere on the planet. It has a number of civilian and military applications, including navigation, surveying, mapping, and timing.

GPS is now an essential part of our everyday lives. It is used by millions of people around the world when using maps apps on their phones, for example. It helps us to find our way to a specific location, track our progress while running or cycling, and plan driving routes.

25. DNA sequencing

Invented: 1977

DNA sequencing is the process of determining the order of nucleotides in a DNA molecule. The first DNA sequence was determined in 1977 by Frederick Sanger.

Since then, DNA sequencing has become an essential tool in biology and medicine. It is used to study the genetic basis of diseases, to develop new treatments and diagnostic tests, and to trace the evolutionary history of organisms.

26. 3D printing

Invented: 1984

3D printing is the process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a 3D digital file. The first 3D printer was invented in 1984 by Chuck Hull.

Since then, 3D printing has become more and more popular, with a wide range of applications in industry, medicine, and even art.

3D printing has a number of advantages over traditional manufacturing methods. It is quick and easy to set up, and it can be used to create complex shapes that would be difficult or impossible to produce using traditional methods.

It is also relatively low cost, making it an attractive option for small businesses and hobbyists.

27. Bitcoin

Invented: 2009

Bitcoin is a digital currency that was invented in 2009 by an anonymous person or group of people known as Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bitcoin is different from traditional currencies because it is not regulated by any government or financial institution. Instead, it is decentralized and can be bought, sold, or traded on a number of online exchanges.

Bitcoin has become popular because it offers a number of advantages over traditional currencies. For example, it is not subject to inflationary pressures, and it can be used to make anonymous transactions.

See Also: Amazing Assistive Technologies for the Disabled

Technology has played a pivotal role in human history, and its impact can be seen in all aspects of our lives. From the development of early tools and agriculture to the rise of modern civilizations, technology has shaped the course of human history. Today, we continue to rely on technology to improve our lives and solve problems. With each new breakthrough, we push the boundaries of human capabilities.

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Feb 13, 2023

200-500 Word Example Essays about Technology

Got an essay assignment about technology check out these examples to inspire you.

Technology is a rapidly evolving field that has completely changed the way we live, work, and interact with one another. Technology has profoundly impacted our daily lives, from how we communicate with friends and family to how we access information and complete tasks. As a result, it's no surprise that technology is a popular topic for students writing essays.

But writing a technology essay can be challenging, especially for those needing more time or help with writer's block. This is where Jenni.ai comes in. Jenni.ai is an innovative AI tool explicitly designed for students who need help writing essays. With Jenni.ai, students can quickly and easily generate essays on various topics, including technology.

This blog post aims to provide readers with various example essays on technology, all generated by Jenni.ai. These essays will be a valuable resource for students looking for inspiration or guidance as they work on their essays. By reading through these example essays, students can better understand how technology can be approached and discussed in an essay.

Moreover, by signing up for a free trial with Jenni.ai, students can take advantage of this innovative tool and receive even more support as they work on their essays. Jenni.ai is designed to help students write essays faster and more efficiently, so they can focus on what truly matters – learning and growing as a student. Whether you're a student who is struggling with writer's block or simply looking for a convenient way to generate essays on a wide range of topics, Jenni.ai is the perfect solution.

The Impact of Technology on Society and Culture

Introduction:.

Technology has become an integral part of our daily lives and has dramatically impacted how we interact, communicate, and carry out various activities. Technological advancements have brought positive and negative changes to society and culture. In this article, we will explore the impact of technology on society and culture and how it has influenced different aspects of our lives.

Positive impact on communication:

Technology has dramatically improved communication and made it easier for people to connect from anywhere in the world. Social media platforms, instant messaging, and video conferencing have brought people closer, bridging geographical distances and cultural differences. This has made it easier for people to share information, exchange ideas, and collaborate on projects.

Positive impact on education:

Students and instructors now have access to a multitude of knowledge and resources because of the effect of technology on education . Students may now study at their speed and from any location thanks to online learning platforms, educational applications, and digital textbooks.

Negative impact on critical thinking and creativity:

Technological advancements have resulted in a reduction in critical thinking and creativity. With so much information at our fingertips, individuals have become more passive in their learning, relying on the internet for solutions rather than logic and inventiveness. As a result, independent thinking and problem-solving abilities have declined.

Positive impact on entertainment:

Technology has transformed how we access and consume entertainment. People may now access a wide range of entertainment alternatives from the comfort of their own homes thanks to streaming services, gaming platforms, and online content makers. The entertainment business has entered a new age of creativity and invention as a result of this.

Negative impact on attention span:

However, the continual bombardment of information and technological stimulation has also reduced attention span and the capacity to focus. People are easily distracted and need help focusing on a single activity for a long time. This has hampered productivity and the ability to accomplish duties.

The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies has been one of the most significant technological developments of the past several decades. These cutting-edge technologies have the potential to alter several sectors of society, including commerce, industry, healthcare, and entertainment. 

As with any new and quickly advancing technology, AI and ML ethics must be carefully studied. The usage of these technologies presents significant concerns around privacy, accountability, and command. As the use of AI and ML grows more ubiquitous, we must assess their possible influence on society and investigate the ethical issues that must be taken into account as these technologies continue to develop.

What are Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning?

Artificial Intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence in machines designed to think and act like humans. Machine learning is a subfield of AI that enables computers to learn from data and improve their performance over time without being explicitly programmed.

The impact of AI and ML on Society

The use of AI and ML in various industries, such as healthcare, finance, and retail, has brought many benefits. For example, AI-powered medical diagnosis systems can identify diseases faster and more accurately than human doctors. However, there are also concerns about job displacement and the potential for AI to perpetuate societal biases.

The Ethical Considerations of AI and ML

A. Bias in AI algorithms

One of the critical ethical concerns about AI and ML is the potential for algorithms to perpetuate existing biases. This can occur if the data used to train these algorithms reflects the preferences of the people who created it. As a result, AI systems can perpetuate these biases and discriminate against certain groups of people.

B. Responsibility for AI-generated decisions

Another ethical concern is the responsibility for decisions made by AI systems. For example, who is responsible for the damage if a self-driving car causes an accident? The manufacturer of the vehicle, the software developer, or the AI algorithm itself?

C. The potential for misuse of AI and ML

AI and ML can also be used for malicious purposes, such as cyberattacks and misinformation. The need for more regulation and oversight in developing and using these technologies makes it difficult to prevent misuse.

The developments in AI and ML have given numerous benefits to humanity, but they also present significant ethical concerns that must be addressed. We must assess the repercussions of new technologies on society, implement methods to limit the associated dangers, and guarantee that they are utilized for the greater good. As AI and ML continue to play an ever-increasing role in our daily lives, we must engage in an open and frank discussion regarding their ethics.

The Future of Work And Automation

Rapid technological breakthroughs in recent years have brought about considerable changes in our way of life and work. Concerns regarding the influence of artificial intelligence and machine learning on the future of work and employment have increased alongside the development of these technologies. This article will examine the possible advantages and disadvantages of automation and its influence on the labor market, employees, and the economy.

The Advantages of Automation

Automation in the workplace offers various benefits, including higher efficiency and production, fewer mistakes, and enhanced precision. Automated processes may accomplish repetitive jobs quickly and precisely, allowing employees to concentrate on more complex and creative activities. Additionally, automation may save organizations money since it removes the need to pay for labor and minimizes the danger of workplace accidents.

The Potential Disadvantages of Automation

However, automation has significant disadvantages, including job loss and income stagnation. As robots and computers replace human labor in particular industries, there is a danger that many workers may lose their jobs, resulting in higher unemployment and more significant economic disparity. Moreover, if automation is not adequately regulated and managed, it might lead to stagnant wages and a deterioration in employees' standard of life.

The Future of Work and Automation

Despite these difficulties, automation will likely influence how labor is done. As a result, firms, employees, and governments must take early measures to solve possible issues and reap the rewards of automation. This might entail funding worker retraining programs, enhancing education and skill development, and implementing regulations that support equality and justice at work.

IV. The Need for Ethical Considerations

We must consider the ethical ramifications of automation and its effects on society as technology develops. The impact on employees and their rights, possible hazards to privacy and security, and the duty of corporations and governments to ensure that automation is utilized responsibly and ethically are all factors to be taken into account.

Conclusion:

To summarise, the future of employment and automation will most certainly be defined by a complex interaction of technological advances, economic trends, and cultural ideals. All stakeholders must work together to handle the problems and possibilities presented by automation and ensure that technology is employed to benefit society as a whole.

The Role of Technology in Education

Introduction.

Nearly every part of our lives has been transformed by technology, and education is no different. Today's students have greater access to knowledge, opportunities, and resources than ever before, and technology is becoming a more significant part of their educational experience. Technology is transforming how we think about education and creating new opportunities for learners of all ages, from online courses and virtual classrooms to instructional applications and augmented reality.

Technology's Benefits for Education

The capacity to tailor learning is one of technology's most significant benefits in education. Students may customize their education to meet their unique needs and interests since they can access online information and tools. 

For instance, people can enroll in online classes on topics they are interested in, get tailored feedback on their work, and engage in virtual discussions with peers and subject matter experts worldwide. As a result, pupils are better able to acquire and develop the abilities and information necessary for success.

Challenges and Concerns

Despite the numerous advantages of technology in education, there are also obstacles and considerations to consider. One issue is the growing reliance on technology and the possibility that pupils would become overly dependent on it. This might result in a lack of critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, as students may become passive learners who only follow instructions and rely on technology to complete their assignments.

Another obstacle is the digital divide between those who have access to technology and those who do not. This division can exacerbate the achievement gap between pupils and produce uneven educational and professional growth chances. To reduce these consequences, all students must have access to the technology and resources necessary for success.

In conclusion, technology is rapidly becoming an integral part of the classroom experience and has the potential to alter the way we learn radically. 

Technology can help students flourish and realize their full potential by giving them access to individualized instruction, tools, and opportunities. While the benefits of technology in the classroom are undeniable, it's crucial to be mindful of the risks and take precautions to guarantee that all kids have access to the tools they need to thrive.

The Influence of Technology On Personal Relationships And Communication 

Technological advancements have profoundly altered how individuals connect and exchange information. It has changed the world in many ways in only a few decades. Because of the rise of the internet and various social media sites, maintaining relationships with people from all walks of life is now simpler than ever. 

However, concerns about how these developments may affect interpersonal connections and dialogue are inevitable in an era of rapid technological growth. In this piece, we'll discuss how the prevalence of digital media has altered our interpersonal connections and the language we use to express ourselves.

Direct Effect on Direct Interaction:

The disruption of face-to-face communication is a particularly stark example of how technology has impacted human connections. The quality of interpersonal connections has suffered due to people's growing preference for digital over human communication. Technology has been demonstrated to reduce the usage of nonverbal signs such as facial expressions, tone of voice, and other indicators of emotional investment in the connection.

Positive Impact on Long-Distance Relationships:

Yet there are positives to be found as well. Long-distance relationships have also benefited from technological advancements. The development of technologies such as video conferencing, instant messaging, and social media has made it possible for individuals to keep in touch with distant loved ones. It has become simpler for individuals to stay in touch and feel connected despite geographical distance.

The Effects of Social Media on Personal Connections:

The widespread use of social media has had far-reaching consequences, especially on the quality of interpersonal interactions. Social media has positive and harmful effects on relationships since it allows people to keep in touch and share life's milestones.

Unfortunately, social media has made it all too easy to compare oneself to others, which may lead to emotions of jealousy and a general decline in confidence. Furthermore, social media might cause people to have inflated expectations of themselves and their relationships.

A Personal Perspective on the Intersection of Technology and Romance

Technological advancements have also altered physical touch and closeness. Virtual reality and other technologies have allowed people to feel physical contact and familiarity in a digital setting. This might be a promising breakthrough, but it has some potential downsides. 

Experts are concerned that people's growing dependence on technology for intimacy may lead to less time spent communicating face-to-face and less emphasis on physical contact, both of which are important for maintaining good relationships.

In conclusion, technological advancements have significantly affected the quality of interpersonal connections and the exchange of information. Even though technology has made it simpler to maintain personal relationships, it has chilled interpersonal interactions between people. 

Keeping tabs on how technology is changing our lives and making adjustments as necessary is essential as we move forward. Boundaries and prioritizing in-person conversation and physical touch in close relationships may help reduce the harm it causes.

The Security and Privacy Implications of Increased Technology Use and Data Collection

The fast development of technology over the past few decades has made its way into every aspect of our life. Technology has improved many facets of our life, from communication to commerce. However, significant privacy and security problems have emerged due to the broad adoption of technology. In this essay, we'll look at how the widespread use of technological solutions and the subsequent explosion in collected data affects our right to privacy and security.

Data Mining and Privacy Concerns

Risk of Cyber Attacks and Data Loss

The Widespread Use of Encryption and Other Safety Mechanisms

The Privacy and Security of the Future in a Globalized Information Age

Obtaining and Using Individual Information

The acquisition and use of private information is a significant cause for privacy alarm in the digital age. Data about their customers' online habits, interests, and personal information is a valuable commodity for many internet firms. Besides tailored advertising, this information may be used for other, less desirable things like identity theft or cyber assaults.

Moreover, many individuals need to be made aware of what data is being gathered from them or how it is being utilized because of the lack of transparency around gathering personal information. Privacy and data security have become increasingly contentious as a result.

Data breaches and other forms of cyber-attack pose a severe risk.

The risk of cyber assaults and data breaches is another big issue of worry. More people are using more devices, which means more opportunities for cybercriminals to steal private information like credit card numbers and other identifying data. This may cause monetary damages and harm one's reputation or identity.

Many high-profile data breaches have occurred in recent years, exposing the personal information of millions of individuals and raising serious concerns about the safety of this information. Companies and governments have responded to this problem by adopting new security methods like encryption and multi-factor authentication.

Many businesses now use encryption and other security measures to protect themselves from cybercriminals and data thieves. Encryption keeps sensitive information hidden by encoding it so that only those possessing the corresponding key can decipher it. This prevents private information like bank account numbers or social security numbers from falling into the wrong hands.

Firewalls, virus scanners, and two-factor authentication are all additional security precautions that may be used with encryption. While these safeguards do much to stave against cyber assaults, they are not entirely impregnable, and data breaches are still possible.

The Future of Privacy and Security in a Technologically Advanced World

There's little doubt that concerns about privacy and security will persist even as technology improves. There must be strict safeguards to secure people's private information as more and more of it is transferred and kept digitally. To achieve this goal, it may be necessary to implement novel technologies and heightened levels of protection and to revise the rules and regulations regulating the collection and storage of private information.

