TWC Session 7

For TWC session 7, we continued our discussion about BioBusiness Revolution. This time we mainly focused on Agriculture and the Environment, how BioBusiness has impacted the society in the aspects of agriculture and the environment. We touched on matters such as waste management, plant biotechnology and Agri-biology. 

One of the perspective of Agri-biology is the transformation of traditional farmers to what they call "farmist". The concept is to educate farmers to the extent that they are specialized. Gone were the days when farmers where termed by growing crops on lands and harvesting them. Present day "farmist" are farmers that use up to date technologies to increase productivity. Methods such as hydroponics and aerophonics are examples that famers used. Technology enables us to increase productivity of food, shorten the growth cycles of crops, hence allowing more food to be produced from the same amount of land. Hopefully in the near future, technology will have advanced to the extend that the cost of food prices will drop to enable food to be catered all around the world, even the poorer nations.

Another question that Prof posed today was "Genetically Modified Food or not?. I feel that Prof made a good point in arguing for GM food. There should not be protests against it if these food provides better nutrients and allow frequent supply of quality food. The only difference is that food nowadays can be done in a laboratory, crossing genetic properties to come out up the desired product. Back in the past, plants were also genetically modified by cross breeding! just that it was done slower and more "traditional" methods.

“There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.” 
I feel that if everyone lives by this, there will never be famine.

7/10! 

TWC Session 6

In TWC session 6, the topic of discussion was the BioBusiness Revolution: Healthcare and the Biomedical Sciences.  Prof spoke about the relation between healthcare spending of a country in relation to World Ranking in Healthcare, Obesity pandemic, BioBusiness Landscape and finally, Healthcare Revolution.

An interesting point about Healthcare Revolution is the increase of participation of the private sector in the healthcare industry. The driver of this change, I feel, is due to the incentive of revenue that can be generated from the patent rights. However, there need to be a balance between healthcare costs versus innovation. In most countries, it is evident that only the rich has access to healthcare as they have the monetary resources. The aim of healthcare is to provide access to everyone, regardless of rich or poor. Ways to do this are reducing patents, putting a price ceiling on drugs like in France and other ways that lead to less revenue of companies.  This will act as a discouraging factor for companies to innovate new drugs. There have been ongoing debates to find the perfect “balance” in the two areas.  It will be interesting in the upcoming years on the outcome of this.

During the discussion, prof displayed a slide regarding the top 5 US Biotech firms and their annual revenue. On a more personal experience, I had the opportunity to do Public Relations for one the firms, Genzyme. I did an internship with a PR firm and did the promotion of 2 of the products/ medical innovation to the public. One of the products that I helped promote was Synvic, a gel that is inserted to temporary “replace” the ligament of kneecaps when it has been worn out. I realize then that the technology had advanced to an extend that this procedure does not even need an operation, just an injection every 5 years to prevent the pains caused by the wearing of kneecaps! What’s more, the cost of the injection is only about $250. From this example, it can be observed that there has been rapid innovation in the biotech industry.

The aim of Healthcare is to strike the best balance between innovation and healthcare costs.

An issue for further discussion for the session can be about the animal and human testing? Whether it is morally right for the greater good of society.

I rate this session 8/10!

TWC Group Web Report

History and Background of Space Exploration

Introduction

Motivations for Space Activity

Major Milestones

Pioneers of Space Travel

1. Johannes Kepler
2. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857 – 1935)
3. Isaac Newton
4. Building the First Rockets-Robert Goddard
5. Convincing the World-Hermann Oberth
6. Taking Man into Space-Wernher Von Braun
7. First Man into Space-Yuri Gagarin
8. First American into Space-Alan Shepard
9. First American in Orbit-John Glenn
10. First Man on Moon-Neil Armstrong
11. Second Man on the Moon-Buzz Aldrin

Also Include the Timeline- Key Dates in the History of Space Exploration 

Space Techonology

How does it work?

• Video

Rocket Propulsion

• What is a rocket?
• Different rocket propellants

Ground launch

• What is ground launch (video)
• Dragon X (Rocket Falcon 9) (video)
• Specifications of Dragon X & Falcon 9
• Statistics & Flight plans

Air launch

• What is air launch (video)
• Virgin Galactic Spaceship 2 (video)
• Brief description of its development
• Specifications
• Innovative features
• Flight plans

Pros

Cheaper in time to come for consumers to go into space

• Privatisation drives competition, Competition drives innovation

• Richard Branson setting up Virgin Galatics
• Emergence of other spaceship providers

• Consequently better, safer, cheaper technologies for space travel are created

• Spaceships that are reuseable

Improve International Ties

• “ International community together in an activity that pits man against the cosmos.”
•  Lower Cost of travelling due to cooperation
• More money for humanitarian efforts and social spendings

