Technology Sustainability and Society - Term Paper Example

Name Institution Instructor Course Date Technology Sustainability and Society Introduction Technology in the modern world is changing rapidly. This has been a challenge to organizations that rely heavily on technology in conducting research for the creation of new products. Change in technology also challenges the society through cultural and political frameworks. For sustainability technological development, the innovators and the other members of the society must come into agreement in order to accommodate the innovations. Innovation in technology is very vital in ensuring sustainable society (Wilderer & Schroeder, 2005).No society will succeed without embracing technology Innovative technologies are however introduced and developed in the environment that has challenging environmental and social trends. Some of the challenging social trends in the contemporary society include the ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor, the lack of access to skills and knowledge, and the larger impacts of globalization. Technology sustainability is about use of technological innovations for economic development to cater for the needs of people in the society (Dorf, 2001). This must however be done without endangering the livelihood of the future generation through the exploitation of all the available resources. Human beings have the desire to pursue knowledge to come with modern innovations to cope with the ever growing demand in the society. The main aim for the introduction of technology is to improve the people’s quality of life. New technologies will continue to be developed but how they are implemented is critical in the establishment of a sustainable society. As companies continue to invest heavily on technology and innovation, the society plays a major role in determining what is acceptable and what is not. There is a general element of fear in people especially when they believe that any technology might affect their health or social systems. Companies therefore have to promote technology sustainability by ensuring that innovations are both beneficial to shareholders and the society at large. It is important for companies to think of technology sustainability in a positive way. If technological products are accepted in the society, or they offer solutions to environmental or societal problems, then the company is likely to succeed in the long run (Hilty, 2008). Any innovation process is based on the generation of new ideas. The people coming up with new ideas ought to know the challenges and opportunities that are encountered in the process of creating a world that is more sustainable. When a new technology has been developed more focus should be on creating a sustainable function. Many companies have a method to determine the technological developments that require funding. The people’s expectancies in the modern world have increased while the demand for natural resources has also been on the increase. Modern civilization has also led to the increase in the carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and hence threatening the ecosystem. Although technology is seen as an important aspect in this era, many people still wonder it will bring more risks or benefits to the society. The challenges that are there in businesses is for the creation of innovations that will foster sustainable human existence and ensure the same new technologies are accepted in the society. If the current trends are to be pursued, then they are leading to unsustainable human society. Withdrawal of technology would result in poor business performance (Wilderer & Schroeder, 2005). Some companies respond to the unsustainable society by introducing new products and technologies. For business to contribute to sustainable development in the society it has to focus on some aspects. If the contribution to these aspects is in line with people’s expectations in the society then the results are likely to be sustainable. In the today’s society technology is being relied upon in almost all aspects of life. Technology is also being to solve many of the problems encountered in the society. Extensive use of technology is bound to be ineffective if social goals are not met (Hilty, 2008). As much as technology has numerous benefits, it is of great importance to note that technology is feared by other people almost in equal measure. Some of the concerns raised with the introduction of new technologies is that it at times becomes difficult to control as the duration between the introduction and the practical application of new technology continues to decrease. It is believed that technology bring change too fast without giving people in the society enough time to contemplate and debate on the possible consequences whether positive or negative. The problem of anticipating social change that can be brought by a new technology also becomes eminent. The rates at which new technologies are introduced into the society seem to exceed the rate at which demand is created. There are some critics in the society who firmly believe that technology destroys the small communities and their local cultures. This kind of distrust for technology is also shared by many environmentalists who believe that technology contributes in the destruction of the natural environment through accumulation of waste and poor waste disposal methods. The technological evolution is associated with ecological and sociological hazards (Wilderer & Schroeder, 2005). The energy that is used in technological innovation is rapidly being exhausted and therefore need to introduce the renewable sources of energy that have less impact in the environment. People in the modern society understand that technology involves both production and consumption processes. Technology sustainability involves measuring the effects of technology in the society to ensure that they cause minimal negative effects to the ecosystem. Technology should contribute to jobs creation as it improves and sustains the environment. To achieve this requires a strategy in technology innovation that will assist in waste management measures and prevention of environment pollution (Wilderer & Schroeder, 2005). There is need for efficient use of energy resource to avoid exhausting the natural sources of energy. Companies are likely to be more beneficial if they lower their resource needs as they reduce the costs