Individuals and businesses are understandably concerned about the security and privacy consequences of widespread technological use and data collecting. There are numerous obstacles to overcome in a society where technology plays an increasingly important role, from acquiring and using personal data to the risk of cyber-attacks and data breaches. Companies and governments must keep spending money on security measures and working to educate people about the significance of privacy and security if personal data is to remain safe.

In conclusion, technology has profoundly impacted virtually every aspect of our lives, including society and culture, ethics, work, education, personal relationships, and security and privacy. The rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning has presented new ethical considerations, while automation is transforming the future of work. 

In education, technology has revolutionized the way we learn and access information. At the same time, our dependence on technology has brought new challenges in terms of personal relationships, communication, security, and privacy.

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Innovation in Business: What It Is & Why It’s Important

• 08 Mar 2022

Today’s competitive landscape heavily relies on innovation. Business leaders must constantly look for new ways to innovate because you can't solve many problems with old solutions.

Innovation is critical across all industries; however, it's important to avoid using it as a buzzword and instead take time to thoroughly understand the innovation process.

Here's an overview of innovation in business, why it's important, and how you can encourage it in the workplace.

What Is Innovation?

Innovation and creativity are often used synonymously. While similar, they're not the same. Using creativity in business is important because it fosters unique ideas . This novelty is a key component of innovation.

For an idea to be innovative, it must also be useful. Creative ideas don't always lead to innovations because they don't necessarily produce viable solutions to problems.

Simply put: Innovation is a product, service, business model, or strategy that's both novel and useful. Innovations don't have to be major breakthroughs in technology or new business models; they can be as simple as upgrades to a company's customer service or features added to an existing product.

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Types of Innovation

Innovation in business can be grouped into two categories : sustaining and disruptive.

• Sustaining innovation: Sustaining innovation enhances an organization's processes and technologies to improve its product line for an existing customer base. It's typically pursued by incumbent businesses that want to stay atop their market.
• Disruptive innovation: Disruptive innovation occurs when smaller companies challenge larger businesses. It can be classified into groups depending on the markets those businesses compete in. Low-end disruption refers to companies entering and claiming a segment at the bottom of an existing market, while new-market disruption denotes companies creating an additional market segment to serve a customer base the existing market doesn't reach.

The most successful companies incorporate both types of innovation into their business strategies. While maintaining an existing position in the market is important, pursuing growth is essential to being competitive. It also helps protect a business against other companies affecting its standing.

Learn about the differences between sustaining and disruptive innovation in the video below, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more explainer content!

The Importance of Innovation

Unforeseen challenges are inevitable in business. Innovation can help you stay ahead of the curve and grow your company in the process. Here are three reasons innovation is crucial for your business:

• It allows adaptability: The recent COVID-19 pandemic disrupted business on a monumental scale. Routine operations were rendered obsolete over the course of a few months. Many businesses still sustain negative results from this world shift because they’ve stuck to the status quo. Innovation is often necessary for companies to adapt and overcome the challenges of change.
• It fosters growth: Stagnation can be extremely detrimental to your business. Achieving organizational and economic growth through innovation is key to staying afloat in today’s highly competitive world.
• It separates businesses from their competition: Most industries are populated with multiple competitors offering similar products or services. Innovation can distinguish your business from others.

Innovation & Design Thinking

Several tools encourage innovation in the workplace. For example, when a problem’s cause is difficult to pinpoint, you can turn to approaches like creative problem-solving . One of the best approaches to innovation is adopting a design thinking mentality.

Design thinking is a solutions-based, human-centric mindset. It's a practical way to strategize and design using insights from observations and research.

Four Phases of Innovation

Innovation's requirements for novelty and usefulness call for navigating between concrete and abstract thinking. Introducing structure to innovation can guide this process.

In the online course Design Thinking and Innovation , Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar teaches design thinking principles using a four-phase innovation framework : clarify, ideate, develop, and implement.

• Clarify: The first stage of the process is clarifying a problem. This involves conducting research to empathize with your target audience. The goal is to identify their key pain points and frame the problem in a way that allows you to solve it.
• Ideate: The ideation stage involves generating ideas to solve the problem identified during research. Ideation challenges assumptions and overcomes biases to produce innovative ideas.
• Develop: The development stage involves exploring solutions generated during ideation. It emphasizes rapid prototyping to answer questions about a solution's practicality and effectiveness.
• Implement: The final stage of the process is implementation. This stage involves communicating your developed idea to stakeholders to encourage its adoption.

Human-Centered Design

Innovation requires considering user needs. Design thinking promotes empathy by fostering human-centered design , which addresses explicit pain points and latent needs identified during innovation’s clarification stage.

There are three characteristics of human-centered design:

• Desirability: For a product or service to succeed, people must want it. Prosperous innovations are attractive to consumers and meet their needs.
• Feasibility: Innovative ideas won't go anywhere unless you have the resources to pursue them. You must consider whether ideas are possible given technological, economic, or regulatory barriers.
• Viability: Even if a design is desirable and feasible, it also needs to be sustainable. You must consistently produce or deliver designs over extended periods for them to be viable.

Consider these characteristics when problem-solving, as each is necessary for successful innovation.

The Operational and Innovative Worlds

Creativity and idea generation are vital to innovation, but you may encounter situations in which pursuing an idea isn't feasible. Such scenarios represent a conflict between the innovative and operational worlds.

The Operational World

The operational world reflects an organization's routine processes and procedures. Metrics and results are prioritized, and creativity isn't encouraged to the extent required for innovation. Endeavors that disrupt routine—such as risk-taking—are typically discouraged.

The Innovative World

The innovative world encourages creativity and experimentation. This side of business allows for open-endedly exploring ideas but tends to neglect the functional side.

Both worlds are necessary for innovation, as creativity must be grounded in reality. You should strive to balance them to produce human-centered solutions. Design thinking strikes this balance by guiding you between the concrete and abstract.

Learning the Ropes of Innovation

Innovation is easier said than done. It often requires you to collaborate with others, overcome resistance from stakeholders, and invest valuable time and resources into generating solutions. It can also be highly discouraging because many ideas generated during ideation may not go anywhere. But the end result can make the difference between your organization's success or failure.

The good news is that innovation can be learned. If you're interested in more effectively innovating, consider taking an online innovation course. Receiving practical guidance can increase your skills and teach you how to approach problem-solving with a human-centered mentality.

Eager to learn more about innovation? Explore Design Thinking and Innovation ,one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses. If you're not sure which course is the right fit, download our free course flowchart to determine which best aligns with your goals.

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127 Technology Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, shaping the way we communicate, work, and interact with the world around us. As such, it is no surprise that technology has become a popular topic for essays and research papers. If you're struggling to come up with a topic for your next technology essay, fear not! We've compiled a list of 127 technology essay topic ideas and examples to help get your creative juices flowing.

• The impact of social media on society
• The role of artificial intelligence in healthcare
• The future of virtual reality technology
• The ethical implications of gene editing technology
• The rise of remote work and its impact on the workforce
• The benefits and drawbacks of self-driving cars
• The role of technology in education
• The impact of smartphones on mental health
• The potential dangers of deepfake technology
• The benefits of renewable energy technology
• The impact of automation on the job market
• The role of technology in disaster preparedness and response
• The future of space exploration technology
• The impact of 5G technology on communication networks
• The ethics of data mining and surveillance technology
• The impact of biometric technology on security
• The potential of blockchain technology in various industries
• The impact of e-commerce on traditional retail businesses
• The future of wearable technology
• The role of technology in combating climate change
• The implications of quantum computing technology
• The impact of big data on business decision-making
• The benefits and drawbacks of drone technology
• The role of technology in shaping political movements
• The potential of augmented reality technology in education
• The impact of online dating apps on relationships
• The ethics of artificial intelligence in decision-making
• The impact of cybersecurity threats on businesses
• The future of 3D printing technology
• The benefits of telemedicine technology
• The implications of autonomous weapons technology
• The impact of technology on mental health treatment
• The role of technology in disaster recovery efforts
• The future of smart home technology
• The benefits and drawbacks of online learning platforms
• The impact of technology on social relationships
• The ethics of gene editing technology in agriculture
• The potential of virtual reality technology in therapy
• The impact of technology on the music industry
• The role of technology in promoting environmental sustainability
• The implications of artificial intelligence in job automation
• The benefits and drawbacks of cryptocurrency technology
• The future of quantum encryption technology
• The impact of technology on personal privacy
• The role of technology in healthcare data management
• The potential of nanotechnology in medical research
• The ethics of facial recognition technology
• The impact of technology on the entertainment industry
• The benefits and drawbacks of cloud computing technology
• The future of biometric identification technology
• The role of technology in promoting social justice
• The implications of autonomous vehicles in transportation
• The impact of technology on food production and distribution
• The ethics of artificial intelligence in criminal justice
• The potential of blockchain technology in supply chain management
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart city technology
• The future of voice recognition technology
• The impact of technology on the travel industry
• The role of technology in disaster prevention efforts
• The implications of artificial intelligence in creative industries
• The ethics of genetic engineering technology
• The benefits and drawbacks of cloud storage technology
• The future of quantum communication technology
• The impact of technology on online privacy
• The role of technology in improving access to healthcare
• The potential of biometric authentication technology
• The benefits and drawbacks of social media platforms
• The future of artificial intelligence in customer service
• The impact of technology on urban planning and development
• The role of technology in promoting diversity and inclusion
• The implications of autonomous drones in warfare
• The ethics of artificial intelligence in journalism
• The potential of blockchain technology in voting systems
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart grid technology
• The future of virtual assistant technology
• The impact of technology on the gig economy
• The role of technology in promoting financial inclusion
• The implications of artificial intelligence in creative writing
• The ethics of facial recognition technology in law enforcement
• The potential of blockchain technology in healthcare records
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart wearables
• The future of quantum computing in cybersecurity
• The impact of technology on social activism
• The role of technology in improving disaster response times
• The implications of artificial intelligence in art and design
• The ethics of genetic modification technology in agriculture
• The potential of blockchain technology in digital identity
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart transportation systems
• The future of quantum sensors technology
• The impact of technology on online security
• The role of technology in promoting mental wellness
• The implications of artificial intelligence in financial markets
• The ethics of facial recognition technology in public spaces
• The potential of blockchain technology in real estate transactions
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart farming technology
• The future of quantum encryption in data protection
• The impact of technology on workplace productivity
• The role of technology in promoting environmental conservation
• The implications of artificial intelligence in healthcare diagnostics
• The ethics of genetic editing technology in human reproduction
• The potential of blockchain technology in intellectual property rights
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart energy management systems
• The future of quantum computing in scientific research
• The impact of technology on online censorship
• The role of technology in promoting healthy lifestyles
• The implications of artificial intelligence in legal services
• The ethics of facial recognition technology in public safety
• The potential of blockchain technology in cross-border payments
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart manufacturing technology
• The future of quantum communication in secure messaging
• The impact of technology on social inequality
• The role of technology in promoting gender equality
• The implications of artificial intelligence in military operations
• The ethics of genetic engineering technology in human enhancement
• The potential of blockchain technology in digital voting systems
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart water management systems
• The future of quantum sensors in medical diagnostics
• The impact of technology on online addiction
• The role of technology in promoting cultural diversity
• The implications of artificial intelligence in autonomous decision-making
• The ethics of facial recognition technology in immigration control
• The potential of blockchain technology in cryptocurrency regulation
• The benefits and drawbacks of smart waste management systems
• The future of quantum encryption in secure communication
• The impact of technology on social isolation
• The role of technology in promoting global cooperation
• The implications of artificial intelligence in ethical decision-making

In conclusion, technology offers a vast array of essay topics that can be explored from various perspectives. Whether you're interested in the ethical implications of artificial intelligence or the potential of blockchain technology, there is no shortage of ideas to choose from. So, pick a topic that interests you and start writing your next technology essay today!

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Home Essay Samples Science

Essay Samples on Innovation

What does creativity mean to you.

Creativity, an intricate tapestry of imagination and innovation, holds a unique significance for each individual. It is a concept that transcends the boundaries of convention, sparking curiosity and igniting the flames of inspiration. In this essay, we embark on a journey to unearth the meaning...

Henry Ford: The Man and His Automotive Legacy

Henry Ford: The Man Behind the Cars Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the owner of plants for the production of cars around the world, an inventor, and an author of 161 US patents. He was born in Springwells Township, Wayne County, Michigan. Henry made...

• Ford Motor Company

Why Artificial Intelligence Can't Replace Human

Machines play an important part in today’s society but they have decreased the odds of humans getting work done helplessly. Will artificial intelligence occupy the world? Musk claimed that “artificial superintelligence is more dangerous than nuclear attacks”. We depend on machines in all areas of...

• Artificial Intelligence

Appearance of a Book in the Future: Traditional Books vs E-books

Books are an integral part of people’s lives. They provide the foundation of learning from an early age and continue to grow with people throughout their adult lives. The purpose of a book is to convey information. Whether that information is intellectually driven or for...

• Reading Books

Alexander Bell And His Innovation

Alexander Graham Bell is most well-known for his scientific breakthrough in changing how the world communicates. The invention that changed the course of history is the telephone, which allowed people to speak directly to each other through a device interconnected in a system of wires....

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Technological Innovations And Medical Practice 

INTRODUCTION With technology, the past decade has been a revelation. We’ve got tech developers breaking new grounds, doing what we’d have once thought impossible. For engineers, researchers and developers, it seems the question to ask now is; how can it be done instead of if...

The Concept of Overcoming Technological Entrenchment in Society

The entrenchment of technology throughout society is a common and complex issue that is hindering and stunting the development and innovation of newer and arguably better technologies. Through retrospective viewing the paths of technological entrenchment are complex but evident, however, the foresight required at the...

• Impact of Technology
• Negative Impact of Technology

Solar Camping Light and Charging Devices

One of the best feelings in the world is lying down under the stars with the cold breeze of the night and the calming smell of leaves. This is why camping is an experience one should never miss.It is even better if you don’t have...

• Solar Energy

Process of Advancing the Area of Interventional Cardiology

Thanks to technology and bright-minded people, the field of cardiology has come a long way over the years. For instance, many medications and drug therapies were discovered and created like Fibrinolytic therapy. Fibrinolytic therapy is a therapy that uses fibrinolytic drugs like tissue plasminogen activator...

• Cardiovascular System

AI Applications in Cardiology, Radiology, CT and MR Images: A Review

AI is becoming irrefutable in many fields, but in the field of medical it has become very important. It has many applications in Health and Bio-medical which is currently being deployed and also significant research is still going on. It mainly focuses on diagnoses of...