Life without gravity

• Weightlessness (travelling with a harness on a fixed point)
• Space hygiene (showering, cleaning, laundry, dental)
• Exercising (to reduce the effect of weightnessless)
• Space cuisine

New Travel Options

• Travellers can enjoy a 3 day suborbital flight, overseeing the curves of the Earth
•  Compare the difference to the contemporary trends of travelling

Opportunities for exploration in search of alternate resources

• The Earth is using up non-renewable resources at an increasing rate
•   Show some impact of the damage
•   Possible alternative resources found on other planets

Cons

The following issues have been discussed under the given topic:

• Health hazards
• Current astronauts
• Prospective space tourists
• Space junk
• What is it?
• Real-life examples
• Geopolitical issues
• Current regulatory framework
• Air traffic management in the future
• Ethical issues
• Competing priorities
• Non-proliferation of military technology
• Issues regarding commercializing/ claiming property in space
• References

Future Prospects

Future ways to get up there:

1.     Bloon your way up to near space(36km high) instead by 2013

Future prospects to stay up there:

1.     Stay up on space, in space hotel- room with a view (2016)

2.     Orbital flight/cruise ship

3.     Lunar resort

Satellites and planetary expeditions:

1.     Dark side of the moon

2.     Mars (by 2030)

Others:

1.     Space burial

2.     The new airport is the spaceport-proliferation of spaceports in the future

3.     Intercontinental flights at a fraction of the time

TWC Session 5

The session was mainly about Information Communication Technology (ICT) and the world. We discussed the main areas that ICT are seen in the world, such as Mass Media, Internet, Cloud Computing.  Following that was the debate whether ICT is considered a driver of world change presently and what is lacking for it became a major driver of world change in the future. Lastly, some potential risks and dangers with ICT that can also be seen as the “slowing” down of the process of it becoming a larger impact for the world.

An interesting point is the debate about ICT being a driver of world change. As discussed, ICT is not a fully driver of change at this present point. Though ICT is in many areas such as Mass Media, Internet, Cloud Computing, Information Technology , it is just skimming the surface on most of them. At the moment, ICT is only used to collect and process the information available, rather than continuing it to further develop the information into knowledge and finally, wisdom. The concept is based on the point on Knowledge Management. Hopefully, there will be more initiative to further developing ICT and not be satisfied with where it is at presently.

Perhaps another reason why ICT is not developing as fast as the other revolutions is due to the dangers or potential risks of ICT. Every new innovation definitely has downsides. For the case of ICT, the more crucial factors of concerns I feel are security and invasion of privacy.  Using the case of the innovation of Cloud Computing which is an up and coming technology, there are too many concerns that slows down the process of development. Big companies and even countries are having doubts in entering the Cloud Computing, having the fear of espionage or privacy issues, this leads to the slower development of the software. A more realistic example is the hacking of PS3, where the hackers were able to access the information of the PS3 users. This caused a big spectacle of Cloud. Operators of Cloud Computing have to develop the technology further and at the same time gain the confidence of the world that the technology is stable. These concerns need to be met before Cloud as well as ICT can further develop and be a world driver of change.

Project Natal has brought about a fruitful discussion in the session. Project Natal is a technology that allows humans to interact with an IT programme. Throughout the course of humanity, humans have humanized pets such as dogs, and other animate or inanimate objects. Soon, IT will too be humanized. Hints of this can be seen in the gaming arena. Xbox by Microsoft is a good example, with the recent launch of “Kinect”. This technology uses a camera and motion sensors to detect the movements of a participant of the game, and reflect the exact motions into the game/screen. Presently, this is the most “developed” technology in this arena and I feel that it is a “testing” platform for more to come in the future when applicable to real-life.

The key takeaway from this seminar is the fact that ICT has not reached its full potential and is still in progress to become a major world driver of change. The developments of ICT will be interesting to take note over the next 10 or 20 years.

Further discussion can be on how ICT is in the different areas of the world and how ICT can be improved in these areas.

8/10! 

