Technology and industrial development: Moving towards sustainable development
My knowledge about industrialisation :
Industrial revolution has certainly brought great changes to our lives. Economic growth was exponential when it first started. People were so focused on the fact that it has increased standard of living, not until the harmful effects were felt : pollution. By the time we realised this, we cannot halt all industrial activities as the benefits were widespread.
When government stepped in, those who were penalised had to internalise the costs, whereas the others went scot-free.
Then came a time we realised that there are dwindling supply of resources (trees and fossil fuels for example), there was little effect. The immediate monetary benefit outweighs the worries that they may face in the future. When things have gotten more serious, more attention was given to it.
Alternative resources came out. Some of them are still non-renewable, some are more sustainable, but most of them proved to be more costly to use. So people carried on using up "endangered" resources. For example, 100% recycled paper are still more costly than those made from trees. Reverse osmosis treated water are more expensive than treated water from reservoirs. Green cars are more expensive than those powered by fuels.
Many articles remained optimistic about the future, with developments to alternative resources coming up now and then, while critics think that the developments are not as fast as the rate we use up resources, given that the population around the world is increasing at a increasing rate, development trend must follow too.
My opinion is with the critics that we are heading for disaster unless we do something really drastic. Leaders have to really look at what is supposed to be well-spent on. I quote figures (from http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-04b.html) that :
- Americans spend $586.5 billion a year on gambling
- $31 billion go annually in the
- $58 billion is spent on alcohol consumption
- $250 billion are spent annually in the
These money are definitely better spent on sustaining our livelihood rather than destroying it.
Technology and innovation management
We explored Valley, Summit and Cloud opportunities in an article by Prof Shahi. I feel that Singapore's landscape is mostly made up of industries Summit opportunities.
Those of valley opportunities were quickly shifted to somewhere else. Such a competitive setting in Singapore will not allow it to grow as it will be overshadowed by those in the Summit. Therefore it is being shifted to somewhere with potential to grow and become an industry with summit opportunities.
One relevant example would be Biotechnology in Singapore. It used to be of a cloud opportunity. We built infrastructures, invited renowned scientists and introduced this field in the education sector. It quickly flourished into a summit opportunity where demand was large. But shortly after it fell into decline. Top researchers began to leave Singapore.
But could this spell the beginning of more independent research? I feel that we should not lament about the loss of such talents in our country but to grow our own 'uniquely' Singaporean talent in the field of biology. After all many of the things we have now were translated from ideas. As long as we persevere and groom our researchers in the correct direction, we can still become world-class standard. After all, humans are Singapore's prime resource!
I would want to ponder about why Singapore would lose to other countries in terms of biology research, are other countries out there way more lucrative to do their research in? Could it be our shift in emphasis, regulations or even funds not sufficient/optimal for their liking?
Personally i rate the session a 9/10.
+ The videos shown were really relevant and i actually made an effort to go home and watch it again!
- Some discussions got a little more heated than the usual level and i felt it could have been better for others to contribute as well.
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