Technical Innovations Of Precision Medicine And How They Can Benefit Healthcare

Precision medicine, based on a global perception survey has been ranked as one of the most emerging technologies with great potential benefits [1], an emerging approach in terms of disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment and lifestyle of...

• Health Care

Artificial Intelligence Application In Poultry Industry

Artificial intelligence (AI) is defined as computer systems replicating human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making and translation between languages. At a simplistic level, predictive modelling such as that used in feed formulation might be a form of artificial intelligence, but the use...

History Of Evolution Of The Modern Computers

There are some aspects you just can’t live without. These include food, water, air and many more. One the most commonly used and important is the computer which most people don’t acknowledge. They are everywhere mobile phones, fridges, washing machines, cars and practically all around...

• Alan Turing

History of Innovations in Ancient Roman and Greek Empires

Ancient leaders built powerful empires through innovation. The Greek Empire gave way to the beginnings of representative government, constructed new weaponry, and formed independent city-states. Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great of the Achaemenid Empire gained the respect and loyalty of conquered populations as...

• Ancient Rome

BMW: The World's Best Automobile Giant of the Next Century

The engineering inclusions in automotive industry widen faster with time. So, we can see a number f changes in it over the years. That is why people never giving up their crazy desires in the best car with novel options. Do you also such a...

The Importance of Open Source Software for Chinese Tech Firms

As companies plow more and more investment into AI research, China has finally woken up to the realisation of open source and how it can shape the development of a field that’s becoming more and more attractive. Over the last few years, open source has...

• Open Source Software

Technological Innovations in the Field of Accounting in Australia

Research Background Accounting is the skill of recording, ordering and categorizing the financial dealings and procedures. Advancement of technology has significantly enhanced accounting systems and altered money making cycle. Accounting is the escalator that takes the business ahead. The main job of an accountant is...

• Accounting Software

Review of the Recent Five Futuristic Products in Transportation

Transportation is the most important thing when we go on a backpacking tour or any other journey. Here are the most innovative transportation providing futuristic products. Most Famous Futuristic Transportations Hyperloop This was introduced by prolific creator and bourgeois Elon Musk in 2012, once he...

• Transportation

Features of Nestree, a Brand New Messenger App

This innovation is definitely the game changer for the users that would take a chance to leap at it even at this early stage. It has emerged as thw perfect messenger on the blockchain with a perfect DApp which users will find appealing to use....

Cinematography And Storytelling Innovations In Sopranos And House Of Cards

Throughout the Golden Ages of television, there has been one constant - innovation. Quality television usually challenges societal norms, tackles stigmatized topics, or paints the world in a picture that brings a nuanced meaning to artistic expression. As viewers, we often look past these subtleties...

• Film Editing

Progression of Innovation in Space Suits Since the Apollo 11

When engineers took on the task of putting man in space and on the moon, they knew that there would be an uncountable number of challenges ahead of them. They were breaking new ground but were also creating and discovering everything as they went along....

Research Spending Impact On Medical Tech Profits.

Introduction The medical devices’ industry (MedTech) plays a crucial role in life of people and provides them with services which improve customer safety and health constantly. The industry is strongly regulated by the government, especially by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), which checks the...

• Biomedical Engineering

The Evolution of Technology in Accounting

The improvement of something in the world is fleetingly described by the word evolution. Evolution is in many segments which are indispensable to our life style. Some of them are accounting, politics education, sports, communication and transportation. All the evolution is carried out for upcoming...

The History of Fintech Development

Abstract FinTech or financial technology refers to innovation of technology in the financial services. FinTech has evolved from developments of electronic technology in financial products to online based financial products and services. FinTech now, offers a variety of products in the financial industry which range...

Financial Technology: Convenience of Financial Stability of Today

Abstract The FinTech has gain more popularity throughout the years and have been putting itself out there to be as convenient as it can be. This paper will provide the reason why everyone should switch to the use of fintech. This paper also contains the...

FinTech - The Next Evolution in Finance

Abstract Fintech, an abbreviation for financial technology, is one of the driving disruptive innovations in the area of finance. In general, it seeks to reshape how the financial services industry structures, provisions, and captures customers demands. Computers have assumed an expanding job in the field...

The Way Robots Will Improve Medicine

As Robotic technologies are revolutionizing many industries in the world, we often come across a question: 'How are robots going to improve medicine?'. Well, telemedicine is undoubtedly the simplest answer to this question. After the first transmission of an ECG, in 1906, advancements in technology...

 Technological Determinism and Social Determinism

Technological determinism is a theory developed by Marshall McLuhan. The theory of technological determinism says that technology advances in predictable ways, and those advances shape human events. In other words, technology has vast effects on humans and history. In contrast, social determinists disagree that technology...

• Determinism

The Main Features and Innovations of the Apple Smart Watches

Here it is. It's the new Apple Watch Series 5. It's-- you know what, it's great. I've used a lot of different smartwatches in my life, and this one is the best. If you have an iPhone and you can afford the $399 starting price,...

How Alexander Bell Invented the Telephone

Do you remember when there was no electricity, probably not. Most people can’t go without their phone for 24 hours. How about learning that the first telephone was starting to get invented in 1875, and wasn’t finished until 1877-1878. Alexander Bell was the very first...

• Cell Phones

The Big Importance of Telephone Communiation in Our World

How would you communicate with your friends,family or people around the world without a phone?Would you send letters,or even emails with no idea of understanding their true feelings?The only other option would be going and visiting them every time you wanted to talk.Phones are one...

Medical Tourism in South Africa - The Best Novel Innovations

Since medicine is an important aspect of one's life, people think a lot in the best practices. That is why certain countries, regions and hospitals or certain institutions have become more popular as advanced healthcare stations. The word medical tourism has derived from this belief....

• Medical Tourism

Innovations in 19th Century France

Introduction Throughout history, there has been notable periods of expeditious growth and radical change, but the 19th century is among the most revolutionary. It was an era comprised of both the first and second industrial revolution, and characterized by international cross-disciplinary evolution. Cities were making...

• 19Th Century
• Claude Monet

Foundation And Development of 3D Printing

Introduction With the development of society and the needs of people, for many businesses, innovation has become an indispensable key to success. As a group, we are asked to create an innovative product by using the 3D printer for our assignment. The purpose of this...

• 3D Printing
• Graphic Design

The Economic Affects of Net Neutrality on Internet Service Providers 

Introduction On May 18, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to repeal net neutrality laws that had been put in place by the Obama Administration (Fiegerman, 2017). The earlier regulations had ensured that no service provider could restrict individual components of the internet. Groups...

• Net Neutrality

Depiction of Creativity and Innovation in Business Organizations

It is useful to depict creativity in organizations as intricate, social, political and specialized frameworks. To recognize inventive outlets and execution a lot of systems, the administration in business must have what it takes to acknowledge information at the person, group and business levels all...

• Organizational Structure

Variety of Computer Hacking: The Ethical and Hat Hacking

Computer has become the necessity in our daily lives where we are performing all most all the works by sitting in the house and controlling things with the internet. There is no surprise in even saying that our lives are dependent on the internet and...

• Computer Hacking

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Computer Hacking

The endless mission of human personality has imagined to every vital innovation of the world. Hacking goes back its beginning to a similar human inclination to know and subsequently investigate things. Computer Hacking is a routine with regards to peeping into the extraordinary specialized points...

Sub-Diffraction Mode Characteristics In Nanolaser.

Abstract Nanolasers are the key component in photonic integration and in this work we investigate the mode characteristics of an optically pumped Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor (MIS) plasmonic nanolaser structure at the sub-diffraction limit. The nanolaser structure consists of Ag/oxide/InGaAsP materials and operates at the telecom wavelength of...

Computerized Financial Services In Agriculture In India

A rancher is an accomplished individual in augmenting the GDP. Horticulture is the most vital one of the foundation of in India. Agriculturist in profoundly blending the Financial and Economically situated individual so natural to support recuperating, paid to cost of use, deals arranged expense,...

Fingerprinting: An Analysis of Forensic Methods

Abstract Fingerprinting has been a mainstay of North American forensics since the early 20th century. Fingerprints form on hands so early that the movement and pressure inside of the womb varies the patterns. This variance in each environment causes the fingerprint pattern to not only...

• Criminal Investigation

A Report On Electric Locomotive Protection Types And Methods

Pantographs are the successor innovation to trolley posts, which were generally utilized on early streetcar frameworks. Pantographs with overhead wires are presently the prevailing type of current accumulation for present day electric trains in light of the fact that, albeit more costly and delicate than...

• Electric Vehicle

Application Of Nanomaterials With Replacement Of Cement In Cement Mortar

In this chapter the analysis work of assorted authors on the utilization of nanomaterials with replacement of cement in cement mortar has been mentioned briefly. Sizable amount of analysis work is done to grasp the behavior of nanomaterials and their result on the properties of...

Case Study Assignment On Ford And On Its Role In Disruption

The article by Ernest Goulding describes Ford’s storied history with innovation and its reaction to disruption - within and outside the USA – in the transportation industry from 1903 to 2016. It also highlights the aggressive moves made by the past CEO and leadership team...

Innovation For The Sustainable Development

Social Innovations One of the main pillars of Sustainable Development is Social Innovation. Unfortunately, we perceive this is often disregarded and pushed aside in favour of literature focusing on Technological Innovation. Taking its importance in mind, this paper will attempt to further our understanding on...

• Modern Technology

A Renaissance In Electric Vehicle Fabricating

A battery electric auto is a module electric car that is pushed by at least one electric engines, utilizing vitality commonly put away in rechargeable batteries. Since 2008, a renaissance in electric vehicle fabricating happened because of advances in batteries, worries about expanding oil costs,...

• Electric Car

Analysis Of The “Not Invented Here” And “Open Innovation” Syndrome

In the article there were two topics being discussed, which were the “Not invented Here” and “open innovation” syndrome. The “Not invented Here” syndrome is a style that if its own company did not invent the product or item that it will not want anything...

Blockchain Technology As Innovation & A New Paradigm In Business

The advent of the blockchain technology brought innovation and a new paradigm to the way we transact business, offering security, transparency, scalability and decentralization of the digital technology, and has fashioned a remarkable cutting-edge infrastructure housing a new brand of network. However, with its efficiency,...

Comparison Of Confucius And Lao Tzu

Abstract - today, there are several Lightweight(LW) energy efficient Hashing techniques available. They are photon, quark, spongent, present, etc. These all are fixed length block sized and key sized LW hashing techniques. In order to improve the diffusion property of cryptographic techniques along with permutation...

• Cryptography

Flying Robots (MAV): Design & Application

The design and development of flying robots has been currently hindered by the lack of applicability of conventional aerodynamics equations/principles to the small size vehicles flying at extremely low Reynolds number. Also, conventional optimization techniques and algorithms have shown very limited success in these applications....

Graphene: A Rising Star Seemingly Within Easy Reach Of Materials Science

Abstract At time when the limitation of silicon capabilities be there being touched the discovery of graphene as well as its exclusive nano-scale properties stands of extreme importance. As it is paving the way towards possible substitutes to next generation for faster and smaller electronics...

Legal Regulations, Compliance, And Investigation

Among the numerous difficulties confronting the present CIO, that acted by security must rank like a standout amongst the most squeezing. Never again is it an issue that can be given over to a particular group: administrators at all levels need to assume liability. Security...

A Report On General Dynamics (GD) Company

General Dynamics (GD) is headquartered in Falls Church, VA and was founded in February 1952 in Delaware. The beginning of GD began as they supplied rockets, missiles, electronics, and war machines as needed. Due to gaining an understanding in the mission world, GD was able...

• Company Analysis

Position Of The Crypto Market In India

The Reserve Bank of India sentiments towards crypto coins has recently sparked a new trend of trading cryptocurrencies in India. Coin holders within the jurisdiction are resulting to ‘dabba trading’ as an alternative to evade a banking freeze enacted towards crypto markets by the RBI...

The Benefits Of Technology Advancement In Different Aspects Of Life

Innovation made correspondence simple One of the greatest preferences of innovation is to give great correspondence administrations. Also, the representatives who live in various parts of the world can contact their virtual workers and colleagues and in addition their clients by means of telephonic correspondence....

• Effects of Technology

The Most Major Thing About Cryptographic Sorts Of Money

This presentation clears up the most major thing about cryptographic sorts of money. After you've analyzed it, you'll find a few solutions concerning it than most one of a kind people. Today cryptographic sorts of money (Purchase Crypto) have changed into a general consider known...

The Relationship Between The Innovativeness & Survival Of Firms

The relationship between the innovativeness and survival of firms The relationship between the innovativeness and survival of firms is one that has been thoroughly studied. Samuelsson and Davidsson’s paper looked in depth at the issue arguing that the pursuit of innovation brought with it additional...

• Business Success

The Theories Of Creativity, Innovation, And Food Entrepreneurship

According to Ward, behind the existed creativity there are several experiments, which include trial and error also from research and observation. To create a big thing we have to put a big effort in the process, therefore, there is no instant result and it goes...

The Usage Of Lithium-Ion Batteries Today

Due to rapidly depleting fossil fuels and climate change, lithium battery technology is also used in electric vehicles (EVs) in order to reach the desired vehicle speeds and fuel mileage ranges. Li-ion batteries also offer the desired features to be used in communications devices as...

• Digital Era

The Use Of Innovations During The Learning Process

The way that children learn has continually been advancing since the very beginning. This can happen normally thus from change in culture and practices. For instance, individuals in “the united States don't experience precisely the same as they completed 50 years back.”( Ryan C. Smith,...

Veronica Roth's Divergent: The Issue Of Science And Innovation Advance

Veronica Roth's Divergent is the first book of her trilogy series about the world amid a period when the government divides citizens up into five factions. Denial, Candor, Erudite, Amity, and Dauntless make up these groups and every one comprises different character traits that characterize...

Ways Of Seeing Ways Of Reading

Text and book are two different things, I would argue that a book is just a physical form that a text may take, however the text is something organic, natural, different for every person. The text doesn’t have to be understood as a literary work...

What Is Monarch And It`S Features

When you are another Investor in the Cryptocurrency space, you can be overwhelmed with such a large number of impediments, that on the off chance that you don't have no less than a center level know - how, you may be lost in the ocean...

Works Of Leonardo Da Vinci As Early Sources Of Engineering Innovations

Leonardo da Vinci is undoubtedly a standout amongst the most well-known Tuscan and Italian authentic figures ever. Having lived somewhere in the range of 1452 and 1519, he keeps on being the image of the Renaissance and its resurrection, with his consideration devoted to expressions...

