Major Report about course info in a Networked world

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Major Report–Information in the Networked World Developments in national and international politics, personal and corporate technology, social and personal interactions all mean changes or challenges to the way information is managed --either by us individually or by corporations and governments. This major report asks you to consider the issues around the way information is managed or should be managed in relation to a set of either general topics or a specific question.The list of topics and questions will be developed in the first part of the term, so each student will have some say in the list of topics

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Background We live in a world where more and more of our lives -- our working lives and our individual and social lives -- are mediated by technology. At work we work with information and we work in ways determined by information processes that dictate how and what we work on, measure our productivity, monitor our activities. And these information processes can be used to reward our work or to discipline us. In our networked / individual social and personal lives, we connect with others using technology or are connected to them through social networks. We use tools like texting or social media messages to remain in touch with friends and relatives. We navigate the world using digital maps or apps. We monitor our fitness using apps and wearable devices. We organize our homes using digital assistants. Topics The focus of this term's group project is NTK (need to know) – in other words, basic information about specific trends and ideas. The focus of this longer term report needs to dig deeper into a topic of your choice that is relevant to the course. This could be a topic from the group project you or another group is working on or it could be a different topic (approved by me). For this report you will need to do research that will show an in-depth and well-researched understanding. There are a number of perspectives or approaches you might use. Choose one or more of the following as you find them relevant or useful: 1. find a context or an approach that will create a view of this innovation or technology in the context of theories of innovation or theories of technology or the relations of technology and society o Consider the theories discussed in class or in the textbook and use them to o What ethical, social, or ecological principles are important for thinking about the possible impact of this technology? 2. SWOT analysis o Strengths: what are the inherent strengths of this innovation or technology o Weaknesses: what are the weaknesses inherent in this innovation or technology o Opportunities: what trends or theories suggest that this innovation or technology will find a place o Threats: what market or social or political challenges might limit the success of this innovation or technology 3. Another analytical approach that will allow you to assess your chosen topic with a degree of objectivity and insight... Other requirements Remember that this is a research report. So, research is required, and proper documentation in APA style -- in-text citations and a complete list of References. Your essay / report must make convincing arguments based on credible evidence and research. It is fine to begin with your own beliefs or ideas about this question, but make sure you can find research to support them. The technological society mgmt 3601 unit 01.2 agenda 1. 2. 3. 4. Technology and management Society Technology and society Industrial and Post-industrial society 1. Technology and management 1. management – overseeing and supervising people and things 2. connection between management & technology Adam Smith (1723 – 1790) • The Wealth of Nations (1776) – division of labour in the pin factory smithstrategyblog.com The industrial revolution • 1760 into the 1800s • Inventions like steam engine, power loom, Bessemer process of iron and steel production • Movement from individual artisanal production to mechanical production • Britain first and then other countries Karl Marx • Capital: Critique of Political Economy (1876) Marxist view of effect of technology • working day longer not shorter • more not fewer women and children working in mechanized industries • skilled labour became eliminated, reduced or downgraded • labour became more intense not less intense • labourers became dependent on capitalists because labourers no longer owned the means of production Taylorism or Scientific Management • Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 – 1915) • Worked to analyze and synthesize workflows with the aim of improving efficiency and productivity Motion studies • Frank and Lillian Gilbreth • The Gilbreths sought to make product more efficient by reducing the human motions involved • Frank & Lillian Gilbreth's Applied motion study (1917) Fordism (after Henry Ford 1863 – 1947) – Evolved independently from Taylorism • The standardization of the components of a product – Parts machine made and interchangeable • Creation of tools to make the assembly lines possible – The worker repeats the same task again and again • The workers are well paid – Workers become consumers of the products they produce Conclusions Industrial revolution, Fordism, and rise of Management – driven by – Technological advances – Division of labour – Mechanization of production – Quest for efficiency 2. Society • the way individuals and groups organize themselves • the totality of social relationships among organized groups of human beings or animals • a system of human organizations generating distinctive cultural patterns and institutions and usually providing protection, security, continuity, and a national identity for its members 3. Technology & Society Technology as… • • • • • material substance knowledge practice technique society technology as material substance technology society technology as knowledge technological knowledge transform objects achieve human goals technology as knowledge Layton’s model • technological ideas • translated into designs • implemented by techniques and tools to produce things ideas design technique Technology as practice Ursula Franklin technology is not limited to the apparatus, to the material substance, or to the artifact technology is not just “the sum of the artifacts” technology is a “system” involving society – organization, procedures, symbols, new words, and most importantly, a mindset. – Ursula Franklin (The Real World of Technology) Franklin Holistic technologies Prescriptive technologies • Craft • Human control • Factory • Managed control – Personal goals • Individual decision • One-of-a-kind product • Specialization by product – Efficiency • Division of labour • Mass production • Specialization by process Franklin holistic technologies prescriptive technologies "Artisans, be they potters, weavers, metal-smiths, or cooks, control the process of their own work from beginning to finish.” “Each step is carried out by a separate worker, or group of workers, who need to be familiar only with the skills of performing that one