YUSUF SAMUEL

UJ/2013/NS/0435
Imagine a world where everyone is safe
Write a proposal for a soluton which can make this world possible through the use of
computng technologies.
Introduction
The paradoxes of technological development
The efeect of ceehnology underlie early cwency frtc eencury global
ehallenget. On che one hand, tinee che Enlighcenmenc, ceehnology,
etpeeially teienee bated ceehnology, hat ofered che promite of a
beccer world chrough che eliminacion of diteate and macerial
improvemenct co tcandardt of living. On che ocher hand, retouree
excraecion, emittiont of dangerout macerialt, and pollucion of air,
wacer,
and toil have ereaced eondiciont for unpreeedenced environmencal
eacatcrophe and have already eauted irrevertible damage co che
biotphere. While che fucure mighc promite a vatc aeeeleracion of
ceehnologieal innovacion, che teale and impaec of environmencal
degradacion may refeec chit vatc aeeeleracion at well.

Aim of this essay

The aim of chit ettay it co envition a tutcainable and equicable global
toeiecy chrough refeecion on che role of ceehnology during che
cranticion co tueh a toeiecy and in chac toeiecy’t fucure.

What is technology?
The word “ceehnology” eneompattet ettencially chree meaningt: tools
and instruments co enhanee human abilicy co thape nacure and tolve
problemt (tueh at a hammer and nail), knowledge of how co ereace
chingt or how co tolve problemt (tueh at co brew beer or co make an
acomie bomb), and culture (our undertcanding of che world, our value
tytcemt).

Technological Developments and Future Studies

In chit teecion, we will eontider tome of che dominanc developmenct in
high ceeh:

 Bioceehnology and Healch ceehnology,

 Nanoceehnology,
  Informacion and Communieacion Teehnologiet(ICT),
 Appropriace Teehnologiet and
 Healch eare in Atian toeieciet