• Leonardo Da Vinci
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Science, technology and innovation in a 21st century context

• Published: 27 August 2011
• Volume 44 , pages 209–213, ( 2011 )

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• John H. Marburger III 1  

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This editorial essay was prepared by John H. “Jack” Marburger for a workshop on the “science of science and innovation policy” held in 2009 that was the basis for this special issue. It is published posthumously .

Linking the words “science,” “technology,” and “innovation,” may suggest that we know more about how these activities are related than we really do. This very common linkage implicitly conveys a linear progression from scientific research to technology creation to innovative products. More nuanced pictures of these complex activities break them down into components that interact with each other in a multi-dimensional socio-technological-economic network. A few examples will help to make this clear.

Science has always functioned on two levels that we may describe as curiosity-driven and need-driven, and they interact in sometimes surprising ways. Galileo’s telescope, the paradigmatic instrument of discovery in pure science, emerged from an entirely pragmatic tradition of lens-making for eye-glasses. And we should keep in mind that the industrial revolution gave more to science than it received, at least until the last half of the nineteenth century when the sciences of chemistry and electricity began to produce serious economic payoffs. The flowering of science during the era, we call the enlightenment owed much to its links with crafts and industry, but as it gained momentum science created its own need for practical improvements. After all, the frontiers of science are defined by the capabilities of instrumentation, that is, of technology. The needs of pure science are a huge but poorly understood stimulus for technologies that have the capacity to be disruptive precisely because these needs do not arise from the marketplace. The innovators who built the World Wide Web on the foundation of the Internet were particle physicists at CERN, struggling to satisfy their unique need to share complex information. Others soon discovered “needs” of which they had been unaware that could be satisfied by this innovation, and from that point the Web transformed the Internet from a tool for the technological elite into a broad platform for a new kind of economy.

Necessity is said to be the mother of invention, but in all human societies, “necessity” is a mix of culturally conditioned perceptions and the actual physical necessities of life. The concept of need, of what is wanted, is the ultimate driver of markets and an essential dimension of innovation. And as the example of the World Wide Web shows, need is very difficult to identify before it reveals itself in a mass movement. Why did I not know I needed a cell phone before nearly everyone else had one? Because until many others had one I did not, in fact, need one. Innovation has this chicken-and-egg quality that makes it extremely hard to analyze. We all know of visionaries who conceive of a society totally transformed by their invention and who are bitter that the world has not embraced their idea. Sometimes we think of them as crackpots, or simply unrealistic about what it takes to change the world. We practical people necessarily view the world through the filter of what exists, and fail to anticipate disruptive change. Nearly always we are surprised by the rapid acceptance of a transformative idea. If we truly want to encourage innovation through government policies, we are going to have to come to grips with this deep unpredictability of the mass acceptance of a new concept. Works analyzing this phenomenon are widely popular under titles like “ The Tipping Point ” by Gladwell ( 2000 ) or more recently the book by Taleb ( 2007 ) called The Black Swan , among others.

What causes innovations to be adopted and integrated into economies depends on their ability to satisfy some perceived need by consumers, and that perception may be an artifact of marketing, or fashion, or cultural inertia, or ignorance. Some of the largest and most profitable industries in the developed world—entertainment, automobiles, clothing and fashion accessories, health products, children’s toys, grownups’ toys!—depend on perceptions of need that go far beyond the utilitarian and are notoriously difficult to predict. And yet these industries clearly depend on sophisticated and rapidly advancing technologies to compete in the marketplace. Of course, they do not depend only upon technology. Technologies are part of the environment for innovation, or in a popular and very appropriate metaphor—part of the innovation ecology .

This complexity of innovation and its ecology is conveyed in Chapter One of a currently popular best-seller in the United States called Innovation Nation by the American innovation guru, Kao ( 2007 ), formerly on the faculty of the Harvard Business School:

“I define it [innovation],” writes Kao, “as the ability of individuals, companies, and entire nations to continuously create their desired future. Innovation depends on harvesting knowledge from a range of disciplines besides science and technology, among them design, social science, and the arts. And it is exemplified by more than just products; services, experiences, and processes can be innovative as well. The work of entrepreneurs, scientists, and software geeks alike contributes to innovation. It is also about the middlemen who know how to realize value from ideas. Innovation flows from shifts in mind-set that can generate new business models, recognize new opportunities, and weave innovations throughout the fabric of society. It is about new ways of doing and seeing things as much as it is about the breakthrough idea.” (Kao 2007 , p. 19).

This is not your standard government-type definition. Gurus, of course, do not have to worry about leading indicators and predictive measures of policy success. Nevertheless, some policy guidance can be drawn from this high level “definition,” and I will do so later.

The first point, then, is that the structural aspects of “science, technology, and innovation” are imperfectly defined, complex, and poorly understood. There is still much work to do to identify measures, develop models, and test them against actual experience before we can say we really know what it takes to foster innovation. The second point I want to make is about the temporal aspects: all three of these complex activities are changing with time. Science, of course, always changes through the accumulation of knowledge, but it also changes through revolutions in its theoretical structure, through its ever-improving technology, and through its evolving sociology. The technology and sociology of science are currently impacted by a rapidly changing information technology. Technology today flows increasingly from research laboratories but the influence of technology on both science and innovation depends strongly on its commercial adoption, that is, on market forces. Commercial scale manufacturing drives down the costs of technology so it can be exploited in an ever-broadening range of applications. The mass market for precision electro-mechanical devices like cameras, printers, and disk drives is the basis for new scientific instrumentation and also for further generations of products that integrate hundreds of existing components in new devices and business models like the Apple iPod and video games, not to mention improvements in old products like cars and telephones. Innovation is changing too as it expands its scope beyond individual products to include all or parts of systems such as supply chains and inventory control, as in the Wal-Mart phenomenon. Apple’s iPod does not stand alone; it is integrated with iTunes software and novel arrangements with media providers.

With one exception, however, technology changes more slowly than it appears because we encounter basic technology platforms in a wide variety of relatively short-lived products. Technology is like a language that innovators use to express concepts in the form of products, and business models that serve (and sometimes create) a variety of needs, some of which fluctuate with fashion. The exception to the illusion of rapid technology change is the pace of information technology, which is no illusion. It has fulfilled Moore’s Law for more than half a century, and it is a remarkable historical anomaly arising from the systematic exploitation of the understanding of the behavior of microscopic matter following the discovery of quantum mechanics. The pace would be much less without a continually evolving market for the succession of smaller, higher capacity products. It is not at all clear that the market demand will continue to support the increasingly expensive investment in fabrication equipment for each new step up the exponential curve of Moore’s Law. The science is probably available to allow many more capacity doublings if markets can sustain them. Let me digress briefly on this point.

Many science commentators have described the twentieth century as the century of physics and the twenty-first as the century of biology. We now know that is misleading. It is true that our struggle to understand the ultimate constituents of matter has now encompassed (apparently) everything of human scale and relevance, and that the universe of biological phenomena now lies open for systematic investigation and dramatic applications in health, agriculture, and energy production. But there are two additional frontiers of physical science, one already highly productive, the other very intriguing. The first is the frontier of complexity , where physics, chemistry, materials science, biology, and mathematics all come together. This is where nanotechnology and biotechnology reside. These are huge fields that form the core of basic science policy in most developed nations. The basic science of the twenty-first century is neither biology nor physics, but an interdisciplinary mix of these and other traditional fields. Continued development of this domain contributes to information technology and much else. I mentioned two frontiers. The other physical science frontier borders the nearly unexploited domain of quantum coherence phenomena . It is a very large domain and potentially a source of entirely new platform technologies not unlike microelectronics. To say more about this would take me too far from our topic. The point is that nature has many undeveloped physical phenomena to enrich the ecology of innovation and keep us marching along the curve of Moore’s Law if we can afford to do so.

I worry about the psychological impact of the rapid advance of information technology. I believe it has created unrealistic expectations about all technologies and has encouraged a casual attitude among policy makers toward the capability of science and technology to deliver solutions to difficult social problems. This is certainly true of what may be the greatest technical challenge of all time—the delivery of energy to large developed and developing populations without adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The challenge of sustainable energy technology is much more difficult than many people currently seem to appreciate. I am afraid that time will make this clear.

Structural complexities and the intrinsic dynamism of science and technology pose challenges to policy makers, but they seem almost manageable compared with the challenges posed by extrinsic forces. Among these are globalization and the impact of global economic development on the environment. The latter, expressed quite generally through the concept of “sustainability” is likely to be a component of much twenty-first century innovation policy. Measures of development, competitiveness, and innovation need to include sustainability dimensions to be realistic over the long run. Development policies that destroy economically important environmental systems, contribute to harmful global change, and undermine the natural resource basis of the economy are bad policies. Sustainability is now an international issue because the scale of development and the globalization of economies have environmental and natural resource implications that transcend national borders.

From the policy point of view, globalization is a not a new phenomenon. Science has been globalized for centuries, and we ought to be studying it more closely as a model for effective responses to the globalization of our economies. What is striking about science is the strong imperative to share ideas through every conceivable channel to the widest possible audience. If you had to name one chief characteristic of science, it would be empiricism. If you had to name two, the other would be open communication of data and ideas. The power of open communication in science cannot be overestimated. It has established, uniquely among human endeavors, an absolute global standard. And it effectively recruits talent from every part of the globe to labor at the science frontiers. The result has been an extraordinary legacy of understanding of the phenomena that shape our existence. Science is the ultimate example of an open innovation system.

Science practice has received much attention from philosophers, social scientists, and historians during the past half-century, and some of what has been learned holds valuable lessons for policy makers. It is fascinating to me how quickly countries that provide avenues to advanced education are able to participate in world science. The barriers to a small but productive scientific activity appear to be quite low and whether or not a country participates in science appears to be discretionary. A small scientific establishment, however, will not have significant direct economic impact. Its value at early stages of development is indirect, bringing higher performance standards, international recognition, and peer role models for a wider population. A science program of any size is also a link to the rich intellectual resources of the world scientific community. The indirect benefit of scientific research to a developing country far exceeds its direct benefit, and policy needs to recognize this. It is counterproductive to base support for science in such countries on a hoped-for direct economic stimulus.

Keeping in mind that the innovation ecology includes far more than science and technology, it should be obvious that within a small national economy innovation can thrive on a very small indigenous science and technology base. But innovators, like scientists, do require access to technical information and ideas. Consequently, policies favorable to innovation will create access to education and encourage free communication with the world technical community. Anything that encourages awareness of the marketplace and all its actors on every scale will encourage innovation.

This brings me back to John Kao’s definition of innovation. His vision of “the ability of individuals, companies, and entire nations to continuously create their desired future” implies conditions that create that ability, including most importantly educational opportunity (Kao 2007 , p. 19). The notion that “innovation depends on harvesting knowledge from a range of disciplines besides science and technology” implies that innovators must know enough to recognize useful knowledge when they see it, and that they have access to knowledge sources across a spectrum that ranges from news media and the Internet to technical and trade conferences (2007, p. 19). If innovation truly “flows from shifts in mind-set that can generate new business models, recognize new opportunities, and weave innovations throughout the fabric of society,” then the fabric of society must be somewhat loose-knit to accommodate the new ideas (2007, p. 19). Innovation is about risk and change, and deep forces in every society resist both of these. A striking feature of the US innovation ecology is the positive attitude toward failure, an attitude that encourages risk-taking and entrepreneurship.

All this gives us some insight into what policies we need to encourage innovation. Innovation policy is broader than science and technology policy, but the latter must be consistent with the former to produce a healthy innovation ecology. Innovation requires a predictable social structure, an open marketplace, and a business culture amenable to risk and change. It certainly requires an educational infrastructure that produces people with a global awareness and sufficient technical literacy to harvest the fruits of current technology. What innovation does not require is the creation by governments of a system that defines, regulates, or even rewards innovation except through the marketplace or in response to evident success. Some regulation of new products and new ideas is required to protect public health and environmental quality, but innovation needs lots of freedom. Innovative ideas that do not work out should be allowed to die so the innovation community can learn from the experience and replace the failed attempt with something better.

Do we understand innovation well enough to develop policy for it? If the policy addresses very general infrastructure issues such as education, economic, and political stability and the like, the answer is perhaps. If we want to measure the impact of specific programs on innovation, the answer is no. Studies of innovation are at an early stage where anecdotal information and case studies, similar to John Kao’s book—or the books on Business Week’s top ten list of innovation titles—are probably the most useful tools for policy makers.

I have been urging increased attention to what I call the science of science policy —the systematic quantitative study of the subset of our economy called science and technology—including the construction and validation of micro- and macro-economic models for S&T activity. Innovators themselves, and those who finance them, need to identify their needs and the impediments they face. Eventually, we may learn enough to create reliable indicators by which we can judge the health of our innovation ecosystems. The goal is well worth the sustained effort that will be required to achieve it.

Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference . Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

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Kao, J. (2007). Innovation nation: How America is losing its innovation edge, why it matters, and what we can do to get it back . New York: Free Press.

Taleb, N. N. (2007). The black swan: The impact of the highly improbable . New York: Random House.

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Marburger, J.H. Science, technology and innovation in a 21st century context. Policy Sci 44 , 209–213 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-011-9137-3

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Published : 27 August 2011

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-011-9137-3

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Technology and the Innovation Economy

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Darrell m. west darrell m. west senior fellow - center for technology innovation , douglas dillon chair in governmental studies.

October 19, 2011

• 19 min read

Executive Summary

Innovation and entrepreneurship are crucial for long-term economic development. Over the years, America’s well-being has been furthered by science and technology. Fears set off by the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of its Sputnik satellite initiated a wave of U.S. investment in science, engineering, aerospace, and technology. Both public and private sector investment created jobs, built industries, fueled innovation, and propelled the U.S. to leadership in a number of different fields.

In this paper, I focus on ways technology enables innovation and creates economic prosperity. I review the range of new advances in education, health care, and communications, and make policy recommendations designed to encourage an innovation economy. By adopting policies such as a permanent research and development tax credit, more effective university knowledge commercialization, improving STEM worker training, reasonable immigration reform, and regional economic clusters, we can build an innovation economy and sustain our long-term prosperity.

The Link to Economic Prosperity

Researchers have found a link between technology innovation and national economic prosperity. For example, a study of 120 nations between 1980 and 2006 undertaken by Christine Qiang estimated that each 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration adds 1.3 percent to a high income country’s gross domestic product and 1.21 percent for low to middle-income nations. [i]

In addition, Taylor Reynolds has analyzed the role of communication infrastructure investment in economic recoveries among OECD countries and found that nearly all view technology development as crucial to their economic stimulus packages. [ii] He demonstrates that there is a strong connection between telecommunication investment and economic growth, especially following recessions. These kinds of investments help countries create jobs and lay the groundwork for long-term economic development.

As a result, many nations around the world are investing in digital infrastructure as a way to jump-start economies weakened by the recent financial collapse. The decline in stock market valuations, rise in unemployment, and reduction in overall economic growth has highlighted the need to target financial resources and develop national priorities. In conditions of economic scarcity, countries no longer have the luxury of being passive and reactive. Instead, they must be proactive and forward-looking, and think clearly about how to create the basis for sustainable economic recoveries.

Not surprisingly, given its long-term potential, a number of countries have identified information technology as a crucial infrastructure need for national development. Broadband is viewed in many places as a way to stimulate economic development, social connections, and civic engagement. National leaders understand that cross-cutting technology speeds innovation in areas such as health care, education, communications, and social networking. When combined with organizational changes, digital technology can generate powerful new efficiencies and economies of scale. [iii]

People Understand Importance of Innovation, But Doubt U.S. Future

Despite the importance of the connection between technology innovation and economic prosperity, public opinion surveys reveal interesting results in people’s views about innovation. A 2009 Newsweek -Intel Global Innovation Survey interviewed 4,800 adults in the United States, China, United Kingdom, and Germany.  Researchers found that “two-thirds of respondents believe innovation will be more important than ever to the U.S. economy over the next 30 years.” [iv]   People understand the basic point that innovation has been key to past prosperity and is vital moving forward.

The survey also found interesting differences between Americans and the Chinese in what they think is important to future advances. According to the survey, “Americans are focused on improving math and science education, while Chinese are more concerned about developing creative problem-solving and business skills.” [v] Apparently, people from the respective nations have different fears about their current innovation training and what is necessary for future innovation.

However, there is a remarkable divergence between Americans and Chinese in assessments of the contemporary situation. Americans are remarkably pessimistic about their own future.  When asked how the U.S. was doing in 2009, only 41 percent of Americans thought our country was ahead of China on innovation compared to 81 percent of Chinese who felt the U.S. was ahead. [vi] Americans worried that their country was falling behind on innovation while other countries were moving forward.

There are objective reasons behind this American pessimism. There are too few Americans studying the traditional STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Due to our immigration policy, it is difficult for foreign students who are educated in the United States to stay here, get jobs, and contribute to American innovation the way many immigrants have done in the U.S. previously. [vii]   With our current debt and budget deficit levels, Americans worry about our long-term ability to invest in education and research in the way we did in the past and produce positive results.

An analysis of patents granted shows that our country’s long-term dominance has come to an end.  In 1999, American scientists were granted 90,000 patents, compared to 70,000 for those from all other countries. [viii]   By 2009, though, non-U.S. innovators earned more patents (around 96,000) compared to Americans (93,000). This represented the first time in recent years where non-Americans had garnered more patents. [ix]

The United States spends only 2.8 percent of its federal budget on national research and development as a percentage of GDP. This is less than the 4.3 percent spent by the government in Sweden, 3.1 percent by Japan, and 3.0 percent by South Korea, but higher than that of Germany (2.5 percent), France (2.2 percent), Canada (1.9 percent), or England (1.9 percent). Europe as a whole devotes 1.9 percent to research and development, while industrialized nations spend around 2.3 percent. [x]

If one adds together all the science and technology workers in the United States as a percentage of the workplace, 33 percent of American employees have science or technology positions. This is slightly less than the 34 percent figure for the Netherlands and Germany, but higher than the 28 percent in France and Canada,. [xi]

The productivity in this area has fueled considerable demand for those with science and engineering expertise, and it has been difficult for the United States to produce sufficient knowledge workers. [xii]   Thirty-eight percent of Korean students now earn degrees in science and engineering, compared to 33 percent for Germany, 28 percent for France, 27 percent for England, and 26 percent for Japan. The United States has fallen behind in this area.  Despite great demand for this kind of training, only 16 percent of American graduates have backgrounds in science and engineering. [xiii]

In America, the private sector surpassed the federal government in 1980 in terms of the amount of money spent on research and development. By 2003, commercial companies provided 68 percent of the $283 billion spent on research and development, compared to 27 percent from the federal government. Of this total, $113 billion came from the federal government, while $170 came from the private sector. According to information from the National Science Board, the percentage of research and development spending coming from the federal government has dropped from around 63 percent in the early 1960s to 27 percent today, while that of the private sector increased from 30 to 68 percent. [xiv]

The Need for a Clear Focus on Innovation

In moving forward, it is clear that information technology enables innovation in a variety of policy areas.  According to Philip Bond, the president of TechAmerica, “each tech job supports three jobs in other sectors of the economy.” And in information technology, he says, there are five jobs for each IT position. [xv]

Faster broadband and wireless speeds also enable people to take advantage of new digital tools such as GIS mapping, telemedicine, virtual reality, online games, supercomputing, video on demand, and video conferencing.  New developments in health information technology and mobile health, such as emailing X-rays and other medical tests, require high-speed broadband. And distance learning, civic engagement, and smart energy grids require sufficient bandwidth. [xvi]

High-speed broadband allows physicians to share digital images with colleagues in other geographic areas.  Schools are able to extend distance learning to under-served populations. Smart electric grids produce greater efficiency in monitoring energy consumption and contribute to more environment-friendly policies.  Video conferencing facilities save government and businesses large amounts of money on their travel budgets. New digital platforms across a variety of policy domains spur utilization and innovation, and bring additional people, businesses, and services into the digital revolution.

In the education area, better technology infrastructure enables personalized learning and real-time assessment. Imagine schools where students master vital skills and critical thinking in a personalized and collaborative manner, teachers assess pupils in real-time, and social media and digital libraries connect learners to a wide range of informational resources. Teachers take on the role of coaches, students learn at their own pace, technology tracks student progress, and schools are judged based on the outcomes they produce. Rather than be limited to six hours a day for half the year, this kind of education moves toward 24/7 engagement and learning fulltime. [xvii]  

These represent just a few of the examples where innovation is taking place. Technology fosters innovation, creates jobs, and boost long-term economic prosperity. By improving communication and creating opportunities for data-sharing and collaboration, information technology represents an infrastructure issue as important as bridges, highways, dams, and buildings.

Getting Serious about Innovation Policy

To stimulate innovation, we need a number of policy actions. Right now, the United States does not have a coherent or comprehensive innovation strategy. Unlike other nations, who think systematically about these matters, we make policy in a piecemeal fashion and focus on short versus long-term objectives. This limits the efficiency and effectiveness of our national efforts. There are a number of areas that we need to address.

Research and Development Tax Credits : An example of our national short-sightedness is the research and development tax credit.  Members of Congress have extended this many times in recent years, but they generally do this on an annual basis.  Rather than extend this credit over a long period of time, they renew it episodically and never on a predictable schedule.

This makes it difficult for companies to plan investments and pursue consistent strategies over time. Due to political uncertainties and institutional politics, we end up creating inefficiencies linked to the vagaries of federal policymaking. [xviii] While companies in other countries invest and deduct on a more predictable schedule, we shoot ourselves in the foot through a short-sighted perspective.  Bond notes that “23 countries now offer a more generous and stable credit” than the United States. [xix]

Commercializing University Knowledge : Universities represent a crucial linchpin in efforts to build an innovation economy.  They are extraordinary knowledge generators, but must do a better job of transferring technology and commercializing knowledge. University licensing offices must speed up their review process in order to encourage the formation of businesses. Universities should think more seriously about innovation metrics so they allocate resources efficiently and create the proper incentives.

Right now, many places count the number of patents and licensing agreements without much attention to the businesses created, products that are marketed, or revenue that is generated. They should make sure their resources and incentives are aligned with metrics that encourage technology transfer and commercialization. [xx]

STEM Workforce Training and Development : The United States is facing a crisis in STEM training and workforce development. There are many dimensions of this challenge, but one of the most important concerns is the low number of college students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math. Few American students are developing proficiency in these subjects, which is hindering the country’s economic future. Past American prosperity has been propelled by advances in the STEM fields.   Skills in these areas helped the country win the space race and the Cold War and we need them now as we transition to a technology driven economy.

To deal with this problem, President Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has produced an official report that calls for the creation of a Master Teachers Corps. Among other recommendations, the report emphasizes two actions: 1) hiring 100,000 new STEM teachers and 2) paying higher salaries to the top 5 percent of STEM teachers. [xxi]   However, in an era of budget cutbacks and attacks on teacher unions, it has been difficult to build support for raising teacher salaries in general and adopting differential pay in particular.

In his 2011 State of the Union, the President restated his commitment to putting education at the forefront of the national agenda, emphasizing the need for quality teachers, investment in STEM education programs, and a “bold restructuring” of federal education funding. He called for identifying effective teachers and creating reward systems to retain top-performing individuals.

It is vital to address these issues because basic facts about STEM teaching and competency are not well known.  Failing schools not only harm students, they weaken the overall economy. With the U.S. facing a crisis of massive proportions in terms of its ability to innovate and create jobs, it is imperative that we transform STEM teaching to prepare students for the future economy. Real emphasis should be placed on teacher investment because research has shown that teachers are the primary factor in ensuring student growth and achievement.

An Einstein Strategy for Immigration Reform : We need reasonable immigration reform. One of our most important challenges is a new narrative defining immigration as a brain gain that improves economic competitiveness and national innovation. A focus on brains and competitiveness would help America overcome past deficiencies in immigration policy and enable our country to move forward into the 21 st century. It is a way to become more strategic about promoting our long-term economy and achieving important national objectives. [xxii]

We need to think about immigration policy along the lines of an “Einstein Principle.” In this perspective, national leaders would elevate brains, talent, and special skills to a higher plane in order to attract more individuals with the potential to enhance American innovation and competitiveness. The goal is to boost the national economy, and bring individuals to America with the potential to make significant contributions.  This would increase the odds for prosperity down the road. It has been estimated that “over 50,000 workers with advanced degrees leave the country for better opportunities elsewhere.” [xxiii]

O-1 Genius Visas : In order to boost American innovation, current policy contains a provision for a visa “brains” program. The so-called “genius” visa known as O-1 allows the government to authorize visas for those having “extraordinary abilities in the arts, science, education, business, and sports.” In 2008, around 9,000 genius visas were granted, up from 6,500 in 2004.  The idea behind this program is to focus on talented people and encourage them to come to the United States. It is consistent with what national leaders have done in past eras, where we encouraged those with special talents to migrate to our nation.

However, this program has been small and entry passes have gone to individuals such as professional basketball player Dirk Nowitzki of Germany and various members of the Merce Cunningham and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane dance companies. [xxiv] While these people clearly have special talents, it is important to extend this program in new ways and target people who create jobs and further American innovation.  This would help the United States compete more effectively.

EB-5 Job Creation Visas : There is a little-known EB-5 visa program that offers temporary visas to foreigners who invest at least half a million dollars in American locales officially designated as “distressed areas.” If their financial investment leads to the creation of 10 or more jobs, the temporary visa automatically becomes a permanent green card.  Without much media attention, there were 945 immigrants in 2008 who provided over $400 million through this program. [xxv] On a per capita basis, these benefits make the program one of the most successful economic development initiatives in the federal government.

This is a great way to tie U.S. immigration policy to job creation. If a goal of national policy is to encourage investment and job creation, targeted visas of this sort are very effective.  Such programs explicitly link new immigration with concrete economic investment. They also generate needed foreign capital ($500,000) for poor geographic areas. There is public accountability for this policy program because entry visas are granted on a temporary basis and become permanent only AFTER at least 10 jobs have been created.  This kind of visa program is the ultimate in targeting and quality control. Unless the money is invested and leads to new jobs, the newcomer is not allowed to stay in the United States.

H-1B Worker Visas : Right now, only 15 percent of annual visas are set aside for employment purposes.  Of these, some go to seasonal agricultural workers, while a small number of H-1B visas (65,000) are reserved for “specialty occupations” such as scientists, engineers, and technological experts. Individuals who are admitted with this work permit can stay for up to six years, and are able to apply for a green card if their employer is willing to sponsor their application.

The number reserved for scientists and engineers is drastically below the figure allowed between 1999 and 2004. In that interval, the federal government set aside up to 195,000 visas each year for H-1B entry.  The idea was that scientific innovators were so important for long-term economic development that we needed to boost the number set aside for those specialty professions.

Today, most of the current allocation of 65,000 visas run out within a few months of the start of the government’s fiscal year in October.  Even in the recession-plagued period of 2009, visa applications exceeded the supply within the first three months of the fiscal year. American companies were responsible for 49 percent of the H-1B visa requests in 2009, up from 43 percent in 2008. The companies which were awarded the largest number of these visas included firms such as Wipro (1,964), Microsoft (1,318), Intel (723), IBM India (695), Patri Americas (609), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (602), Ernst & Young (481), Infosys technologies (440), UST Global (344), and Deloitte Consulting (328). [xxvi]

High-skill visas need to be expanded back to 195,000 because at its current level, that program represents only six and a half percent of the million work permits granted each year by the United States. That percentage is woefully inadequate in terms of the supply needed. Entry programs such as the H-1B, O-1, and L-1 visa programs grant temporary visas for a period of a few years to workers with special talents needed by American employers. They enable U.S. companies to attract top people to domestic industries, and represent a great way to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.

Regional Economic Clusters : We need regional economic clusters that take advantage of innovation-rich geographic niches. There are several examples of successful and geographically-based clusters such as Silicon Valley, Boston’s Route 128, and the Research Triangle in North Carolina. In each of these areas, there is a combination of creative talent associated with terrific universities, access to venture capital, and state laws that promote innovation through tax policy and/or infrastructure development.

Research has demonstrated that these innovation clusters generate positive economic results. According to a Brookings report by Mark Muro and Bruce Katz, “it is now broadly affirmed that strong clusters foster innovation through dense knowledge flows and spillovers; strengthen entrepreneurship by boosting new enterprise formation and start-up survival, enhance productivity, income-levels, and employment growth in industries, and positively influence regional economic performance.” [xxvii]

The question is how to promote such clusters in other geographic areas. There clearly are other places with the underlying conditions that foster technology innovation. But Muro and Katz caution that political leaders can’t force clusters that don’t already exist and that they should let the private sector lead in encouraging cluster formation. It is important to leverage existing resources and take advantage of workforce development programs, banking rules, educational institutions, and tax policies. [xxviii]

[i] Christine Zhen-Wei Qiang, “Telecommunications and Economic Growth,” Washington, D.C.:  World Bank, unpublished paper.

[ii] Taylor Reynolds, “The Role of Communication Infrastructure Investment in Economic Recovery,” Working Party on Communication Infrastructures and Services Policy, OECD, March, 2009.

[iii] Erik Brynjolfsson and Adam Saunders, Wired for Innovation, Cambridge, Massachusetts:  MIT Press, 2009.