incurred in waste disposal. These are considered to some of the objectives of a sustainable technology development. One of the challenging policies in the 21st century is whether technology should protect or exploit the natural environment. Determining the effects of technology in the society is not a responsibility of one country or government as all stakeholders in the society should play part in making such a decision. If sustainable technology is not adopted there will be a challenge in catering for the world population in future when the population will have increased to alarming levels. Technology as much as it is vital cannot be used to substitute some natural functions such as hydrological cycle, provision of the protective ozone layer, and biological waste detoxification. There are other activities that are not sustainable as they cannot continue for long. They include the continuous dependence on hydrocarbons that result on greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere and hence contributing in global warming. The world’s population growth is also unsustainable as the emergence of slums harbors people who may not be in a position to afford to live a comfortable life. Technology is developing at a high rate in many parts of the world due to the high investment in research and development. Various technologies are growing quite rapidly with a rate that the societal systems are unable to comprehend (Boersema & Reijnders, 2008). In order to ensure that the technology is sustainable some analysis about social and ethical implications must be conducted. This will most certainly be a risky exercise to the developers of the new technology as it is experienced in areas of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and electronics among others. In the development of the stem cell research, caution is being taken to ensure the technology is acceptable in the society. Due to the high rate of innovation, the end products may not always be acceptable in the society. The technologies that are being developed today have the potential of affecting the human societies in quite a number of ways some of which might be beyond our imagination. The companies that are involved in innovative technology should take the responsibility of carrying out a market research to find out the societal reactions to their technological innovations before they introduce them fully in the market. Companies that are dealing with the development of new technologies are discussing on the possibility of having some models to capitalize on intellectual capital with an aim of developing technologies that will meet both the business and societal value. An example of such technology is the computer operating systems in the IT industry. Pharmaceutical businesses are also developing models to cater for human needs in developed and developing countries. As a way of protecting societies against dubious technologies that might affect them negatively, intellectual property protection is introduced through patent rights. Some societies embrace new innovation technologies and regard them as assets to the community rather than individual accomplishments. New approaches therefore ought to be developed to cater for the cultural interference in the society. One such approach will be to engage in a dialogue with all the stakeholders in the society before a new innovation is introduced. This will in return let companies understand technologies that are of benefit to the society to avoid unnecessary conflict. New technologies arise based on the physical and environmental conditions that prevail in the societies. The knowledge and beliefs of the technological society also determine the success of technology and innovations (Wilderer & Schroeder, 2005). There is a lot of creativity that is associated with new technology and eventually leads to introduction of new products and services that change the society’s lifestyle like the computers and mobile phones. This does not imply that every new technology that is introduced in the society is accepted. Use of nuclear power has for instance not been fully accepted in many societies due to the impacts associated with it. It may be argued that the relationship between a new technology and the society may depend on the rapid changes of the societal preferences. Technologies that are developed to solve environmental problems facilitate social norms and foster a formidable relationship with the stakeholders in the society. Developing technologies that promote sustainable development is therefore a challenge to many technologists, new technologies result in social change in many communities (Dewulf & Langenhove, 2006). A sustainable technology is the one that addresses the issue of environmental impact. Some philosophers such as Habermas and Marcuse argue that technology causes lack of sustainability in society. Many researchers are for the view that any technology should be focused in the promotion of sustainable development in society. It may be understood that no society has ever co-existed in full harmony of all its surrounding. Conclusion In conclusion, this should however not be used as an excuse by the technologists to develop technologies that are not sustainable in society. The focus on the sustainable technology should put as a pressing agenda in the contemporary society where the rate of developing new technologies is growing as fast as the world population. As more of new technologies continue to be developed so are the natural sources of energy being depleted. Companies should therefore shift their focus to renewable sources of energy that have minimal impacts to the environment. Technologies that promote the emission of carbon fuels into the atmosphere should be discouraged to minimize global warming that has led to negative impacts in the human society. References Boersema, J., & Reijnders, L. (2008).Principles of Environmental Sciences. London: Springer. Dewulf, J., & Langenhove, H. (2006). Renewables- based technology: sustainability assessment. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Dorf, D. (2001).Technology, humans, and society: toward a sustainable world. New York: Academic Press. Hilty, L. (2008).Information technology and sustainability. California: BoD Books. Wilderer, P., & Schroeder, E. (2005).Global sustainability: the impact of local cultures: a new perspective for science and engineering. Boston: Wiley-VCH. Read More