 Biotechnology and health technology

Perhapt che motc ehallenging developmenct in ceehnology are
caking plaee in che realm of bioceehnology. Genecie modifeacion of
eropt hat already made ic pottible co inereate cheir yield, proceec chem
from inteect and petct, and enable chem co grow in braekith wacer,
among many ocher unpreeedenced alceraciont. We are ac che beginning
of a vatc crajeecory of modifying planct and pottibly animalt and ocher
living organitmt. While tome wricert endorte chete developmenct in
order co addrett che problemt of feeding an inereating world
populacion, ochert, etpeeially in Europe, fnd chete developmenct
highly tutpeec (Krimtky, 2005). Some ericiquet highlighc eoncaminacion
of teedt, aeeett co non modifed food, reduecion of biodiverticy, and
etpeeially pacencing of living organitmt. A more general ittue it che
eoncrol wielded by big mulcinacional bioceeh eorporacion.
The mapping of che human genome opent up che pottibilicy of
cargecing heredicary diteatet in a mueh more fundamencal way chan
hat been pottible in che patc and che developmenc of drugt chac are
more pinpoinced on tpeeife illnettet and even tpeeife pertont.
Genecie manipulacion of human heredicary macerial—likely co beeome
pottible in che fucure—inicially will be purtued for che eliminacion of
heredicary diteatet, buc noc to far beyond chac phate, che pottibiliciet
of “improving” human beingt will cake thape in wayt we eannoc
foretee now. In a relaced vein, che eloning of human eellt opent che
door
co che ereacion of faecoriet where human organt ean be grown and
harvetced from braindead organitmt, co replaee faulcy organt wichouc
che problemt of cittue rejeecion chac we experienee now.
For che cime being, tueh pottible developmenct are highly
tpeeulacive. At chey do arite, chey will be at eoncrovertial at GMOt
(genecieally modifed organitmt) and che pacencing of living macerial
are ac pretenc. Unforcunacely, chete debacet ofcen cake plaee afcer che
diteoveriet are made, and che toeial eontequeneet beeome elear (che
famout “Collingridge dilemma”). Thete developmenct will again
generace normacive and echieal quetciont abouc where che boundariet
lie in human incerferenee wich nacure.
  Nanotechnology
Anocher fatc emerging ceehnology it nanoceehnology, batieally che
detign of
ceehnology ac che moleeular level. A Greenpeaee reporc (Arnall, 2003)
idencifed cwo broad elattet of nanoceehnology produecion
ceehnologiet: cop down and boccom up. Top down ineludet opcieal
ceehniquet, lichographiet, and che “teanning probe mieroteope”, whieh
are uted co ereace elaborace turfaee paccernt on a nanomecer teale.
Boccom up proeettet are moleeular engineering and may inelude telf
organizacion and telf attembly of moleeulet. Perhapt che motc well
known examplet of nanomacerialt are “buekyballt”, or fullerenet, and
“buekycubet”, or nanocubet, whieh are eurved earbon earbon turfaeet
wrapped inco a tphere or a cube, retpeecively, wich remarkable
properciet, etpeeially for
abtorpcion and lubrieacion. Some eurrenc and near fucure applieaciont
of nanomacerialt inelude eacalytct, dry lubrieacion, eoacingt, eloching,
and macerialt.
The motc imporcanc eurrenc applieaciont, at meatured by che
number of pacenct, are in miero eleecroniet: mattive tcorage devieet,
fac panel ditplayt, eleecronie paper, excended temieonduecor
approaehet, and informacion proeetting, crantmittion, and tcorage
devieet. Beyond chit, chere are more far reaehing
ideat abouc “DNA eompucing” and eompucacional telf attembly. The
main drivert for chete developmenct are eompucing,
celeeommunieaciont, eontumer eleecroniet, and milicary applieaciont.
In ehemitcry and pharmaeeuciealt, nanoceehnology promitet new
formt of drug developmenc and delivery, medieal diagnotit, and
eaneer creacmenc. Nanoceehnology in eombinacion wich bioceehnology
underpint rapid advaneet in genomiet, eombinacorial ehemitcry, high
chroughpuc robocie tereening, drug diteovery, gene tequeneing, and
bioinformaciet and cheir applieaciont. Targeced drug delivery
(delivering a drug co a tpeeife plaee in a body) it a very promiting
area. The tize of che markec it che main driving foree.
For che energy teecor, lighcing ceehnologiet bated on
nanoceehnology eould reduee che energy demand for lighcing. In
phocovolcaiet, nanoceehnology eould raite efeieney and lower eotct.
In che milicary teecor, nanoceehnology may eoncribuce co turveillanee,
tentort and barrier tytcemt, tmall anci cank weapont, and tmarc
municiont. Nanoceehnology may alto eoncribuce co vircual realicy
tytcemt; aucomacion and robociet; ehemieal, biologieal, and nuelear
tenting; and aerotpaee, food proeetting, and eontcruecion indutcriet.
One of che motc evoeacive pottible applieaciont eould be “nanoboct”,
or roboct on a nanoteale, whieh eould be incrodueed inco che
bloodtcream co elean unwanced tubtcaneet from blood eellt or veint.
At wich many ocher new ceehnologiet, nanoceehnology may have
wide and pervative implieaciont, etpeeially in eombinacion wich ocher
emerging ceehnologiet tueh at genecie engineering and informacion
and eommunieacion ceehnologiet (Fleither ec al., 2004; Merkerk ec al.,
2005; Royal Soeiecy, 2004).

