This week's topic is The BioBusiness Revolution 2: Agriculture and the Environment: Past, Present, Future. It is a continuation of last week's lesson on biobusiness, however we turn our focus to agriculture and environment, exploring into biotechnologies such as GM food, industrial enzymes and biofuel.
The lesson started with 2 videos. The first video depicts humans as parasites of the earth. Interestingly, it struck me that absurd as it sounded, it is actually true. Humans kill off other species and deplete the world's resources for its own basic and even luxurious use. Which other species on earth does that? The 2nd video, which is actually the more pertinent one to this lesson, provided a quick and insightful overview on how biotech can alleviate pressing issues of the world such as sustainability in food supply and in our energy needs. For example, biotech crops enables agriculture to be more efficient in order to meet the needs of an increasing population as it can increase yield and produce more nutritious food. Biofuel can produced by converting food crops into ethanol. Such a a source of energy is renewable and clean.
Another observation during the lesson was the european's way of colour coding biotech. Red for human, blue for marine, green for agriculture and environment and white for industrial. Honestly, I do not see the practicality of such labelling. One of the key things that l learnt is that most agricultural businesses are valley opportunities and biotech provides a way to bring it up to the summit. A related idea to this is the farmer to a farmist, where the farmer who is one of low educational status and work the traditional way while the farmist is one that has the know-hows and knowledge which can be applied to farming to increase its efficiency and to go up the value chain. Norman Borlaug's video talks about the green revolution about 4 decades and how improved seeds and fertilisers increase yield then. Today, biotech must fill this role. However, both biotech and green revolution cannot be useful without the proper policies put in place by world leaders.
Another issue I came to learn about today was US made the ruling there is no need to label GM food, reason being if the nutrient content was stated as per typical food products, there is no need to differentiate between the 2. As such, many of the food products that we ignorantly consume today are GM foods. For example, I realised that yakult and beer are all GM food which I have been consuming on a regular basis.
A key takeaway from this lesson can be taken from reading 4(Ending world hunger by Norman Borlaug) - the world already has the technogical know-hows and resources to alleviate world hunger. However, all these technology would not help those in extreme poverty and hunger if the proper change management is not in place. Governments and world leaders with the will and proper policies in place can make a world of difference for this people.
My rating for this lesson would be 8/10. I learnt many things which I did not know about.
-Zhishu of G22
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Week 6
This lesson talks about the biobusiness revolution. BioBusiness is a commercial activity based on an understand of the sciences and life science processes. There are several different areas of opportunities in BioBusiness such as Biomedical, Agri-veterinary and environmental. Contrary to what I used to believe as a highly specialised field, it actually encompasses a large variety of industries.
BioBusiness constitutes a large proportion of the world's economic activity - 25% of the global GDP. It is interesting to note that it also constitutes 40% of the labour force. In other words, many biobusinesses are still very inefficient and low on the value chain. This is due to the high amount of people still engaging in low wage subsistence farming in developing country. Another interesting issue is that although the US is the most advanced country today, its citizens face a healthcare problem. Although US spending on healthcare is an astounding 52% of global expenditure on healthcare, it is being treated commercialised product in order to maximise profit. As a result, many Amercians do not have ready access to health facilities. To make matters worse, 1/3 of the American adults are obese which directly and indirectly cause amount of people with diseases to be higher.
An issue brought up which is also mentioned in reading 1, is the shift from disease management to wellness management. Disease management is the process of stabilize and even improve the condition of someone already who has a disease. Wellness management is the prevention of diseases. In other words, for the healthy to stay healthy, emphasizing health promotion and quality of life.
It is ironic that while people are getting increasingly educated and affluent, the ability to have better healthcare facilities and the knowledge to stay healthy increases but reality is that health is deteoriating.(as in the case of americans)
My key takeaway for this lesson is realising how vast the biobusiness industry is and how the advancement in biotechnology enables the the medical field and even field of sustainable energy source to be stretched further.
A controversial issue that was discussed is the process of cloning. Definitely ethical dilemmas will arise but I feel there would be a future in this technology. As Prof Shahi pertinently brought up the comparison of IVF. 30 years ago churches heavily opposed IVF as it represents a notion of playing god. However, if the human mind has evolved to a point where such medical technology has been created to practically benefit mankind, I see no reason why such processes are to be denied. Of course, proper measures and policies have to be in place to manage the possible repercussions from prcocesses such as cloning.