TWC Topic Reviw Paper Outline

NUCLEAR ENERGY

Background/Introduction:

·          Reason why I chose this topic?

o   The incident of the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 brought shocking news to the world

o   Nuclear emergency was declared due to the failure of cooling systems at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

o   This incident sparked my interest on nuclear energy, something that has so much potential in solving the energy crisis in the world, but yet is such a danger to the society

o   Before the explosion of Fukushima Power Plant, everyone was very contented with the success of the plant and the future implementations more plants

o   Currently, Japan is made the center of conflict of approving Nuclear Energy. Many other countries, such as Jordon and other European countries are having heated debates on the pros and cons of continuing their nuclear energy programme

·          Background

o   Before the innovation of nuclear energy, the world mainly relied on fossil fuel as the source of energy.

o   Problems with this source of energy: pollution, non-renewable resource, reliance on countries that posses fossil fuels (political dominance)

o   Why chose nuclear energy/ viable as compared to the other alternative resources? Such as water, wind and solar

Historical Perspective

·         The reason for the cause of starting up a Nuclear Power Plant

o   pros and cons discussed before the first construction of Nuclear Power Plant

o   Pros: clean energy; provide a large amount of energy generated from this source as compared to the other alternative sources; easy disposal; reliable source

o   Cons: safety issue such as explosions and also radiation; disposal of spent fuel rods which remain radioactive for hundreds of years; possible spread of nuclear weapons to unreliable owners

·        - Personal analysis of the pros and cons and view as to why Nuclear Power Plants were given the go-ahead/ perhaps economical factors outweighed the social concerns?

Current Situation

·         - Present debates between activists and governments on the continuity of Nuclear Power Plants

·           -Case Study of Fukushima Power Plant: Look at the causes of failure to contain the radiation; failure to adhere the safety regulations (mention in Economist if I can recall); immediate measures taken by government and measures that were not taken

·        -Evaluate the case study and draw lessons to be learnt and ways to avoid mistakes and also, the role the government played

·        -Apply evaluation to other countries in debates on Nuclear Energy, considering their various geological location, political stability, pros and cons to their economical, social and political aspects of the countries (I will take 2 or 3 specific countries)

Future Considerations

·          -Measures recommended to prevent further disasters

·          - Lessons that can be drawn from research that can be applied to future Power Plants

·          -Personal Opinion if Nuclear Power Plants should be allowed to continue or other recommendations for instance, placing power plant at a geological secluded location

·           -Advances in technology can possibly curb the safety issues?

·            -Is it a waste to stop all activities concerning Nuclear energy? Opportunity?

·             -Alternative energy? For example Japan using air as a form of energy and still maintain the bulk of energy in Japan

Conclusion

·      How societies should manage the “new” resources?

·      Factors that spur the push of nuclear energy or shift of focus to another alternative energy

·      Will there be a day that nuclear energy be abandoned totally?

TWC Session 4

The two main topics that were discussed in class: Drivers of World Change and Change Management, Change Leadership. The first talks about the different types of "Drivers" or factors that causes world change. Such examples are climate, technology, competition and globalization. The latter discusses about the different ways of change management, issues in recognizing and responding to changes.

The concept of Evolutionary Change versus Revolutionary Change, which should we aim to achieve? Revolutionary change is usually a drastic change, or some might say a disruptive change. This causes disruption in the lives of everyone because it is a irreversible change in the expected future, such an example is the innovation of Email, compared to the use of letters or otherwise known these days as Snail Mail. Evolutionary change is a continuous improvement of an issue or particular aspect. No drastic change, but rather small amendments to it. Which is more important? Which should we strive to achieve?

My initial response, as well as the class's, was Revolutionary change! Of course right? It drastically changes and improves the lives of everyone. However, after some consideration, i feel that actually both are important in the progression of our society as a whole. Since i have mention Email and  letters earlier, i will use it as an example. Yes Email has brought much convenience to our society and lives, but i think that through evolutionary changes that the Email system is so sufficient. So i feel that there is none that is better or more vital, we should aim to have a balance in both changes to obtain optimum results.

The next point is the 2 models mentioned in Responding to Change. The first model is the traditional view: where it is freeze-unfreeze-refreeze. The modern approach is the continuous monitoring and renewal of ideas. The traditional view is not so practical, or does no provide optimal results due to the fast pace society that we presently live in. The world is rapidly changing and for firm or even countries to keep up, one has to adopt the modern approach. In terms of companies, let's compare the IT firms. Ask anyone who is most dominant company is in the market and the answer is Apple. Apple, under the leadership of Steve Jobs, has been adopting the modern approach. Apple has accustomed their products to suit the needs/wants of the masses, as well as appealing to the consumer's "cool" factor, having the slickest and newest designs. The other firms are playing catch up, and for those who do not change their model of approach, they will not be able to be on par with Apple.

i have two key phrases from today's session:
- best result is Evolutionary Change of Revolutionary Change
-Adapting to the fast pace world is the only way of survival

Perhaps for further discussion, we could have had a case study on Responding to Changes, as to how a firm/country did respond to change and whether it was successful, and what could have been done to alter the results.

i rate the session 8/10!

jeremy (: