Beyond the agricultural and industrial revolutions of which we have heard of in the past the all new technology revolution is changing the world.
Just as there is an increase in our dependence on technology, there is also the possibility of becoming more dependent on one another because of technological involvement. This is a world economy that we are involved with, and it is that involvement that makes us dependent on one another for what we need to survive. Technology can both create and alleviate that dependency. The impact of technology on the commercial aspect of human culture is a major one.
Globalization has economic as well as political consequences. It also has brought into focus the effect of culture in this global environment, as how to bind in a time when the tensions of separation is hovering over every issue that is relevant to relations between two countries.
The drivers of today’s rapid globalization are improving methods and systems of international transportation, dominating the international commerce. Their impact affects lifestyles, religion, language etc.
Technology has not only brought the world closer together, but it has allowed the world’s economy to become a single interdependent system. This means that we can, not only share information quickly and efficiently, but we can also bring down barriers of linguistic and geographic boundaries.
The world has developed into a global village due to the help of information technology allowing countries who are not only separated by distance but also by language to shares ideas and information with each other.
However, the technology revolution has not been uniform in its effect and will be different in the different situations depending on the economic, political, cultural situations in the world economy.
Improving Economy
Economies are improving because of the technology help and so is the commercialization of the countries resulting in the growth of the country, which in turn helps in keeping the per capita income of the country healthy.
Technology is a key factor in the supporting and developing of an economy, in the securing and maintaining of jobs for the population, and most certainly in determining the level of economic welfare experienced by the members of the society.
One source of new technology is the search for increased economic efficiency and a sincere desire to reduce the cost that the society has to pay for the availability of goods. Whether the purpose of the technology is to improve its effective use of available natural resources or to increase or alter the supply of available resources, it will impact what people have financial transactions on.
Increased Quality of Life
A marked acceleration is likely in the expansion of human life spans along with significant improvements in the quality of human life.
Better disease control, customized drugs, genetic therapy, drugs, artificial limbs, implants or transplants, and many other advances may continue to increase human life span and improve the quality of life.
Emergence of Industries
New skills and new opportunities for employment have come about as a result. It has increased the ability of the homemaker to run a household effectively and carry out the financial transactions in a more effective manner.
The accelerating pace of technological change combined with increased growth of the industries will increase the importance of education and training. Distance learning and other alternative mechanisms will help, but such change will make it difficult for societies reluctant to change.
Cultural adaptation, economic necessity, social demands, and resource availabilities will affect the scope and pace of technological adoption in each industry and society.
Unpredictability
Although the technologies described above in our discussion of the technology revolution appears to have the most promise for significant global effects, but such events are riddled with uncertainty. As time progresses unforeseen technological developments or effects may well eclipse these economic or political growth trends.
Other trends that because of technical challenges do not yet seem likely to have significant global effects in the near future could become significant earlier if breakthroughs are made.
Competition
Leadership and participation in development in each technical area will depend on a number of factors, including future regional economic arrangements international IPR (Intellectual Property Rights), and the role and amount of public and private sector research and developments and investments.
Currently, there are moves toward competition among economic alliances, increased support for a global intellectual property protection regime, more globalization, and a division of responsibilities for the growth on the technology front.
Class Disparities
As technology brings benefits and prosperity to its users, it may leave others behind and create new class disparities. Although technology will help alleviate some severe hardships, it will create real economic disparities both between and within the developed and developing worlds. Those not willing or able to retrain and adapt to new business opportunities may fall further behind.
Moreover, given the market weakness of poor populations in developing countries, economic incentives often will be insufficient to drive the acquisition of new technology artifacts or skills.
Cultural Threats
Many people feel that their cultures continued vitality and possibly even long-term existence may be threatened by new ways of living brought about by technology. As the benefits of technology are seen (especially by younger generations), it may be more difficult to prevent such changes even though some technologies can preserve certain cultural artifacts and values and cultural values can have an impact on guiding regulations and protections that affect technological development.