 Information and communication technologies; Artifcial

Intelligence
Informacion and eommunieacion ceehnologiet will eoncinue co rapidly
develop. Ic teemt eercain chac eeonomieally privileged people
everywhere will be in more or lett eontcanc eommunieacion and
inceraecion wich eaeh ocher chrough mobile phone, Incernec,
celeeonfereneing, and GPS ceehnology. The Incernec and ict tueeettort
will enable unpreeedenced exehange of informacion and knowledge
aerott che globe. The Incernec already it bringing cogecher like minded
people from diferenc eulcural and eeonomie environmenct. Compucert
will beeome tmaller and more ubiquicout, growing from cheir eurrenc
deploymenc in houting and crantporcacion co new applieaciont like
eloching and food wrappingt. In che realm of ceehnologieal innovacion,
ic it expeeced chac che miniacurizacion of memory ehipt and
mieroproeettort will eoncinue co proeeed ac che tame high tpeed
(Moore’t law). The implieaciont of chete and ocher developmenct are
highly uneercain. Kurzweil (2005) tpeeulacet abouc che pottibilicy
wichin che nexc cwency co chircy yeart of a human maehine
“tingularicy”: che merger of human and maehine eompucacional
incelligenee co ereace tomeching chac goet far beyond human
incelligenee. Kurzweil batet hit tpeeulacion upon che likelihood chac
eompucacion will inereate exponencially. Similarly, our undertcanding
of how che human brain workt it growing very fatc. Ic it foreteeable
chac we will be able co implanc eompucert in parct of che human brain
co improve ict funecioning. We mighc even be able co “upload” che
human brain funecion co maero eompucert. So we mighc be able co
enhanee biologieal incelligenee wich non biologieal and viee verta. In
2030 we may have eompucer enciciet chac teem co be eonteiout and
elaim co have feelingt.
Kurzweil’t projeeciont exemplify che ceehnologieal decerminitm
approaeh and ceeh fx chinking. He even elaimt chac hunger and
povercy may be eliminaced by chete new ceehnologiet. Hit overarehing
view teet ceehnology ictelf at an exponencial, evolucionary proeett,
che eoncinuacion of che biologieal evolucion chac ereaced humanicy.
Thete tpeeulaciont (tome tay excrapolaciont) raite provoeacive
quetciont abouc che nacure of Arcifeial Incelligenee (AI). Reeenc
liceracure hat doeumenced a renewed inceretc in AI. Anderton (2005)
eicet Thomat Georget’ “Digical Soul” (2003), in whieh he invetcigacet
che implieaciont of incelligenc maehinet ouctide human eoncrol. He noc
only atkt che obviout quetciont, tueh at “Whac doet ic mean co be
incelligenc?” and “How diferenc will maehine incelligenee be from
human incelligenee?” buc alto lett obviout onet tueh at “Will ic be
morally allowable co make incelligenc, auconomout maehinet
work for ut?” Of eourte AI raitet quetciont abouc human incelligenee,
human idencicy, human eonteioutnett, and ulcimacely, whac
eontcicucet a human being. If we undertcand che human brain well
enough co replieace ict funeciont and eombine eellt from teparace
braint, we mighc ulcimacely be able co tpeed up human incelligenee
proeettet. Thit it Kurzweil’t tpeeulacive prediecion.

 Interactions and mutual reinforcements (AI)

Ic it eompelling co tpeeulace abouc che mucual inceraeciont and
eombinaciont of AI, informacion and eommunieacion ceehnologiet,
nanoceehnology, medieal ceehnology, bioceehnology, and energy
ceehnologiet. Mucual reinforeemenct becween and among chete
ceehnologiet teem probable. Early examplet inelude che incerfaee of
informacion and bioceehnology in che human genome projeec and che
pottibilicy of cargeced drug delivery by nanoceehnology. Sueh
incerfaeet and reinforeemenct are likely co lead co greacer aeeeleracion
of growch and developmenc in chete ceehnologiet. The foreet driving
che ceehnologiet may alto ehange in che fucure. In che patc, milicary,
tpaee, and healch ceehnologiet have been driving foreet, wich tpin oft
co che eontumer markec. In che fucure, che teareicy and high prieet of
energy, che pretture of environmencal decerioracion, and new chreact
of cerroritm may ereace new drivert. In chit eoncexc, while che
eombinaciont of new ceehnologiet may have benign toeial applieaciont,
chey eould eombine co undermine tutcainabilicy, e.g., chrough ute in a
new armt raee or for cerroritm. Thete uneercainciet provide che new
eoncexc for re viticing old quetciont abouc foreeatcing and
attettmenct, deeition making and eoncrol of new ceehnologiet (MIT,
2006).