[iv] Daniel McGinn, “The Decline of Western Innovation:  Why America is Falling Behind and How to Fix It,” The Daily Beast, November 15, 2009.

[v] Daniel McGinn, “The Decline of Western Innovation:  Why America is Falling Behind and How to Fix It,” The Daily Beast, November 15, 2009.

[vi] Daniel McGinn, “The Decline of Western Innovation:  Why America is Falling Behind and How to Fix It,” The Daily Beast, November 15, 2009.

[vii] Darrell West, Brain Gain:  Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy, Washington, D.C.:  Brookings Institution Press, 2010.

[viii] Darrell M. West, Biotechnology Policy Across National Boundaries, New York:  Palgrave/Macmillan, 2007.

[ix] Michael Arndt, “Ben Franklin, Where Are You?” Business Week, January 4, 2010, p. 29.

[x] Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Science and Technology Statistical Compendium, 2004.

[xi] Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Science and Technology Statistical Compendium, 2004.

[xii] Darrell West, Brain Gain:  Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy, Washington, D.C.:  Brookings Institution Press, 2010.

[xiii] Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Science and Technology Statistical Compendium, 2004.

[xiv] National Science Board, “Science and Engineering Indictors 2004,” Washington, D.C.:  National Science Foundation, 2004, p. 0-4.

[xv] Philip Bond, “Tech Provides Map for Nation’s Future,” Politico, September 18, 2011.

[xvi] Darrell West, “An International Look at High-Speed Broadband,” Washington, D.C.:  Brookings Institution, February, 2010.

[xvii] Darrell West, “Using Technology to Personalize Learning and Assess Students in Real-Time,” Washington, D.C.:  Brookings Institution, October 6, 2011.

[xviii] Martin Baily, Bruce Katz, and Darrell West, “Building a Long-Term Strategy for Growth through Innovation,” Washington, D.C.:  Brookings Institution, May, 2011.

[xix] Philip Bond, “Tech Provides Map for Nation’s Future,” Politico, September 18, 2011.

[xx] Martin Baily, Bruce Katz, and Darrell West, “Building a Long-Term Strategy for Growth through Innovation,” Washington, D.C.:  Brookings Institution, May, 2011.

[xxi] President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, “Prepare and Inspire:  K-12 Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math for America’s Future,” September, 2010.

[xxii] Richard Herman and Robert Smith, Immigrant, Inc.:  Why Immigrant Entrepreneurs Are Driving the New Economy and How They Will Save the American Worker, Hoboken, New Jersey:  John Wiley & Sons, 2010.

[xxiii] Center for Public Policy Innovation, “Restoring U.S. Competitiveness:  Navigating a Path Forward Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” Washington, D.C., September 7, 2011.

[xxiv] Moira Herbst, “Geniuses at the Gate,” Business Week, June 8, 2009, p. 14.

[xxv] Lisa Lerer, “Invest $500,000, Score a U.S. Visa,” CNNMoney.com.

[xxvi] Moira Herbst, “Still Wanted:  Foreign Talent—And Visas,” Business Week, December 21, 2009, p. 76.

[xxvii] Mark Muro and Bruce Katz, “The New ‘Cluster Moment’:  How Regional Innovation Clusters Can Foster the Next Economy,” Washington, D.C.:  Brookings Institution, September 21, 2010.

[xxviii] Mark Muro and Bruce Katz, “The New ‘Cluster Moment’:  How Regional Innovation Clusters Can Foster the Next Economy,” Washington, D.C.:  Brookings Institution, September 21, 2010.

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Promises and Pitfalls of Technology

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Josephine Wolff; How Is Technology Changing the World, and How Should the World Change Technology?. Global Perspectives 1 February 2021; 2 (1): 27353. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2021.27353

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Technologies are becoming increasingly complicated and increasingly interconnected. Cars, airplanes, medical devices, financial transactions, and electricity systems all rely on more computer software than they ever have before, making them seem both harder to understand and, in some cases, harder to control. Government and corporate surveillance of individuals and information processing relies largely on digital technologies and artificial intelligence, and therefore involves less human-to-human contact than ever before and more opportunities for biases to be embedded and codified in our technological systems in ways we may not even be able to identify or recognize. Bioengineering advances are opening up new terrain for challenging philosophical, political, and economic questions regarding human-natural relations. Additionally, the management of these large and small devices and systems is increasingly done through the cloud, so that control over them is both very remote and removed from direct human or social control. The study of how to make technologies like artificial intelligence or the Internet of Things “explainable” has become its own area of research because it is so difficult to understand how they work or what is at fault when something goes wrong (Gunning and Aha 2019) .

This growing complexity makes it more difficult than ever—and more imperative than ever—for scholars to probe how technological advancements are altering life around the world in both positive and negative ways and what social, political, and legal tools are needed to help shape the development and design of technology in beneficial directions. This can seem like an impossible task in light of the rapid pace of technological change and the sense that its continued advancement is inevitable, but many countries around the world are only just beginning to take significant steps toward regulating computer technologies and are still in the process of radically rethinking the rules governing global data flows and exchange of technology across borders.

These are exciting times not just for technological development but also for technology policy—our technologies may be more advanced and complicated than ever but so, too, are our understandings of how they can best be leveraged, protected, and even constrained. The structures of technological systems as determined largely by government and institutional policies and those structures have tremendous implications for social organization and agency, ranging from open source, open systems that are highly distributed and decentralized, to those that are tightly controlled and closed, structured according to stricter and more hierarchical models. And just as our understanding of the governance of technology is developing in new and interesting ways, so, too, is our understanding of the social, cultural, environmental, and political dimensions of emerging technologies. We are realizing both the challenges and the importance of mapping out the full range of ways that technology is changing our society, what we want those changes to look like, and what tools we have to try to influence and guide those shifts.

Technology can be a source of tremendous optimism. It can help overcome some of the greatest challenges our society faces, including climate change, famine, and disease. For those who believe in the power of innovation and the promise of creative destruction to advance economic development and lead to better quality of life, technology is a vital economic driver (Schumpeter 1942) . But it can also be a tool of tremendous fear and oppression, embedding biases in automated decision-making processes and information-processing algorithms, exacerbating economic and social inequalities within and between countries to a staggering degree, or creating new weapons and avenues for attack unlike any we have had to face in the past. Scholars have even contended that the emergence of the term technology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries marked a shift from viewing individual pieces of machinery as a means to achieving political and social progress to the more dangerous, or hazardous, view that larger-scale, more complex technological systems were a semiautonomous form of progress in and of themselves (Marx 2010) . More recently, technologists have sharply criticized what they view as a wave of new Luddites, people intent on slowing the development of technology and turning back the clock on innovation as a means of mitigating the societal impacts of technological change (Marlowe 1970) .

At the heart of fights over new technologies and their resulting global changes are often two conflicting visions of technology: a fundamentally optimistic one that believes humans use it as a tool to achieve greater goals, and a fundamentally pessimistic one that holds that technological systems have reached a point beyond our control. Technology philosophers have argued that neither of these views is wholly accurate and that a purely optimistic or pessimistic view of technology is insufficient to capture the nuances and complexity of our relationship to technology (Oberdiek and Tiles 1995) . Understanding technology and how we can make better decisions about designing, deploying, and refining it requires capturing that nuance and complexity through in-depth analysis of the impacts of different technological advancements and the ways they have played out in all their complicated and controversial messiness across the world.

These impacts are often unpredictable as technologies are adopted in new contexts and come to be used in ways that sometimes diverge significantly from the use cases envisioned by their designers. The internet, designed to help transmit information between computer networks, became a crucial vehicle for commerce, introducing unexpected avenues for crime and financial fraud. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, designed to connect friends and families through sharing photographs and life updates, became focal points of election controversies and political influence. Cryptocurrencies, originally intended as a means of decentralized digital cash, have become a significant environmental hazard as more and more computing resources are devoted to mining these forms of virtual money. One of the crucial challenges in this area is therefore recognizing, documenting, and even anticipating some of these unexpected consequences and providing mechanisms to technologists for how to think through the impacts of their work, as well as possible other paths to different outcomes (Verbeek 2006) . And just as technological innovations can cause unexpected harm, they can also bring about extraordinary benefits—new vaccines and medicines to address global pandemics and save thousands of lives, new sources of energy that can drastically reduce emissions and help combat climate change, new modes of education that can reach people who would otherwise have no access to schooling. Regulating technology therefore requires a careful balance of mitigating risks without overly restricting potentially beneficial innovations.

Nations around the world have taken very different approaches to governing emerging technologies and have adopted a range of different technologies themselves in pursuit of more modern governance structures and processes (Braman 2009) . In Europe, the precautionary principle has guided much more anticipatory regulation aimed at addressing the risks presented by technologies even before they are fully realized. For instance, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation focuses on the responsibilities of data controllers and processors to provide individuals with access to their data and information about how that data is being used not just as a means of addressing existing security and privacy threats, such as data breaches, but also to protect against future developments and uses of that data for artificial intelligence and automated decision-making purposes. In Germany, Technische Überwachungsvereine, or TÜVs, perform regular tests and inspections of technological systems to assess and minimize risks over time, as the tech landscape evolves. In the United States, by contrast, there is much greater reliance on litigation and liability regimes to address safety and security failings after-the-fact. These different approaches reflect not just the different legal and regulatory mechanisms and philosophies of different nations but also the different ways those nations prioritize rapid development of the technology industry versus safety, security, and individual control. Typically, governance innovations move much more slowly than technological innovations, and regulations can lag years, or even decades, behind the technologies they aim to govern.

In addition to this varied set of national regulatory approaches, a variety of international and nongovernmental organizations also contribute to the process of developing standards, rules, and norms for new technologies, including the International Organization for Standardization­ and the International Telecommunication Union. These multilateral and NGO actors play an especially important role in trying to define appropriate boundaries for the use of new technologies by governments as instruments of control for the state.

At the same time that policymakers are under scrutiny both for their decisions about how to regulate technology as well as their decisions about how and when to adopt technologies like facial recognition themselves, technology firms and designers have also come under increasing criticism. Growing recognition that the design of technologies can have far-reaching social and political implications means that there is more pressure on technologists to take into consideration the consequences of their decisions early on in the design process (Vincenti 1993; Winner 1980) . The question of how technologists should incorporate these social dimensions into their design and development processes is an old one, and debate on these issues dates back to the 1970s, but it remains an urgent and often overlooked part of the puzzle because so many of the supposedly systematic mechanisms for assessing the impacts of new technologies in both the private and public sectors are primarily bureaucratic, symbolic processes rather than carrying any real weight or influence.

Technologists are often ill-equipped or unwilling to respond to the sorts of social problems that their creations have—often unwittingly—exacerbated, and instead point to governments and lawmakers to address those problems (Zuckerberg 2019) . But governments often have few incentives to engage in this area. This is because setting clear standards and rules for an ever-evolving technological landscape can be extremely challenging, because enforcement of those rules can be a significant undertaking requiring considerable expertise, and because the tech sector is a major source of jobs and revenue for many countries that may fear losing those benefits if they constrain companies too much. This indicates not just a need for clearer incentives and better policies for both private- and public-sector entities but also a need for new mechanisms whereby the technology development and design process can be influenced and assessed by people with a wider range of experiences and expertise. If we want technologies to be designed with an eye to their impacts, who is responsible for predicting, measuring, and mitigating those impacts throughout the design process? Involving policymakers in that process in a more meaningful way will also require training them to have the analytic and technical capacity to more fully engage with technologists and understand more fully the implications of their decisions.

At the same time that tech companies seem unwilling or unable to rein in their creations, many also fear they wield too much power, in some cases all but replacing governments and international organizations in their ability to make decisions that affect millions of people worldwide and control access to information, platforms, and audiences (Kilovaty 2020) . Regulators around the world have begun considering whether some of these companies have become so powerful that they violate the tenets of antitrust laws, but it can be difficult for governments to identify exactly what those violations are, especially in the context of an industry where the largest players often provide their customers with free services. And the platforms and services developed by tech companies are often wielded most powerfully and dangerously not directly by their private-sector creators and operators but instead by states themselves for widespread misinformation campaigns that serve political purposes (Nye 2018) .

Since the largest private entities in the tech sector operate in many countries, they are often better poised to implement global changes to the technological ecosystem than individual states or regulatory bodies, creating new challenges to existing governance structures and hierarchies. Just as it can be challenging to provide oversight for government use of technologies, so, too, oversight of the biggest tech companies, which have more resources, reach, and power than many nations, can prove to be a daunting task. The rise of network forms of organization and the growing gig economy have added to these challenges, making it even harder for regulators to fully address the breadth of these companies’ operations (Powell 1990) . The private-public partnerships that have emerged around energy, transportation, medical, and cyber technologies further complicate this picture, blurring the line between the public and private sectors and raising critical questions about the role of each in providing critical infrastructure, health care, and security. How can and should private tech companies operating in these different sectors be governed, and what types of influence do they exert over regulators? How feasible are different policy proposals aimed at technological innovation, and what potential unintended consequences might they have?

Conflict between countries has also spilled over significantly into the private sector in recent years, most notably in the case of tensions between the United States and China over which technologies developed in each country will be permitted by the other and which will be purchased by other customers, outside those two countries. Countries competing to develop the best technology is not a new phenomenon, but the current conflicts have major international ramifications and will influence the infrastructure that is installed and used around the world for years to come. Untangling the different factors that feed into these tussles as well as whom they benefit and whom they leave at a disadvantage is crucial for understanding how governments can most effectively foster technological innovation and invention domestically as well as the global consequences of those efforts. As much of the world is forced to choose between buying technology from the United States or from China, how should we understand the long-term impacts of those choices and the options available to people in countries without robust domestic tech industries? Does the global spread of technologies help fuel further innovation in countries with smaller tech markets, or does it reinforce the dominance of the states that are already most prominent in this sector? How can research universities maintain global collaborations and research communities in light of these national competitions, and what role does government research and development spending play in fostering innovation within its own borders and worldwide? How should intellectual property protections evolve to meet the demands of the technology industry, and how can those protections be enforced globally?

These conflicts between countries sometimes appear to challenge the feasibility of truly global technologies and networks that operate across all countries through standardized protocols and design features. Organizations like the International Organization for Standardization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and many others have tried to harmonize these policies and protocols across different countries for years, but have met with limited success when it comes to resolving the issues of greatest tension and disagreement among nations. For technology to operate in a global environment, there is a need for a much greater degree of coordination among countries and the development of common standards and norms, but governments continue to struggle to agree not just on those norms themselves but even the appropriate venue and processes for developing them. Without greater global cooperation, is it possible to maintain a global network like the internet or to promote the spread of new technologies around the world to address challenges of sustainability? What might help incentivize that cooperation moving forward, and what could new structures and process for governance of global technologies look like? Why has the tech industry’s self-regulation culture persisted? Do the same traditional drivers for public policy, such as politics of harmonization and path dependency in policy-making, still sufficiently explain policy outcomes in this space? As new technologies and their applications spread across the globe in uneven ways, how and when do they create forces of change from unexpected places?

