MPP 806 / Final Semester Examination / 21900126
1. What is your opinion on the role of technological innovation on sustainable development? Since 1987, the concept of sustainable development has been the key idea to have production and consumption system that are able to reduce the use of natural resources and to avoid pollution. The discourse about sustainable development has relation with the global vision that wants to create economic development, to reduce poverty and inequality, to conserve the environment, and to enhance its resources base simultaneously. The concept of sustainable development seeks to simultaneously advance intergenerational and intragenerational equity that poses a specific set of challenges for innovation system. Referring to the global perspective, the concept of sustainable development covers several critical objectives to pursue such as: no poverty; zero hunger; good health and well-being; quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation, and infrastructure; reducing inequality; sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production; climate action; life below water; life on land; peace, justice and strong institution; and also partnership for the goals. Those objectives are known as sustainable development goals (SDGs). Technological innovation is seen by many people as the way to conduct and realize the objectives of sustainable development. This assumption has become the relationship between the two concepts. Nevertheless, people who want to empower technological innovation to create sustainable development have to understand first and have broad view about technology and innovation. It is because the two sides owned by technological innovation itself. It will be beneficial, but it also has capability to erode human being. In order technological innovation to be beneficial for the achievement of sustainable development, people have to create system to enable it. There are at least three things to realize the capacity of technological innovation in supporting the pursue of sustainable development objectives such as: first, understanding innovation as a complex adaptive system; second, understanding the socio-technical nature of innovation systems; and the last, understanding how actors shape and are shaped by innovation systems. By understanding those perspectives, people will exactly know the role of technological innovation 1
MPP 806 / Final Semester Examination / 21900126
in boosting and achieving the objectives of sustainable development, as follows: (1) reducing the use of natural resources in production, (2) avoiding pollution and environmental damages, (3) enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency in processing natural resources, (4) conserving the natural resource from over exploitation, (5) reducing poverty, inequality, and alienation, (6) strengthening cooperation among multiple actors, (7) creating added value for products and services, (8) supporting economic growth and development, (9) balancing relationship between human and their environment, (10) and soon.
2. What are the common barriers in the implementation of new technology and what are the ways to overcome the barriers? To map out the barrier in the implementation of new technology, we need to understand first about the innovation itself. The innovation is a complex system that comprises of targeted goals, technologies needed to reach the goals, people and organization who act within system, and the rules and incentives that shape the process of innovation from invention through the use and eventual retirement of technologies. The other thing which is also important to consider is the existence of societies which are both users and producers of technology. Referring to those situation, there are at least two big barriers in the implementation of new technology. First is barrier on social acceptance, and the second is ethical acceptability. Referring to the social acceptance, there are two possibilities of new technology, whether it is adopted or rejected by individual member of social system and/or by the entire social system. To overcome this barrier, public policy can be a solution. It is implemented through diffusion which is the process by which innovation has to be communicated through certain channels over time among the members of social system. It can be done through mass media, interpersonal, and also social media channel. Barrier on ethical acceptability is caused by the fact that introducing, even the implementation of new technology into society has always bring two consequences, whether it brings benefits or risks for people. Therefore the discourse about ethical acceptability is all about managing risks in the perspective of society. In details, there are two problems on this issue which are moral principles are rather abstract and ethical analysis is often conceptual. To 2
MPP 806 / Final Semester Examination / 21900126
overcome this barrier, we need to understand first about people’s attitude and local norms and values held by them. Communication and socialization are the next steps to be passed.
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