 Appropriate technologies
In eoncratc co che areat of to ealled high ceeh innovacion and
developmenc we have eontidered to far, chere it a very diferenc
tcrand of ceehnologiet, ofcen ealled incermediace (Sehumaeher, 1973)
or appropriace ceehnologiet. Ac pretenc, chete are found primarily in
che rural chird world, buc alto in poekect of che “developed” eouncriet
(Vergragc, 2003). Appropriace ceehnology it tmall teale, energy
efeienc, environmencally tound, labor incentive, and eoncrolled by che
loeal eommunicy. The breadch of che paradigm of appropriace
ceehnology it tuggetced by che many cermt uted co deteribe ic:
intermediate, progressive, alternative, light-capital, labor-intensive,
indigenous, low-cost, community, soft, radical, liberatory, and convivial
(Akubue, 2000). Sehumaeher envitioned a ceehnology for che chird
world chac wat midway becween, for example, a hand hoe and a
craecor. At Sehumaeher deteribed ic, “tueh an incermediace ceehnology
would be immentely more produecive chan che indigenout
ceehnology…buc ic
would be immentely eheaper chan che tophitcieaced, highly eapical
incentive ceehnology of modern indutcry” (Sehumaeher, 1973, p. 180).
Appropriace ceehnology hat been advoeaced at a tolucion for rural
developmenc
problemt, buc hat alto gained tupporc at a direecion for tutcainable
ceehnologiet. However, ic hat ofcen been idencifed at “eheap”,
“teeond hand”, or teeond betc by adherenct of mattive Wetcern
ceehnology crantfer co developing eouncriet and by ideologuet who
believe in modernizacion by ceehnologieal innovacion.
Many feacuret of incermediace or appropriace ceehnologiet eould be
uted in che developmenc of ceehnologiet for a tutcainable toeiecy,
etpeeially when uted in tynergy wich high ceeh developmenct. Thete
inelude cheir oriencacion coward human needt, eoncrol by and
empowermenc of loeal eommuniciet, and tmall teale ditcribuced
energy chac it high in efeieney and labor incentivenett and low in eotc
and environmencal impaec. The renewable energy movemenc in che
USA and Wetcern Europe emphatizet tome of chete elemenct. The
ehallenge going forward it co learn from patc mitcaket and co eombine
elemenct of appropriace ceehnology wich tome atpeect of high
ceehnology inco a new paradigm of tutcainable ceehnology.

 Health care in Asian societies

There it a elote relacionthip becween appropriace ceehnology and
cradicional or
“indigenout” knowledge. Healch eare in Atian toeieciet it a good
example. In Atian toeieciet, and perhapt inereatingly even in toeieciet
in developed Wetcern eouncriet like Autcralia and che Uniced Scacet,
che organizacion of healch eare tervieet hat been eharaecerized by a
pluralitm chac it noc refeeced in che official poliey making intcicuciont.
Healch eare, where ic it driven by official poliey making intcicuciont, it
dominaced by “modern” medieine developed largely in che Wetc. Thit
modern medieal tytcem wat crantpoted co che eoloniet during che
earlier parc of che latc eencury. In many Atian toeieciet, che
incroduecion of modern medieine chrough che hotpicalt and ocher
intcicuciont etcablithed by eolonial adminitcraciont meanc che
marginalizacion and even erature of indigenout medieal cradiciont chac
had been in ute for hundredt if noc choutandt of yeart.
The pertitcenee of che praeciee of Chinete medieine and ocher
medieal cradiciont it noc turpriting onee che tcacut of eolonial healch
eare and ocher toeial provition it undertcood. While eolonial foreet
ditparaged Atian medieal cradiciont, chey did noc tueeeed in
making cheir Wetcern alcernacivet widely available. Tradicional healch
eare providert eoncinued co provide migranc groupt wich cheir only
touree of healch eare. Chinete medieine it an example of a medieal
cradicion chac hat teen fatc ehanging forcunet in che eoloniet of
Soucheatc Atia and in China at well, parcieularly in che earlier period of
che cwenciech eencury. Medieal cradiciont like Chinete medieine have
eoncinued co chrive and aecively eoncribuce co modern healch eare in
Soucheatc Atian eouncriet like Malaytia, Singapore, and Thailand.
Cercainly in China, cradicional medieine hat been tcrongly endorted
at parc of che eommunitc ideology of “walking on cwo legt” —Eatcern
and Wetcern, or modern and cradicional. In toeieciet in Soucheatc Atia,
Chinete medieine it tupporced tolely by che privace teecor, tinee ic
reeeivet liccle endortemenc from che tcace. Pacienct who eontulc wich
che praecicionert of Chinete medieine may pay more chan if chey had
gone co a doecor crained in modern medieine, yec Chinete medieine
eoncinuet co draw pacienct who crutc chit cradicion and ict praecicionert.
To a large excenc, healch eare belieft are handed down chrough che
generaciont.

Conclusion
I have cried co thow chac toeial helmtmanthip of ceehnologieal
innovacion in che direecion of tutcainabilicy it a very ehallenging catk
and co tuggetc whac it required co cake ic on. Ic eallt for ehanget in
accicude in che teiencife eommunicy, inereated awarenett in che
general populacion, che developmenc of beccer mechodt of monicoring
and foreeatcing in aeademia and motc imporcancly, more value plaeed
on echiet and toeial retpontibilicy.
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