These are some of the questions that we hope to address in the Technology and Global Change section through articles that tackle new dimensions of the global landscape of designing, developing, deploying, and assessing new technologies to address major challenges the world faces. Understanding these processes requires synthesizing knowledge from a range of different fields, including sociology, political science, economics, and history, as well as technical fields such as engineering, climate science, and computer science. A crucial part of understanding how technology has created global change and, in turn, how global changes have influenced the development of new technologies is understanding the technologies themselves in all their richness and complexity—how they work, the limits of what they can do, what they were designed to do, how they are actually used. Just as technologies themselves are becoming more complicated, so are their embeddings and relationships to the larger social, political, and legal contexts in which they exist. Scholars across all disciplines are encouraged to join us in untangling those complexities.

Josephine Wolff is an associate professor of cybersecurity policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Her book You’ll See This Message When It Is Too Late: The Legal and Economic Aftermath of Cybersecurity Breaches was published by MIT Press in 2018.

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Essays in technological innovation & financial economics

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How Innovation and Technology Makes Life Easier Essay

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Introduction

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For the people living in the age of highly developed technological progress, it is rather hard to imagine life without all of the existing innovations. Contemporary society can hardly function on the proper level without machines. It is difficult to overestimate the input of modern technologies in making the life of common people easier and happier.

Some people believe that modern inventions contribute to our laziness and inability to communicate. In my opinion, the negative effects of technology overuse really exist, but they are mostly caused by our lack of education and irresponsibility. They can be easily avoided if people behave properly. The machines were created for making our life easy, and it is not their fault if we use them unduly.

Without innovations, our world would look different. It goes without saying that the invention of such widely used devices as the washing machine or a vacuum cleaner gave more free time to common people. However, the influence of technologies is not limited to this side of everyday life. On the contrary, all of the essential parts of the life of our society are based on the use of technology.

The technologies made the studying process easy and accessible for people with any income and location. Owing to modern gadgets and Internet, contemporary students have the possibility to find any scholarly source needed at any time. Without innovations, the work of firefighters, police officers, and rescuers would be much less productive. Thanks to the machines, our healthcare system is constantly making progress in finding solutions for different health problems. Without technologies, the level of medical services would be much lower. Besides, the adoption of technologies maximizes the independence of older adults and makes their life easier and safer (Adams et al. 1718). The use of technologies results in millions of lives and loads of time saved.

The efficacious use of technologies in all spheres of life is directly associated with the level of development of a country. It is a well-known fact that a permanent introduction of innovative technologies into the functioning of different systems results in providing better services and increasing the perception of quality of life. It leads to a higher standard of life for citizens and the elaboration of the country’s reputation all over the world. Therefore, the implantation of innovations is one of the main characteristics of the developed countries, recognized as leaders in the world community.

The United Arab Emirates is a country that has gained the reputation of the leader in implementing up-to-date innovations into life. His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the UAE, has announced 2015 to be the year of innovations in the country. Within the framework of the project, plans for a major museum of the future in Dubai have been launched. The museum “will produce futuristic inventions” and support the UAE in reaching the object of being the most path-breaking country in the world (Sophia par. 2). Different sections will present the newest inventions and demonstrate simulations, enabling the visitors to see the future with the use of 3D printing techniques (Sophia par. 4). Besides, the museum will unite the most prominent specialists under one roof. It will create an opportunity for realizing the whole potential of the best inventors in constructing futuristic prototypes. It seems that this incredible institution will attract much attention from researchers and common people from the whole world.

Technologies and innovations are the main engines driving our society towards a happier future. The most developed countries support inventions and embody them into life. The UAE remains the leader in implementing innovations and strikes the world with its new projects.

Adams, Anne, Julie Boron, Neil Charness, Sara Czaja, Katinka Dijkstra, Cara Bailey Fausset, Arthur Fisk, Tracy Mitzner, Wendy Rogers, and Joseph Sharit. “Older Adults Talk Technology: Technology Usage and Attitudes.” Computers in Human Behavior 26.6 (2010): 1710-1721. Print.

Sophia, Mary. Sheikh Mohammed Launches Museum of the Future in Dubai . 2015. Web.

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Apple Inc: a Study in Innovation and Market Dominance

How it works

In the world of technology, few companies get as much love and criticism as Apple Inc. Starting out in a garage and growing into a trillion-dollar giant, Apple’s story is all about visionary leadership, nonstop innovation, and a strong focus on quality. This essay takes a look at the key strategies and decisions that have guided Apple’s path, showing how the company keeps staying ahead and dominating the market.

• 1 The Birth of a Tech Giant
• 2 Innovation: Apple’s Secret Sauce
• 3 Market Strategy and Brand Loyalty
• 4 Challenges and the Road Ahead
• 5 Conclusion

The Birth of a Tech Giant

Back in 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Inc.

Their goal was simple: make computing easy for everyone. The Apple I and Apple II set the stage for personal computers. But it was the launch of the Macintosh in 1984 that really changed the game. The Macintosh wasn’t just a tech wonder; it became a cultural icon. Its graphical user interface and easy-to-use design set new standards and showed what computers could really do.

Even with early wins, Apple hit rough waters in the mid-1990s. Financial troubles, lack of direction, and tough competition from Microsoft made things hard. Then Steve Jobs came back in 1997, and everything changed. His leadership and vision were key to Apple’s comeback. One of his first moves was to simplify the product line, focusing on a few core products that highlighted Apple’s strengths in design and innovation.

Innovation: Apple’s Secret Sauce

Much of Apple’s success comes from its focus on innovation. The iPod in 2001, the iPhone in 2007, and the iPad in 2010 were more than just new products; they changed the way we do things. The iPod shook up the music industry, the iPhone changed mobile communication, and the iPad rethought personal computing.

One reason Apple’s so good at innovating is its integrated ecosystem. Unlike many rivals, Apple controls both the hardware and software of its gadgets. This lets them create a smooth experience across all devices, making it hard for others to compete. For example, iOS is designed to work perfectly with Apple’s hardware, making their devices powerful and easy to use.

Another big part of Apple’s innovative edge is its investment in research and development (R&D). Apple spends a lot on R&D, helping it stay at the cutting edge of tech. This commitment shows in their many patents, which often set new industry standards.

Market Strategy and Brand Loyalty

Apple’s market strategy mixes premium pricing, great marketing, and a focus on quality. They position their products as high-end, which allows them to charge more than many competitors. This strategy not only boosts the perceived value of Apple products but also leads to higher profit margins.

Marketing is a key part of Apple’s success. Their ads are usually simple, elegant, and emotionally appealing. Apple’s marketing isn’t just about selling products; it’s about selling a lifestyle. The famous “Think Different” campaign, for instance, connected with people on a deeper level, reinforcing the brand’s identity as a leader in innovation and creativity.

Brand loyalty is another big part of Apple’s strategy. They’ve built a loyal customer base that eagerly waits for each new product. This loyalty isn’t just because of great products; it also comes from Apple’s commitment to customer satisfaction. Their retail stores, for example, offer top-notch customer service, making the whole brand experience better.

Challenges and the Road Ahead

Despite all its successes, Apple faces some big challenges. The tech industry is fast-paced and highly competitive. Companies like Samsung, Google, and Huawei are always innovating, pushing Apple to stay sharp. Plus, relying heavily on the iPhone for a big chunk of revenue could be risky. Diversifying their product line and finding new revenue sources are crucial for long-term growth.

Regulatory scrutiny is another issue. Apple’s market dominance has caught the eye of regulators worldwide, especially around antitrust and data privacy. Navigating this tricky regulatory landscape requires strategic thinking and adaptability.

Looking forward, Apple’s focus on new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and autonomous systems could open up new opportunities. Their move into services like Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade is already looking promising as a new revenue stream. Also, Apple’s commitment to sustainability and being eco-friendly is likely to appeal to more and more eco-conscious consumers.

Apple Inc.’s journey from a garage startup to a global tech powerhouse is a story of vision, innovation, and smart strategy. Their ability to deliver groundbreaking products, build brand loyalty, and tackle challenges has made them a leader in the tech world. As Apple continues to grow, their focus on innovation and quality will surely drive their future success.

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Apple Inc: A Study in Innovation and Market Dominance. (2024, Sep 17). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/apple-inc-a-study-in-innovation-and-market-dominance/

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Faculty - September 17, 2024

Innovation in HCM: How a Lecturer Integrates AI, ChatGPT, and Strategic Learning in His Courses

• Human Capital Management

Since grade school, M.S. in Human Capital Management (HCM) lecturer Nabeel Ahmad has had an interest in software and product development—always tinkering with objects and trying to understand how they worked. As he advanced in school, this curiosity evolved from learning tactical skills to strategic thinking. He pursued undergraduate studies in business and technology and later completed his doctoral work at Columbia’s Teachers College, focusing on education technology. 

His research explored how organizations use mobile technology, especially after the iPhone launched, to improve learning outcomes. This intersection of business, technology, and learning led him to the human resources (HR) field, specifically through learning and development. His work now focuses on human capital and understanding how to develop organizational strategies using technology.

We spoke to Nabeel about how developments like AI and ChatGPT impact human capital management and how he adapts his courses to keep up with these technological advancements.

What inspired you to teach?

I always enjoyed describing concepts to people. People often told me that I had a unique way of explaining things without talking down to them. I learned early on that the ability to communicate well is often more valuable than technical knowledge. Teaching is a formal way to share what I know and help remove learning barriers for others.

What courses do you teach?

I teach two courses in the HCM program. The first course is Digital HR and the Digital Workplace, which focuses on how HR professionals and leaders can leverage technology in their strategies. We cover the tactical applications of tools like AI, data analytics, and social media to solve HR problems. 

The second course is Organizational Strategy and Learning, which focuses on how companies can invest in a learning culture to improve business performance. The course is case-study-heavy, showing how organizations encounter and solve issues like reintegrating employees after long breaks, such as mothers returning from maternity leave. Both courses aim to bridge the gap between academic research and practical application.

What’s your favorite part of working with students in the program?

Many of the students are professionals who come from various backgrounds—some are on HR teams of one or two people in small companies, while others work in larger enterprises. It’s rewarding to see them take class concepts and immediately apply them to their workplace. It makes the learning experience highly relevant, dynamic, and exciting.

How do you keep up with advancements like AI and ChatGPT, and how do you incorporate them into your teaching?

Keeping up with technology is a bit like buying the latest gadget—you have to make a decision and move forward, knowing it will eventually become outdated. We’ve redesigned the Digital HR and the Digital Workplace course a few times because initially AI wasn’t a big focus, but now with tools like ChatGPT, we’ve updated and enhanced the curriculum. I approach these changes by focusing less on the specific technologies and more on what problems they solve. I teach students to be flexible and consider the broader strategic implications, not just chase the latest shiny object.

Is the shift to AI more complex than past technological advances like the iPhone?

With the iPhone, we saw similar consumer demand cross into the workplace, but AI presents more ethical and operational challenges. AI can help solve business issues, but there’s also concern about data security, transparency, and bias. Organizations are often hesitant to use AI because of the risks involved. In HR, for example, if AI is used in hiring and it makes biased decisions, the consequences can scale quickly. While AI has transformative potential, it requires a careful, nuanced approach—far more so than adopting mobile technology years ago.

What do you think is the value of an M.S. in Human Capital Management, especially for someone mid-career?

The value of the master’s in HCM lies in gaining more advanced skills in human capital management and HR. Our program especially emphasizes HR’s contribution to the organization’s business or other objectives by connecting the different parts of HR to act more strategically and based on data. The program brings people into an intimate learning environment where they can connect with others in similar—or different—roles and organizations. This fosters valuable peer-to-peer learning and helps build a broader understanding of the field.

About the Program

The Columbia University M.S. in Human Capital Management program prepares graduates to be world-class HCM strategists able to address changing needs in building and motivating talented, engaged workforces in the private, public, academic, and not-for-profit sectors. The program is available part-time, full-time, on-campus, and online.

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Healthcare IT Spending: Innovation, Integration, and AI

Providers and payers are more willing to experiment with advanced technologies.

By Eric Berger, Caitlin Dowling, Aaron Feinberg, and Rebecca Hammond

• September 17, 2024

At a Glance

• Post-pandemic, providers and payers increased their IT spending to fuel innovation and improve operations, emphasizing return on investment.
• Cybersecurity concerns and rising threats are expected to shape investment choices and vendor selection.
• Vendors should focus on easy integration into providers’ existing systems, and they should direct their offerings to payers that streamline tech stacks and manage complexity.
• Adoption of generative AI has accelerated, though barriers to broader implementation persist, such as regulatory issues and the need for robust governance frameworks.

While healthcare providers and payers experienced the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath differently from a financial perspective, both sectors confronted operational disruption and labor challenges. Providers, given the limited options to meet community care needs during the crisis, turned to technology, spurring critical IT projects and transformation at a pace previously thought unfeasible. Payers, historically conservative and inclined toward more incremental change, embraced innovation, including virtual care, to meet member needs.

Written in collaboration with

Though the focus on return on investment (ROI) has since increased, providers and payers alike appear willing to experiment, particularly with solutions that leverage advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing, to improve outcomes (see Figure 1).

Post-pandemic, providers and payers are inclined to experiment with technology

Consistent with our findings over the past several years, providers and payers place a premium on technology; in our survey of 150 US providers and payers, about 75% of respondents cite increased IT investments over the past year. We expect this trend to continue (see Figure 2). Provider organizations emphasize digital transformation aimed at optimizing operations and reducing clinician burden. Payer IT efforts seek to improve payments via risk adjustment and quality programs, and they seek to lower medical loss ratios by optimizing payment integrity.

IT is a high priority for providers and payers, with most saying they have increased spending

The cyberattack on health claims–processing giant Change Healthcare in February 2024 influenced near-term IT priorities for providers and payers, as roughly 70% of organizations in our survey report being directly affected by the incident. While cybersecurity was already top of mind for most organizations, they are allocating greater efforts and spending to this area, including auditing internal systems and third-party solutions and building redundancy to mitigate future risks.

