What amazes me in this session is how involved I am in various types of ICT, without even realising. I didn't know that by using Google's search engine, I am actually using Internet web 3.0! And although i know what hotmail, facebook, skype are and use them on a daily basis, I didn't know that they are part of cloud computing! Initially, I thought that cloud computing is some complex system that is very technical and involves computer language (perhaps intimidated by the word 'computing').
Some insights I gained about Web 3.0 is that is a semantic web - there is communication between machines such that technology is omnipresent. I remember Paula presented on the Ford's new invention of cars that communicate with each other to avoid accidents, which is an application of web 3.0. Although such a breakthrough is appealing and tempting, I believe that drawbacks exist too. One of them will be our over-reliance on technology. Imagine a world that is made absolute convenient by technology. Will we still retain the our abilities to do work once technology fails? I believe we will be gravely handicapped and almost all activities will cease.
An interesting concept which i acquired is the notion of business cloud computing. Instead of having their own servers, companies uses software as a service whereby they do not pay for the license, but according to how much they use. Low cost, increased reliability and greater productivity- such benefits greatly improve productivity and hence business efficacy.
It is interesting how businesses are increasingly making use of ICT to improve cost-efficiency by cutting down labour costs. However, the rate in which humans are being replaced by machines is also alarming at the same time. With cloud computing, companies will not need to set up their own server and as a result the need for software engineers decreases. Not long, jobs that involve routine tasks such as that of an administrator or factory worker will soon be replaced by machines. An example in case will be LEGO's first fully automated factory whereby the manufacturing, transport and packaging of lego sets are fully automated and managed by robots and machines.
Indeed, ICT drives world change. I won't say it eradicates poverty, but ICT does alleviates it. ICT makes information available for free or at a low cost, hence information becomes highly accessible. It also helps people to retain information better and information is necessary for knowledge building. Having said that, ICT alleviates poverty because the empowers the poor with information. With information power, they will be less ignorant of how the world is like now and perhaps adapt themselves to the current situation. The one-labtop a child project by UN in Africa aptly shows how ICT can be used to educate the poor and to give them an equal chance to succeed in life and break free from the vicious poverty cycle.
One labtop per child project
However, the potential risks if ICT makes the benefits of it less appealing. The threat of privacy invasion, identity theft and other security concerns remains realistic. It all boils down to the issue of trust. Are humans able to maintain mutual trust such that we do not resort to ICT in the case of espionage? Do we trust ICTs to keep our information confidential and to prevent infringement of our privacy? In my opinion, it depends on individuals.
I rate this session 7/10. I was pretty enlightened in this session by the various types of ICTs that appears in my daily life. If not for the splitting headache, I would have given it an 8.
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