step." Franklin, The Real World of Technology Franklin technology is a “system” involving society – organization, procedures, symbols, new words, and most importantly, a mindset. technology society Technology as technique Heidegger • Focus on technique as a human activity – A way of thinking to achieve a goal – A way of thinking that includes materials, procedures, know-how, and social norms Habermas • Technology as strategic action – a social action – a method to realize human endeavours Technology as technique Jacques Ellul – technique – Standardized means to attain a goal – Characterized by efficiency • Technique – “efficiency is no longer an option but a necessity imposed on all human activity” (Ellul) • Technique – becomes not just a technical goal but a social goal even although it may damage traditional social order and the ethical goals of society Technology as society Jean Baudrillard Technology doesn’t change the world—it becomes the world Our society cannot exist outside of the framework of technology “On Rigor in Science” . . . In that empire, the art of cartography reached such perfection that the map of one province alone took up the whole of a city, and the map of the empire, the whole of a province. In time, those unconscionable maps did not satisfy, and the Colleges of Cartographers set up a map of the empire which had the size of the empire itself and coincided with it point by point. Less addicted to the study of cartography, succeeding generations understood that this widespread map was useless, and not without impiety they abandoned it to the inclemencies of the sun and of the winters. In the deserts of the west some mangled ruins of the map lasted on, inhabited by animals and beggars; in the whole country there are no other relics of the disciplines of geography. J. L. Borges (http://thefloatinglibrary.com/) “Simulacra and Simulations” Today abstraction is no longer that of the map, the double, the mirror, or the concept. Simulation is no longer that of a territory, a referential being, or a substance. It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal. The territory no longer precedes the map, nor does it survive it. It is nevertheless the map that precedes the territory — precession of simulacra — that engenders the territory, and if one must return to the fable, today it is the territory whose shreds slowly rot across the extent of the map. It is the real, and not the map, whose vestiges persist here and there in the deserts that are no longer those of the Empire, but ours. The desert of the real itself. – Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulations (1994) trans. S. Glaser world technology The simulacra Guests stroll down on Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. (http://www.willhiteweb.com/) Other examples? • Other examples of copies with no originals? • Other examples of copies taking the place of the original? Skeuomorph • an object or feature which imitates the design of a similar artifact made from another material So… • Which makes sense to you? – Technology as substance – Technology as social force – Technology as knowledge – Technology as practice – Technology as technique – Technology as society Technology & society Quan-Haase’s definition: Technology is an assemblage of material objects, embodying and reflecting societal elements, such as knowledge, norms, and attitudes that have been shaped and structured to serve societal, political, cultural, and existential purposes. (p. 7) Technology & society Quan-Haase’s definition: Technology is an assemblage of material objects, embodying and reflecting societal elements, such as knowledge, norms, and attitudes that have been shaped* and structured to serve societal, political, cultural, and existential purposes. (p. 7) *shaped by what or whom? Pause…. • Questions? Industrial society Colin Clark (1940) Post-industrial society • • • • (Post-Fordist society) a new type of technology a new type of use of technology rise of information technology – technology that worked with data and information – technology whose product was data and information Daniel Bell The Coming of Post-Industrial Society (1973) pre industrial industrial post industrial raw materials financial capital human capital transformational natural power: power - water wheel - wind mill - animals mechanical power: - steam - electricity - oil - nuclear power information and knowledge processing: - programming - algorithms - data transmission labour division of labour networked labour resources physical labour Informationalism • In the new, informational mode of development the source of productivity lies in the technology of knowledge generation, information processing, and symbol communication… The action of knowledge upon itself is the main source of productivity. • Wealth is now created through the action of knowledge upon knowledge, or information upon information – (Manuel Castells, The Rise of the Network Society, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, 2001) Questions? • Conclusions… Theories of technology mgmt 3601 unit 04.2 Overview • Questions about technology – Does it have its own inherent value? – Is its development in our control? • Feenberg’s table • Other approaches – Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) From previous lectures • Fordism and Taylorism – The goal of technology is efficiency • Moore’s law & related laws – Increasing efficiency and power • • • • More computing power Higher speed Decreasing cost Decreasing size pre industrial industrial post industrial resources raw materials financial capital human capital transformational power natural power: - water wheel - wind mill - animals mechanical power: - steam - electricity - oil - nuclear power information and knowledge processing: - programming - algorithms - data transmission labour physical labour division of labour networked labour Post-Fordist / Post-industrial / Informationalism • When technology becomes information technology, does this fundamentally change what technology is? Directions of development • Utopia • Dystopia – As we discussed last time Questions 1. Do humans or society have any control over how technology develops? 