Page 446 - Kaleidoscope Academic Conference Proceedings 2024

2024 ITU Kaleidoscope Academic Conference

2. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY: A The impact of technology is observed more significant in six
CAUSALITY SHIFT sectors: communication, information access, education,
healthcare, transportation, and entertainment. The
Society may not always exploit the new possibilities from advancement in technology resulted in a foundational change
technological advancement in the immediate future [5]. in social networking, and social interaction brought up by
Technology may be viewed as one of the necessary online communities, virtual forums, social media digital
conditions for social change and not as a sufficient condition. platforms, collaborative forums, and connecting people with
Similarly, the historical perspective of technology shared interests.
effectively explains why a specific social tendency or
propensity was realized over others at a particular time and Technology has enhanced the growth of economics and
not before. societal welfare through job creation, better job productivity,
promotion of innovation, and assistance in the creation of
The paper [5] also emphasized that profound social changes better products, services, and industries. Massive
are affected not by one but by a complex combination of industrialization, energy demand, and resulting over-
(often independent and separate) innovations that may exploitation of natural resources have resulted in the
modify user’s behaviors and habits. For instance, the emission of environmentally degrading greenhouse gases,
Industrial Revolution should be viewed as a combined reduction in forest cover, and other environmental concerns.
complex of innovations: steam engine, coke-based iron
smelting, improved transportation, and new textile Communications Social Impact
machinery. Environmental
Information Social Social Sustainability
The extent of social vs commercial goods, accessibility, Access Change Interaction
affordability, and adoption connected with technology may Education Critical Roles of Security &
be left to market. However, for an unfair market, the above Health Care Technology Surveillance
issues may not be left solely to the market forces and call for
government/regulatory interventions. Transportation Work & Economic
Productivity Growth Promoting
Globalization
Throughout human history, technology creation, changes, Entertainment Economic Impact
and their adoption by society occurred gradually with a Sectoral Impact Other Concerns
period of lull. Regarding causality, societal needs resulted in
much of the technology developments. However, in the post-
industrial period, the technology evolution is taking place at
a faster pace and rapid adoption by society.
Figure 2 – Critical roles of technology
The impact of technology on society is increasingly
becoming more profound. Thus, of late many technologies 3.2 Technology and economic growth
are created first, and then efforts are made to use them for
societal benefits. In other words, the changes in technology Technological changes, including automation and artificial
seem to be driving the changes in society. The proverb intelligence (AI), have been conceptualized and introduced
“Necessity is the mother of invention” has been weakened. in economic models in a variety of ways in academic studies
[8] as listed below:- (i) factor augmenting – enhance
3. MAPPING THE EXISTING ROLE OF effective units of the production factors, (ii) Hicks neutral –
TECHNOLOGY proportionate output increase for any input production
factors, (iii) enhance the productivity of capital [9] capable
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) of substituting labor, (iv) enhance labor-productivity [10].
Society on Social Implications on Technology (SSIT) is These approaches lead to a scenario where factor-
engaged in standards development to guide complex augmenting technologies exert a limited reduction in labor.
interactions among the stakeholders linked to the
development and deployment of technology in society. The 3.3 Unpredictable adoption behaviour
SSIT focuses on five pillar areas: (i) humanitarian and global
development technology, (ii) human values, ethics, and What role do technologies play in enabling individuals’
technology, (iii) future societal impact of technology transit out of poverty? It is important to understand the
advancement, (iv) technology benefits for all, (v) protecting reasons why socially valuable technologies fail to timely
the planet through sustainable technology [6]. realize their true potential [11]. For instance, information
asymmetry (constraints) and divergence between the private
3.1 Identifying the critical roles of technology and social value of a new technology due to externalities.
The authors [11] explored the factors that impact technology
The major roles of technology can be categorized into four adoption across space and time. The consistency between
types: sectoral impact, social impact, economic impact, and empirical estimation and underlying theoretical frameworks
other concerns [7], presented in Figure 2. may be effective in optimizing the adoption behavior.

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