Technology improves life with greater convenience and democratizes knowledge with fast access to information. It also boosts efficiency in business and makes it easier to connect with people globally. Yet, it poses challenges, including issues of privacy and addiction. Understanding how technology relates to our lives and how it can impact a sustainable future is key for all of us.
Technology is an umbrella term for different types of tools that enable humans to manipulate their environment. It can include tangible objects like utensils and machines, as well as software tools and communication systems. In its most general sense, it refers to any electronic device that processes and transmits information using electricity. This includes everything from smart watches and phones to TVs and computers.
Unlike science, which focuses on necessity and universality, technology tends to prioritize specific paths to particular ends. Because this involves a finite amount of human attention and energy, it necessarily neglects other pathways to those same ends. For example, as digital cameras proliferated, analogue photography was deprioritized along with its inefficient workflows and culture of painstakingly retouching images by hand for hours.
The development of new technologies requires creativity, innovation and the application of conceptual knowledge to organized tasks that meet human needs and sustainability goals. The resulting solutions may challenge traditional policy-making approaches, creating forces of change from unexpected places. Examples of this phenomenon are the rise of e-commerce, blockchain, artificial intelligence and other innovations that can have significant impacts.