Technology and World Change (Session 6)

Technology and World Change

Session 6

Brief Overview

This session was all about the BioBusiness Revolution: Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences. We looked at the different aspects of the BioBusiness and how this was an important sector in the market and how it acted as a driver of value creation. Furthermore, we looked at some of the evolution of certain pieces of medical technology, the prosthetics to be more specific. In addition, the healthcare revolution and biomedical science revolution.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

One interesting observation was also how in reading 2 ( the author talked about a time where Intellectual Property (IP) should be changed. The article mentioned how the old IP was full of flaws and it failed to recognize the importance of sharing knowledge, which could ultimately lead to better product and idea generation. This is somewhat similar to the concept of “CopyLeft” I have mentioned in my earlier blog about allowing certain concepts to be shared to allow other people to gain access to knowledge attained by others and working on it to develop new and possibly even better ones for the good of the whole community. In addition, the article also developed some points we could consider to adopt such a change in the way we view patents. One such example was to have governments take the lead on issues such as creating independent trust builders to mediate disputes or public health care systems could work with funding bodies and universities to manage health-related data to encourage innovation and collaboration.

While reading article 4 titled “Will Disruptive Innovations Cure Health Care?” it talked about the certain advantages and disadvantages of healthcare innovations. To me, “Disruptive Innovation” is defined, as innovations that greatly improve the way things are currently achieved thought this could lead to negative consequences. One example stated in the article was how an English entrepreneur managed to develop a system to customize eyeglasses for a cost of just $5. The author mentioned that this is a disruptive innovation because it allows people to perform tasks originally only possible with the help professionals and their tools. Because of the cheap production, many established professions then start to discredit this method like how many eye diseases might be undetected if people did not check their eyes or make the eyeglasses using the conventional way. Furthermore, this occurs even to people because it affects the livelihoods of people who are directly involved in the profession. For example, nurses and doctors’ assistant are now capable with diagnosing certain illnesses with the advent of advancement of therapeutic and diagnostic technology. But there are many states that prevent nurses from diagnosing illnesses because they are often deemed as less skilled and also because it might threaten what doctors have to offer. In all of this, we have to recognize the need for such disruptive innovations because they allow procedures that were once considered tedious, difficult and expensive to one that is easier, cheaper and more convenient. This could also mean that patients can now monitor their own progress and improve the quality of life for those affected.

Key Takeaways

While watching the Video, Health Future Vision, it shows just how much can be achieved! The video showed just how our healthcare system or our lifestyles could be like in the future. We could perform video conferencing with our doctors without the need to actually visit them physically. This could benefit a lot of people such as the disabled, elderly or even people who live far from hospitals, as they now do not have to worry about the need to travel just to receive medical attention. With video conferencing, they can receive immediate help whenever needed. This can greatly improve the way people are receiving healthcare because of the development of such technology and enhance the quality of life. In the video, it also shows different technology that might be available in the future such as the electronic wallet where all your credit cards are condensed into just one card, gone would be the day where you would need a bigger wallet just to fit all the possible cards you will ever receive. As a wise man once said, we are indeed “Living in Exciting Times”! The possibilities are just endless!

Another takeaway message from this session was about the major drivers for innovation and change in healthcare and the biomedical sciences. In class, we discussed about the changes in patterns of disease and the different level of care rendered for them. Patterns of disease changes as demographics changes so in developed countries, there are more people who die because of chronic disease although deaths by infectious disease seems more apparent in less developed countries because of the lack of clean water and sanitation. We also recognized that as science progresses, we do more research and that leads to validation and then we invent new technologies that can help to capture the possibilities. Also, with the help of ICT, we can further share our knowledge and this creates a more efficient process.

Issues for Further Discussion

With the advancements of technology we experience everyday, our lifestyles have completely changed from our earlier ancestors, we are definitely living in times where we have a better quality of life and standard of living. But because of our changing habits we have also created more problems for ourselves such as obesity. We know that there are health implications that come with obesity, we know that there are programmes in place to curb the problem of obesity either in children or adults. We also know how some sorts of lifestyles can lead to obesity, or the different foodstuff that is not good for us. But why is it that even with such information so readily available to us, we are still facing such a problem? There are many questions to be answered. Does the programmes implemented to help curb this problem effective, and if it isn’t, how else can we improve on it? Or even if we encourage a change in diet, how can we ensure that we stick to it and sustain the change in lifestyle? That is my question to ponder upon this week.

Personal Ratings

I would rate this session a 9 because I found it very applicable to our healthcare and the myriad of possibilities we might face in the future which was very encouraging. I also enjoyed the presentations! It was informative and relatable to our everyday lives. It also poses some challenging thoughts for us to think about.