2. Does technology have an inherent or implicit value or ideology? Value-neutral vs. value-laden • Value-neutral – Technology has no predefined impact on human beings or human society • Value-laden – Technology has an inherent value • e.g. if one argued that technology development leads inevitably to increased concentration of wealth in the top 1% or that it inevitably leads to a divided society Autonomous vs. Human-controlled • Autonomous – We cannot decide how technology will develop – The next stage in development is predetermined • Human-controlled – We decide how technology will develop – Human intentions and choices determine how technology develops Technology Autonomous: We have little control over how technologies are developed and diffused Human-controlled We make important decisions that determine how technologies are developed and diffused Value-neutral The end uses of technology are independent of the technology itself Determinism (Marxist view) Technology proceeds on its own but is independent of the structure of society Instrumentalism (neo-liberal view) Technology is an instrument we an use to achieve desired social ends Value-laden The end uses of technology are inherent in the technology itself Substantivism Technology determines the shape of society – shaping society according to the ends of technology Critical theory By understanding technology, we have the power to manage technology and control its ends Based on Quan-Haase Technology and Society p. 43 Feenberg http://www.sfu.ca/~andrewf/komaba.htm Instrumentalism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Neo-liberal view • Technology is simply a tool for our benefit – e.g. “guns don’t kill people—people kill people” • Progress is good and under human control • Nature exists to be exploited and used Instrumentalism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Neo-liberal view • Dominant view – View of large tech companies – FAANGs &c. • Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google – View of many governments • Technology development brings jobs and opportunities Instrumentalism • • • • Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory example – Facebook revolutions The overthrow of Mubarak in Egypt (2011) Tunisian revolution (2011) The technology gave people the power to organize and overthrow governments Instrumentalism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Japan Meiji period of rapid change ~1870 – 1920 – Rapid industrialization and modernization and a belief that traditional values could still be maintained Determinism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Marxist view (dialectical materialism) • Technological advance is the driving force of history • Technology shapes society to requirements of efficiency and progress • We must adapt to technology as the most significant expression of our humanity Determinism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory Post World War I – politically neutral technology • The Soviet Union industrializes rapidly (communist) • The USA continues industrialization (capitalist) – Both become less agrarian and more industrial – Both are leaders in science, technology, space, and military technology (the Cold War) – Efficiency and progress are the only values of technology Substantivism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Substantivism is pessimistic • Dystopian view • The autonomy of technological progress is “threatening and malevolent” (Feenberg 2003) Substantivism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • The substantivist view is that choosing a technology is not simply choosing efficiency or convenience—it is choosing a way of life determined by that technology • Technology does not serve our values or goals—we end up serving the goals and values of technology Substantivism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • View 1: technology will lead to democracy – Technology has a built-in democratic value • View 2: technology is a threat to democracy – Technology has a built-in power for those in control of the technology Substantivism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory Martin Heidegger – We are constantly obeying the dictates of technical systems in which we are enrolled; we tend to see ourselves more and more as devices regulated by medical, psychological, athletic and other functional disciplines (Feenberg 2003) Traditional values cannot survive the challenge of technology (Feenberg 2003) Traditional values are replaced by the values inherent in technology Substantivism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory “In the most extreme imagination of substantivism, a Brave New World such as Huxley describes in his famous novel overtakes humanity and converts human beings into mere cogs in the machinery” (Feenberg, 2003) Determinism / Substantivism Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Determinism – Optimistic • Substantivism – Optimistic or Pessimistic Critical theory Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Technology is in some sense controllable • Technology also has built-in values which threaten human and social values Critical theory Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Critical theory sees the catastrophic consequences of technology that substantivism sees, but still sees a promise of freedom through technology • Understands we need to find ways to control technology Critical theory Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Technology is like climate change – Something that follows a predetermined course – Something we can work to change and control if we act Critical theory Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Andrew Feenberg • "What human beings are and will become is decided in the shape of our tools no less than in the action of statesmen and political movements. The design of technology is thus an ontological decision fraught with political consequences. The exclusion of the vast majority from participation in this decision is profoundly undemocratic" (Transforming Technology, p.3). conclusion Technology is Autonomous Human-controlled Value-neutral Determinism Instrumentalism Value-laden Substantivism Critical theory • Which position seems reasonable to you? Other approaches • Relying on a critical theory perspective – Science and Technology Studies (STS) – Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) – Actor Network Theory (ANT) Science and Technology Studies (STS) • • • • Technology is value laden Technology shapes culture, politics, and social values Technology is shaped by culture, politics, and social values STS works at both micro and macro level – e.g. study of MySpace bands Actor Network Theory (ANT) • Importance of webs of relationships (networks) “everything in the world is a continuously generated effect of the webs of relations within which they are located” • Webs include technologies but also people and ideas • an example of ANT is SCoT… Social Construction (SCoT) • • • • critical-theory-type view technology does not determine human action human action shapes technology the ways a technology is used cannot be understood without understanding the social context in which that technology is embedded Social Construction (SCoT) • Relevant social group – Any technology needs social acceptance • Interpretive flexibility – Meaning of a technology emerges from society • Closure and stabilization – A technology’s meaning becomes fixed over time • Wider context – values of society are frameworks for interpreting any technology e.g. The bicycle Bicycle evolution http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bicycle_evolution-en.svg Think of another example • …(?) Critique of SCoT • focuses on how technologies arise, and ignores consequences • focuses on social groups and interests that contribute to the technology but ignores others not directly connected • focuses on immediate needs but disregards deeper issues – Langon Winner (1993) References • Feenberg, A. (2003) What is Philosophy of Technology: Lecture for the Komaba undergraduates http://www.sfu.ca/~andrewf/komaba.htm
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Running Head: NETWORKED WORLD