Personal rating for this lesson would be 8/10. I prefer the pace of the lesson when there is only one main topic to focus on.
-Zhishu of G22
BioBusiness constitutes a large proportion of the world's economic activity - 25% of the global GDP. It is interesting to note that it also constitutes 40% of the labour force. In other words, many biobusinesses are still very inefficient and low on the value chain. This is due to the high amount of people still engaging in low wage subsistence farming in developing country. Another interesting issue is that although the US is the most advanced country today, its citizens face a healthcare problem. Although US spending on healthcare is an astounding 52% of global expenditure on healthcare, it is being treated commercialised product in order to maximise profit. As a result, many Amercians do not have ready access to health facilities. To make matters worse, 1/3 of the American adults are obese which directly and indirectly cause amount of people with diseases to be higher.
An issue brought up which is also mentioned in reading 1, is the shift from disease management to wellness management. Disease management is the process of stabilize and even improve the condition of someone already who has a disease. Wellness management is the prevention of diseases. In other words, for the healthy to stay healthy, emphasizing health promotion and quality of life.
It is ironic that while people are getting increasingly educated and affluent, the ability to have better healthcare facilities and the knowledge to stay healthy increases but reality is that health is deteoriating.(as in the case of americans)
My key takeaway for this lesson is realising how vast the biobusiness industry is and how the advancement in biotechnology enables the the medical field and even field of sustainable energy source to be stretched further.
A controversial issue that was discussed is the process of cloning. Definitely ethical dilemmas will arise but I feel there would be a future in this technology. As Prof Shahi pertinently brought up the comparison of IVF. 30 years ago churches heavily opposed IVF as it represents a notion of playing god. However, if the human mind has evolved to a point where such medical technology has been created to practically benefit mankind, I see no reason why such processes are to be denied. Of course, proper measures and policies have to be in place to manage the possible repercussions from prcocesses such as cloning.
Personal rating for this lesson would be 8/10. I prefer the pace of the lesson when there is only one main topic to focus on.
-Zhishu of G22
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Week 5
Week 5’s lesson was on ICT and world change. We had ample time for discussion today as there were no sub-sections for today’s lesson.
Reading 6(the video) was really an eye-opener for us. It really shows us that we are only bounded by our imagination of what technology can do for us. Amazing as the virtual character Milo is, what is worth pondering upon is how a technology can be applied. For me, the future I see for this audio-visual-sensual-recognition technology, exist in computers or laptops. Currently, our laptops or desktops serves as platform to do our work, fulfil our entertainment needs, carry out domestic errands such as banking and shopping. I believe a computer will become our personal assistant in future. With the technology as shown in milo’s virtual world, it seems feasible that we can merely tell our computers what to do and they are able to intelligently carry out the errand for us. The possibilities are limitless.
An interesting idea observation that I never realise was the difference between the internet and tradition forms of media such as TV, newspapers and radios, which is usually distinguished between traditional and new media. However, Prof Shahi brought up a good point that the real difference is the interactivity of the internet while traditional media only has one way flow of information. With the internet, every possible perspective can be considered as anyone is free to express his or her ideas.
I also learned that Finland is a country that makes broadband connection a right for the country. A very pertinent question that surfaced was if the internet should be a human right. I guess I would still have to say no to that question. It just seems a little too far-fetched for me to digest. If the internet is a human right, it would mean the access to information and communication becomes a right. In my opinion, what should be constituted as a human right is that the absence of such a right would result in a difficulty in having a reasonable standard of living. To me, the internet should still be a privilege as the quality of the internet service is measurable with its bandwidth. So if the internet is a basic right, what kind of standard of service should we provide?
Reading 2 provided a very fresh perspective how should ICT to make an impact to the world. The author speaks of 3 immediate actions that should be taken to make a real change to the world. One of which is to form a microcredit organization at linked location. The author stated that we should link every person in the dollar-a-day community with an account and the richer should transfer some funds to the accounts of those in extreme poverty. Such a measure may seem idealistic and blatant, but I feel it is feasible as we have the technological know-how and it would definitely reduce the rich-poor gap mainly because of the opportunities it opens up to the poor with higher income. However, I feel an issue that would arise and worthy of further discussion is that when do we stop? When do we deem that a certain group of people have no need for further sponsors?
A key and very applicable takeaway for me today would be to recognise although we are living in an advanced digital age, we are still in the initial stages of the knowledge revolution. Change management is integral in maximising the potential of this stage that the world is in.
My personal rating for today’s class would be 8/10 as the pace of discussion was good and many fresh insights were provided.
-Zhishu of G22
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Week 4
The 2 sub-topics for today's lesson are drivers of world change and change leadership and management. The former deals with many factors including technology that have been identified to be a force that will cause a major shift in our world. Factors such as evolution, environmental, social, demographic, cultural and many more. The latter shows us the importance of change leadership and management and how it is essential in our world where change is constant.
Reading 1 of drivers of world change provided a list of 14 drivers of world change including a summary for each driver which would be an excellent resource for reference. Drivers of world change is an extremely vast topic as the amount of information for each driver is just endless. However, I felt that one very interesting driver that was brought up in Prof Shahi's slides was changing taste and expections in changing times. I guess such a driver would not be a commonly thought of one as it is an intangible and it is a phenomenon that people rarely notice. In the world of consumerism, demand brings in supply, and what consumers desire changes with influence of media and even cultural influence.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change.” It is intriguing to note that what Charles Darwin said about evolution of species can apply to our modern world today, be it political or commercial. Because if one really thinks about it, we are in fact still undergoing the process of evolution, the process of gaining new knowledge and new technology is human's way of adapting and making life more comfortable. My key takeway from this lesson would be the importance of acknowledging and embracing change in every aspect of our life. Insisting on status quo would not get us anywhere.
Reading 1 of change management and leadership provided a very good fundamental to the topic as it explains what change management is and its purpose.Change management=human management. There is a need for leaders to be people oriented when introducing a new change to an organization in order to help them adapt. In other words, if the employees do not understand what the change is about, how are they going to support it? This also translates to the outcome that the management wishes to see in the change. Reading 4 also brings up an issue on change management - the shift from a labour-intensive economy to a knowledge-based economy and what challenges on human resource it brings about. As the brain become more important than the hands in an economy, it brings about about unemployment of the less educated.
I feel that the models introduced to us by Prof Shahi is always very effective as it is simple to understand and it is extremely applicable to the real world. For example, the freeze-unfreeze-refreeze traditional model of responding to change showed us how reacting to changes only when it occurs is no longer sufficient to survive in the corporate world.
Overall, my rating for this lesson is 9/10. I felt that the pace of the discussion was just right. At no point were we dwelling to long on a single topic and everything was covered in sufficient detail
-Zhishu of G22
Reading 1 of drivers of world change provided a list of 14 drivers of world change including a summary for each driver which would be an excellent resource for reference. Drivers of world change is an extremely vast topic as the amount of information for each driver is just endless. However, I felt that one very interesting driver that was brought up in Prof Shahi's slides was changing taste and expections in changing times. I guess such a driver would not be a commonly thought of one as it is an intangible and it is a phenomenon that people rarely notice. In the world of consumerism, demand brings in supply, and what consumers desire changes with influence of media and even cultural influence.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change.” It is intriguing to note that what Charles Darwin said about evolution of species can apply to our modern world today, be it political or commercial. Because if one really thinks about it, we are in fact still undergoing the process of evolution, the process of gaining new knowledge and new technology is human's way of adapting and making life more comfortable. My key takeway from this lesson would be the importance of acknowledging and embracing change in every aspect of our life. Insisting on status quo would not get us anywhere.
Reading 1 of change management and leadership provided a very good fundamental to the topic as it explains what change management is and its purpose.Change management=human management. There is a need for leaders to be people oriented when introducing a new change to an organization in order to help them adapt. In other words, if the employees do not understand what the change is about, how are they going to support it? This also translates to the outcome that the management wishes to see in the change. Reading 4 also brings up an issue on change management - the shift from a labour-intensive economy to a knowledge-based economy and what challenges on human resource it brings about. As the brain become more important than the hands in an economy, it brings about about unemployment of the less educated.
I feel that the models introduced to us by Prof Shahi is always very effective as it is simple to understand and it is extremely applicable to the real world. For example, the freeze-unfreeze-refreeze traditional model of responding to change showed us how reacting to changes only when it occurs is no longer sufficient to survive in the corporate world.
Overall, my rating for this lesson is 9/10. I felt that the pace of the discussion was just right. At no point were we dwelling to long on a single topic and everything was covered in sufficient detail
-Zhishu of G22
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