Nabeel Zafar talks about a prevailing thought-process-Disruptive Potential
The emergence of technology has considerably eased human life and this is precisely the reason that efforts are always at hand to carry out further improvements in it. On the other hand, many observers believe that disruptive potential in the technological domain is primarily responsible for the sluggish global economic growth strengthening the argument that incessant innovation in technology may have to be put on the back-burner for consolidating economic productivity.
While technological progress implies an increase in productivity but it is now perceived that continuous changes in scope and application of technological advances are adversely affecting economic productivity. A set of economists attribute the reasons for slow economic growth to the hackneyed nature of government statistics all over the developed world that have a tendency to grossly understate the value of improvements in the quality of existing goods and services and that they do not accurately measure the full contribution of new goods and services.
They argue that over time such neglect has caused economic productivity to appear lower than it actually is. But a growing section of observers believes that the current innovations in areas like information and communications technology cannot be expected to have as big an economic payoff as those of the signal achievements such as electricity and automobile that took place in the past.
Though they assess that new technologies are doing a good job in boosting economies but they express that they may actually have some negative side effects that undermine productivity and GDP growth. The skeptic observers point out the fairly disruptive potential impact on working professionals of continuously learning new skills, adapting to new systems, and changing their behavior.
Disruptive Potential Of Innovating Technology
New computer software may surely offer more capacity, efficiency, or performance but these advantages are partly offset by the attention and time required to re-learn the new development. The increasing level of glitches in new technological advancements is always there to bedevil the users.
The mushrooming prospects of security breaches that accompany the current advancements in digital-based technologies have made productive sectors jittery and they spend considerable time safeguarding their data from the gradually increasing spam, viruses, cyber-attacks, and other kinds of security breaches that invariably impose major costs on conducting business safely. – Disruptive Innovation
These disrupting aspects also affect households of working professionals causing constant worry to them. The major advancement in technology is also impacting the level of connectivity in the daily lives of working professionals which affects their ability to work and learn.
The workforce is usually bombarded with non-work emails, social media tidbits, and Internet videos that consume their precious time at work. Another major impact is caused by video games that very easily distract employees as many are bored by the humdrum of office routine.
All these factors offset the productivity-raising potential of that same connectivity and cause a fall in productivity. The situation tends to become more disadvantageous when employees start telecommuting, wasting productive work hours.
The onrush of smartphones has caused a widespread disruption within the workforce, particularly the young ones. The use of this gadget has become addictive to the point that employers try to restrict its usage in workplaces. It is estimated that recreational computer activities partly explain a decline in labor supply among men ages 21 to 30.
Most Worrying Aspect
Smartphones also undermine physical safety in many respects as employees coming to work and going home abundantly use endangering traffic safety. Texting while working has become a serious nuisance that entails the loss of long durations of working time.
The most worrying aspect of advancement in technology is that it is undermining people’s quality of life which in turn adversely affects their work lives. People are unusually agitative about automated telephone calls resorted to by advertising agencies that often disrupt their concentration of mind.
The advent of digital new media was once welcomed as the definitive means given at the disposal of ordinary people to provide a measure of control over the “airwaves,” at the expense of big companies or established institutions but it has become a tool in the hands of vested interests that use it for spreading fake news.
The impact of fake news could be horrendous in organizations that are directly tied up with economic productivity. While appreciating that advancement in technology is vitally important for the progress of humankind but whether such advancement has a productivity-raising potential is yet to be explored.
It is generally believed that major breakthroughs in technology such as the steam engines and electricity took time to prove their impact so it is also expected that the fast advancement in technology recently witnessed will also prove their worth after some time.
It is worth noting however that sharp advancement in technology is fast depriving human beings of their initiative and social mores. Humans will be better off retaining control of the technological world they have created and should use it to their maximum advantage. The Weekender
Disruptive Potential Of Innovating Technology
ByNabeel Zafar
Works in the private sector
Dated
September 18, 2022
Nabeel Zafar talks about a prevailing thought-process-Disruptive Potential
The emergence of technology has considerably eased human life and this is precisely the reason that efforts are always at hand to carry out further improvements in it. On the other hand, many observers believe that disruptive potential in the technological domain is primarily responsible for the sluggish global economic growth strengthening the argument that incessant innovation in technology may have to be put on the back-burner for consolidating economic productivity.
While technological progress implies an increase in productivity but it is now perceived that continuous changes in scope and application of technological advances are adversely affecting economic productivity. A set of economists attribute the reasons for slow economic growth to the hackneyed nature of government statistics all over the developed world that have a tendency to grossly understate the value of improvements in the quality of existing goods and services and that they do not accurately measure the full contribution of new goods and services.
They argue that over time such neglect has caused economic productivity to appear lower than it actually is. But a growing section of observers believes that the current innovations in areas like information and communications technology cannot be expected to have as big an economic payoff as those of the signal achievements such as electricity and automobile that took place in the past.
Though they assess that new technologies are doing a good job in boosting economies but they express that they may actually have some negative side effects that undermine productivity and GDP growth. The skeptic observers point out the fairly disruptive potential impact on working professionals of continuously learning new skills, adapting to new systems, and changing their behavior.
Disruptive Potential Of Innovating Technology
New computer software may surely offer more capacity, efficiency, or performance but these advantages are partly offset by the attention and time required to re-learn the new development. The increasing level of glitches in new technological advancements is always there to bedevil the users.
The mushrooming prospects of security breaches that accompany the current advancements in digital-based technologies have made productive sectors jittery and they spend considerable time safeguarding their data from the gradually increasing spam, viruses, cyber-attacks, and other kinds of security breaches that invariably impose major costs on conducting business safely. – Disruptive Innovation
These disrupting aspects also affect households of working professionals causing constant worry to them. The major advancement in technology is also impacting the level of connectivity in the daily lives of working professionals which affects their ability to work and learn.
The workforce is usually bombarded with non-work emails, social media tidbits, and Internet videos that consume their precious time at work. Another major impact is caused by video games that very easily distract employees as many are bored by the humdrum of office routine.
All these factors offset the productivity-raising potential of that same connectivity and cause a fall in productivity. The situation tends to become more disadvantageous when employees start telecommuting, wasting productive work hours.
The onrush of smartphones has caused a widespread disruption within the workforce, particularly the young ones. The use of this gadget has become addictive to the point that employers try to restrict its usage in workplaces. It is estimated that recreational computer activities partly explain a decline in labor supply among men ages 21 to 30.
Most Worrying Aspect
Smartphones also undermine physical safety in many respects as employees coming to work and going home abundantly use endangering traffic safety. Texting while working has become a serious nuisance that entails the loss of long durations of working time.
The most worrying aspect of advancement in technology is that it is undermining people’s quality of life which in turn adversely affects their work lives. People are unusually agitative about automated telephone calls resorted to by advertising agencies that often disrupt their concentration of mind.
The advent of digital new media was once welcomed as the definitive means given at the disposal of ordinary people to provide a measure of control over the “airwaves,” at the expense of big companies or established institutions but it has become a tool in the hands of vested interests that use it for spreading fake news.
The impact of fake news could be horrendous in organizations that are directly tied up with economic productivity. While appreciating that advancement in technology is vitally important for the progress of humankind but whether such advancement has a productivity-raising potential is yet to be explored.
It is generally believed that major breakthroughs in technology such as the steam engines and electricity took time to prove their impact so it is also expected that the fast advancement in technology recently witnessed will also prove their worth after some time.
It is worth noting however that sharp advancement in technology is fast depriving human beings of their initiative and social mores. Humans will be better off retaining control of the technological world they have created and should use it to their maximum advantage. The Weekender
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