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Major Report about Course Info in a Networked World
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Course
Tutor
Date

NETWORKED WORLD

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Major Report about Course Info in a Networked World
The current world is characterized by technology. People work with information which
determines and dictates the way they work, measure productivity and monitor their activities.
These processes of information can be used to discipline or reward people. Technology is used in
networking through social and personal lives of people, primarily through social networks.
Texting and social media tools have become prevalent in promoting the connections between
friends and relatives. Digital maps and apps are used in navigating the world, with wearable
devices, and fitness apps are being used to monitor the health of individuals. People are also
using digital assistants to organize their homes. Among the most common technologies that are
used in today’s world is social media. This phrase involves a collection of tools that people use
to interact and connect with others. These tools include Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook and
Instagram among others. It is websites and applications that are developed to allow people to
share contents, quickly, efficiently, and in real- time. Some of the features of social media
include personal user accounts, where users can log in to engage in some form of interaction
(Veluri, n.d). The feature of the profile page is made necessary to help individuals and provide
them with opportunities for creating their names. The following is a report about course informs
in a networked world.
A view of the Technology in the Context of Theories
The development of social media can be described in the social construction of
technology. It is among the developments that have been experienced in the last few decades,
which can be examined through science. This concept refers to the theory that relates to a variety
of social forces and factors that influence the development, the meaning, and changes that are

NETWORKED WORLD

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associated with technology. It implies the specific account of the development and construction
of technology. The theory is based on specific terms such as closure, stabilization and
interpretive flexibility (Bijker, 2015). A technology that has interpretive flexibility explains that
artifacts have radically different interpretations in different social groups.

The social

construction of technology can be used to explain two components. First, the concept is a
research approach to examining technical changes in society, and the second is the relationship
between technology and society. Technology is considered to develop independently from
society, and when it is taken up by the people, it demonstrates its powerful effect on the
characterization of society. Under these perspectives, the technology follows scientific
discoveries when the engineers and inventors follow science, or it adheres to logic or its own
(Bijker, 2015). In either way, technological advancement is different from social forces where
the developers work in separated domains with a sole objective of discovering and influencing
nature.
The theory of determin...


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