Where providers are investing

While the range of provider technology investments is broad, several categories stand out, including IT infrastructure and services such as cybersecurity, clinical workflow optimization, data platforms and interoperability, and revenue cycle management (RCM). IT infrastructure and services emerged as a top priority as providers seek to strengthen cybersecurity to mitigate the risk and impact of attacks and improve the integration of current IT applications. Efforts here have been amplified by the Change Healthcare incident, which highlighted the importance of robust cybersecurity measures. The incident also spurred board directors to review single points of vulnerability within the IT stack, with organizations allocating a budget toward developing greater redundancy around critical systems (see Figure 3).

Following the Change Healthcare cybersecurity incident, organizations are strengthening their IT infrastructure against threats

Clinical workflow optimization remains a high priority as providers seek to streamline processes, reduce administrative burden, and increase utilization of labor, capital equipment, and facilities (see Figure 4). Within this category, patient flow solutions stood out.

IT infrastructure and services and clinical workflow optimization are providers’ highest priorities

Another area drawing provider attention is data and analytics platforms. But while providers see the value of data-driven decision making, for many organizations, data quality and governance are not sufficiently robust to realize that promise. The prospect of more powerful solutions enabled by AI and machine learning (ML) has spurred a push to improve data quality to support clinical decision making and nonclinical use cases, such as patient outreach and leakage prevention.

RCM is once again a high priority given its ROI. In a challenging operating environment, providers want to ensure they get paid for their services, grow and retain patient populations, and manage RCM labor costs.

Cost management and electronic health records (EHR) integration and systems interoperability remain provider IT pain points. Providers cited costs as their biggest challenge in 2023 as well, highlighting a persistent problem (see Figure 5).

Providers are concerned most about costs and electronic health records integration

New technology purchases require a clear ROI, and providers want to realize significant value in the first year. Given the high cost of integration, ROI is critical in the case of new vendors. These concerns translate into vendor selection, with providers favoring current vendors, particularly their EHR vendors. This trend is especially evident among users of Epic’s EHR system.

Despite a bias toward “good enough” solutions from current EHR suppliers, most providers remain open to buying solutions from other vendors. This occurs especially in categories that deliver high ROI or that feature rapid innovation. In these circumstances, providers will often consult their EHR vendor’s product roadmap before selecting a third-party solution and cite EHR integration as a key purchase criterion. Non-EHR software vendors should pay close attention to the roadmaps of the key vendors given the pivotal role that EHR vendors play in new software purchases and the risk of providers reverting to EHR-native solutions as those solutions mature.

Where payers are investing

Payer organizations are prioritizing IT investments in care coordination and utilization management as well as in claims processing and payments. Care coordination and utilization management tools are essential for payers to control costs and improve member outcomes. These tools enable payers to identify high-risk members, align care across providers and settings, and monitor utilization to ensure appropriate and cost-effective care.

Claims processing and payments play a big role in ensuring that outlays are appropriate and accurate relative to services rendered and care delivered. To achieve these aims, payers are investing in provider payment tools, modernizing their core administrative processing system infrastructure, and purchasing more payment integrity solutions, both pre-pay and post-pay (see Figure 6).

Payers cite member care coordination, claims processing, and quality management as top investment priorities

Legacy technology is cited by more than 65% of payers as a key problem. Aging infrastructure limits scalability and flexibility; maintaining these systems imposes significant cost. While legacy tech has been a long-standing issue for payers, significant system modernization entails a multiyear effort and poses operational risk that many chief information officers are loath to assume. Moreover, many organizations take a piecemeal approach to modernization and are reluctant to invest in technology infrastructure without a clearly articulated ROI.

Cybersecurity has emerged as an imperative for payers as well, with IT leaders citing cybersecurity as a reason for increased technology investment—and a consistent issue. Ensuring robust cybersecurity measures is crucial to protecting sensitive data, maintaining regulatory compliance, and safeguarding against breaches (see Figure 7).

Payers struggle most with legacy technology and cybersecurity risk

In navigating new priorities and addressing existing vulnerabilities, payers seek to avoid further complexity within their IT architectures. Approximately 60% of payer respondents cite streamlining tech stacks or prioritizing existing vendors over introducing new point-solution vendors. This approach aims to enhance system cohesion, reduce complexity, and ensure cost-effective IT management. While national payers are more likely than others to develop solutions in-house, a growing number of organizations want to adopt third-party solutions and outsource certain functions, particularly in areas such as quality management and risk adjustment.

AI gains attention and adoption

AI technologies have made inroads across healthcare, with providers and payers exploring AI-supported solutions to enhance decision making, improve operational efficiency, and deliver care and engagement. Providers have made strides over the past year, with about 15% of providers in our survey saying they have an AI strategy today compared with around 5% in 2023. Payers are at a roughly equivalent place in terms of AI strategy definition when one controls for organization size—roughly 25% say they have an established AI strategy in 2024. And a healthy majority of both types of organizations are optimistic about implementing generative AI (see Figure 8).

Providers and payers are optimistic about implementing generative AI

Providers have begun to pilot generative AI in clinical applications, including clinical documentation and decision support tools. Early trials appear promising, suggesting that AI-powered tools may someday be able to analyze large volumes of data, identify patterns and trends, and generate actionable insights. Pilots around ambient clinical documentation have been particularly successful in reducing clinician administrative burden and improving the patient experience.

Payers are deploying AI-powered analytics, predictive modeling, and ML algorithms to identify cost-saving opportunities, optimize resource allocation, and enhance member engagement. They cite contact center and member chatbot support as the first generative AI use cases gaining traction. These deployments aim to mitigate the impact of contact center labor pressures and can help raise staff skills and deliver more tailored, empathetic communications to members.

However, despite its potential, several barriers hinder more widespread adoption of AI (see Figure 9). Providers and payers cite regulatory and legal considerations, cost, and accuracy (such as AI hallucinations) as main hurdles to implementation. Additionally, there is a growing need for robust governance frameworks, transparency, and accountability mechanisms to ensure responsible and ethical use of AI in healthcare.

Certain barriers hinder widespread adoption of generative AI

A robust it investment outlook.

Amid diverse approaches to IT investment, healthcare providers and payers are doubling down on their commitment to investing in IT solutions, with a renewed focus on cybersecurity.

Providers grapple with budget challenges and the need to integrate new solutions with EHRs and other suites. To address these obstacles, they are concentrating on solutions that offer clear, rapid ROI and that have proven integration.

Payers are dealing with legacy tech stacks, many of which require significant spending and manual effort to maintain. Organizations hope to streamline their tech stacks and often favor existing vendors that offer cost-effective solutions with reliable cybersecurity.

AI tools have great potential to improve outcomes in the four quadrants of healthcare’s quadruple aims: enhancing the patient experience, improving population health, reducing cost, and improving the provider experience. In the years ahead, AI looks set to deliver value on each of these fronts, though the journey will be gradual.

About KLAS Research

KLAS is a research and insights firm on a global mission to improve healthcare. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals and clinicians, KLAS gathers data and insights on software and services to deliver timely reports and performance data that represent provider and payer voices and act as catalysts for improving vendor performance. The KLAS research team publishes reports covering the most pressing questions facing healthcare technology today, including emerging technology insights, that provide early insights on the future of healthcare technology solutions. KLAS also fosters measurement and collaboration between healthcare providers and payers and best practice adoption. Learn more at https://klasresearch.com/.

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New AI Innovation Hub in Tunisia Drives Technological Advancement Across Africa

A new AI innovation hub for developers across Tunisia launched today in Novation City, a technology park that’s designed to cultivate a vibrant, innovation ecosystem in mechatronics — an industry encompassing IT, mechanics and electronics — and to foster synergy between education, research and industry in the North African country.

Built in collaboration with the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI), the hub offers the training, technologies and business networks needed to help drive AI adoption across the continent.

The hub’s launch is part of NVIDIA’s efforts to train 100,000 developers across Africa through the DLI over the next three years — a goal that’s about a quarter complete today.

Located in Sousse — a coastal city in central Tunisia that’s surrounded by universities, startups and other organizations with a strong focus on STEM and AI — the hub includes complimentary access to NVIDIA DLI courses on topics such as generative AI , accelerated computing and data science .

Through its AI, industry 4.0 and smart transport centers of excellence, Novation City provides cutting-edge resources and access to NVIDIA DGX infrastructure for AI startups and researchers. Novation City also hosts organized activities to drive ecosystem growth, such as hackathons and specialized training sessions. It’s all brought together in this new environment conducive to AI learning, experimentation and deployment.

“Novation City has launched several key AI initiatives to strengthen the ecosystem, with NVIDIA’s support being instrumental in empowering AI startups and advancing AI skills,” said Anas Rochdi, chief innovation officer at Novation City. “This year, we deployed Tunisia’s first NVIDIA DGX system and launched major academic initiatives in collaboration with the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, aiming to train more than 1,000 developers in one year.”

Novation City also runs several startup accelerator programs, and more than 10 participating companies are members of NVIDIA Inception , a free program that nurtures cutting-edge startups.

Tunisia Drives Innovation in STEM and AI Education

Tunisia’s education system has traditionally emphasized STEM, especially mathematics and the sciences, according to Wei Xiao, who leads NVIDIA’s developer relations team for startups, enterprises and universities in the Middle East and Africa.

“Tunisia has a rich history of valuing knowledge and scholarship, dating back to ancient Carthage and the Islamic Golden Age,” Xiao said. “And the nation’s curriculum is rigorous, creating a solid foundation for advanced studies in STEM fields.”

This has made the country — well-situated to serve as a gateway between Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EMEA) — a thriving ecosystem for innovation, entrepreneurship and research. Novation City and NVIDIA aim to bolster the ecosystem even further through the new AI innovation hub.

Fostering collaboration between academia, industry and government, the initiative is funded by French and German development agencies, the Tunisian government, the World Bank and the European Union, as well as several enterprises.

And the hub comes at a time when Tunisia has adopted a national strategy for AI and digitalization — which includes promoting AI education and research — as part of a broader vision to position the nation as a digital leader in Africa. For example, the University of Tunis this month launched the nation’s first public institute specializing in AI.

Partners Foster Sovereign AI in Tunisia and Beyond

A key part of sovereign AI is a nation’s ability to produce artificial intelligence using its own workforce — along with its own infrastructure, data and business networks. Free DLI training offered through Tunisia’s AI innovation hub is poised to enable just that, helping upskill the next generation of African AI experts.

Plus, Novation City already offers a wide range of facilities designed to support technological and scientific advancement.

In February, Novation City deployed an NVIDIA DGX system, among the first in Africa, that has empowered about 30 startups across the continent in climate AI , transportation, manufacturing, agtech and other industries to develop accelerated computing-based solutions.

In addition, ESPRIT University — a specialized university in Tunisia with more than 10,000 engineering students — boasts nine NVIDIA DLI ambassadors who are delivering training to students and contributing to the broader tech ecosystem across the country. This makes ESPRIT University one of the most active DLI organizations across EMEA.

Since 2018, ESPRIT has been tapping into DLI to advance AI education. The university has also acquired an NVIDIA DGX system to support research and product development.

NVIDIA has planned similar AI education initiatives in Kenya and Nigeria to further upskill and enhance African technology ecosystems.

Learn more about the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute .

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Exploding pagers: How Israel is suspected of using technology against its enemies

A wave of deadly explosions across Lebanon and parts of Syria has targeted Hezbollah officials whose handheld pagers have blown up. One bomb expert suggests high explosives could have been planted into pagers.

Security and Defence Editor @haynesdeborah

Wednesday 18 September 2024 06:15, UK

Israel is accused of carrying out an audacious, high-tech and targeted attack on Hezbollah.

The unprecedented mass explosion of handheld pagers used by Hezbollah fighters came after the military group switched from mobile phones as a means of communication to reduce the risk of being tracked by Israel .

No one has claimed responsibility but Lebanese officials have accused Israel, which has not commented on the blasts.

There is a long history of Israel being accused of using inventive methods to eliminate its enemies.

Pager explosions: Middle East latest

How pagers could be deployed as bombs

A security expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Sky News someone could have tampered with these devices before they were distributed - such as by hiding explosives inside them that could be detonated remotely when a certain signal is sent to the pager.

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Pagers pre-date mobile phones and are now uncommon in most Western countries, but were widely used in the 1980s and 1990s. They are a one-way communications device, allowing people to send a short message via radio signal to the pager. Often, in the past, it would have been a phone number inviting people to call back.

The source said the "general view I am hearing is that this was an impressive attack" which required a certain amount of co-ordination.

"It looks likely that the pagers they [Hezbollah] purchased may have been compromised and turned into remote bombs," the security expert said, stressing that this was just speculation based on his expertise.

"[It] seems too coordinated and powerful an explosion to just be malfunction," adding it was less likely to have been caused by the batteries overheating.

Injuries 'consistent' with high explosives

Bomb disposal expert and former British army officer Chris Hunter said: "We've seen this sort of similar MO [particular method] with mobile devices before."

In 1996, Hamas master bomb maker Yahya Ayyash "was assassinated using a mobile phone with a small amount of explosives in it," he said.

Mr Hunter says his initial theory - based on injuries - suggests the blasts are "consistent with 1 to 2 ounces of high explosive. And you could certainly get that amount in a pager.

"We've seen ETA [a separatist group operating in Spain], we've seen the Colombian groups, we've seen the provisional IRA use pagers as explosive devices," he said.

Israel's long history of high-tech warfare

Israel's spy agencies have a long history of being linked to assassinations and covert activities using high-tech bombs and devices. Here is a summary of some of them:

1972: Bassam Abu Sharif

He was injured in Beirut when he opened a package containing a book implanted with a bomb which exploded. He was the spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

He survived but lost several fingers, was left deaf in one ear and blind in one eye.

1972: Mahmoud Hamshari

A representative from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was killed in Paris in 1972 when a bomb was planted under a telephone and remotely detonated.

1996: Yahya Ayyash

He earned the nickname "The Engineer" and apparently helped develop suicide bombs used in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

2000: Samih Malabi

A Fatah activist from the Kalandia refugee camp outside Ramallah, was killed when a booby-trapped mobile phone exploded next to his head.

2007: Stuxnet

A powerful computer worm designed by US and Israeli intelligence that is believed to have disabled a key part of the Iranian nuclear program.

Stuxnet was designed to destroy the centrifuges Iran used to enrich uranium as part of its weapons programme.

It is reported the worm was delivered to the facility on a thumb drive by an Iranian double agent working for Israel.

2020: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

An Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated in Iran by a remote-controlled machine gun mounted on a car.

Mr Fakhrizadeh was travelling in a bulletproof vehicle alongside three security personnel vehicles when he heard what sounded like bullets hitting his car.

After he reportedly left the vehicle, a Nissan fitted with a remote-controlled machine gun then opened fire killing him.

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