The impact of computer in 2020
...ations. The use of automated production lines and robotics technology will be more prevalent. Those people capable of working in such environments will be highly prized. „X 2. Information Recipients will be the users of this information with little control over their working lives and subject to the constraints imposed by the Information Manipulators. „X Unskilled will suffer „X There is a risk that unskilled men with no special labour market qualifications will find it increasing difficult to get jobs. „X Union control will decrease „X Many workers already realise the flexibility required in modern organisations. In private companies, demarcation is increasingly becoming extinct. Robotics, mechanical advanced machinery and the need for flexible working practices will eliminate many trade union requirements. E-CONT¡K¡K ƒÞ Continuous education and retraining will be essential ƒÞ Computer based training - his continuous education will be via PCs and the Internet - very little classroom type education, will take place. ƒÞ New productivity monitors ƒÞ New technology will allow employers to clock an employees time spent on Server, and on the Internet. Rewards will be based on merit. Employers will also be able to remotely monitor an employees workstation display to see what he is doing at any given time. ƒÞ Paperless Office ƒÞ The paperless office can't begin to exist unless all technophobes lose their fear of technology. Far from heading towards the paperless office, paper is currently the fastest growing category of computer related supplies, with an annual growth rate of 24%. ƒÞ Computers are very adept at supplying information but as an interface, they fall down. Industrial psychologists have found that we read text from a screen 20-30% slower than from paper. 2. MANAGEMENT ƒÞ Decrease in layers of management ƒÞ CS & IT offers organisations the chance to remove whole layers of management. Lower level workers can be empowered with more responsibility, and using computer technology, their work can be used by higher level management in the monitoring and decision making processes. ƒÞ IT & CS affects both ends of the skill continuum. It makes people with the top skills more quickly obsolescent, and it often eliminates the jobs at the lower end of the scale. Male dominance in the workplace will continue to decline, with the continuing shift in skill levels from brawn to brain. MANAGEMENT CONT¡K¡K ƒÞ Managers become co-ordinators rather than controllers. ƒÞ Managers will be differentiated not vertically according to rank and role but flexibly and functionally according to skill and professional training. ƒÞ Elimination of Roles ƒÞ The top skills will become more obsolescent and many jobs at lower end of the scale will be eliminated. This already occurred at the turn of the century with the introduction of Industrial technological advancements. 3. GOVERNMENT & SOCIETY ƒÞ Society is a state of living in association with other individuals. Government controls life of these individuals. No association - no control. ƒÞ Internet will create & eliminate communities and social and business cliques ƒÞ The Third World versus the Developed World, where they are obviously at a disadvantage. ƒÞ Information Super "Toll Road" ƒÞ The rich get richer and gain advantage, the poor lose. Only those who can afford it, will be able to buy into it. It's a bit like the West Link; it costs a lot to get onto it, and it takes you nowhere. CONT.. ƒÞ There is a danger that the technology will create a Two tier system. Many participants foresee a situation where the educated, and technologically aware will benefit more. ƒÞ Technology doesn't care who gets left behind. ƒÞ "Information society" not the "Experience Society" ƒÞ Users expectation will become so high that mere information will not be adequate. CONT¡K.. ƒÞ Men will require not simply to be told- they will want to See, to feel, to Experience. They will have 3D multimedia encyclopedias; a kind of super audio-visual Encarta. ƒÞ The Government promoting itself through technology ƒÞ The Irish Government/Public Service are actively looking to get WEBBED. They are tendering for providers to set up a central WEB server to which all government Departments will subscribe. ƒÞ This will have implications for attracting employment, tourism etc., and for keeping the Irish abroad in touch with issues at home. ƒÞ Availability of information on the Internet on a wide range of areas of relevance to the general public, will be available. Environment information, Ombudsman, Availability of tax return filing applications. ƒÞ Government becomes more pervasive ƒÞ The linking of Social Welfare, Revenue and other governmental databases could make the state increasingly aware of everyone's personal and business details. ƒÞ Dole offices for instance, could have on-line access to much of the information that was not included on the newly issued Social Welfare cards, i.e. photograph and date of birth. This could rattle the cages of many Civil Libertarians, and people whose signature is an 'X'. M-CONT ƒÞ Government censorship of the Net ƒÞ The general consensus is that some control mechanism should be there but not by government. Perhaps it should be built into the software systems, so that parents, School Principals, employers can regulate the kind information available to users. ƒÞ The general consensus is that some control mechanism should be there but not by government. Perhaps it should be built into the software systems, so that parents, School Principals, employers can regulate the kind information available to users. ƒÞ The Chinese government, ever fearful of Western influence, are vigorously using the WEB to promote their policies through overloading newsgroups with input, especially those that may be critical! 4. PSYCHOLOGICAL/SOCIAL ƒÞ Increased pressure in employment for perfection. ƒÞ With technology becoming consistently reliable and accurate, the expectations of the quality, standard and accuracy of man's work, have equally increased. ƒÞ . This can lead to increased feelings of inadequacy when men fail to meet the same standard. While computers are constantly being modified to increase their efficiency - nothing has been done to increase man's. PSYCHOLOGICAL/SOCIAL CONT¡K. ƒÞ Teleworking ƒÞ Enables us work from home, we have great freedom. However, the ability to work from home on a periodic basis, may be better than moving your office into your house. Teleworkers may miss the sense of belonging to the organisation and may feel isolated from others. The option of going to lunch and socialising with their colleagues may be lost. ƒÞ The isolation of depending on one's immediate family for social interaction, implicit in the concept of teleworking, is not healthy. Also, home which is often perceived as being a refuge from work, may become as heavy on his shoulders as Kryptonite was to Superman. In the short term, young single people, see teleworking as a panacea, avoiding the long frustrating commute to work. ƒÞ In the long term, if this becomes the norm, the negative social impact may be colossal. If Education via the Web becomes a practical way of teaching, then theoretically, whole families may not have to leave their homes, for work or school. For existing families, this will be a negative thing; for single people, their only interaction with other single people may only be electronically. ƒÞ There is nothing as identifying as meeting someone in the FLESH. As humans, physical contact, chemistry and spontaneity are things that we need. A feeling of Lost Identity may develop in those who never have to leave their houses. P-CONT¡K ƒÞ However, there is the opinion that just because you become friendly with someone through the Internet rather than a personal meeting, doesn't imply the friendship would be any less transient. ƒÞ If we meet people this way rather than face to face, it may help us change Society's present obsession with appearance and start judging people for themselves rather than their looks ƒÞ Environment Considerations of Teleworking ƒÞ The Sunday Time recently published an article entitled "The greenest cars are those left at home". Teleworking could lead to in more productivity, flexibility, lower office costs, less cars, less pollution. ƒÞ Loss of social communication skills. ƒÞ Scandinavians have a very enclosed culture as a result of not socialising externally. Remaining in the home, we do not see nor care about those more unfortunate outside. ƒÞ Effect on rural areas ƒÞ Rural areas will receive services that Urban society already takes for granted - shopping, pharmacies (order and delivery) , Hospitals (remote diagnosis), banking, may all be done over an Internet connection. CONT¡K. ƒÞ More entertainment at home. ƒÞ Home deliveries of food, beer etc. Multimedia entertainment centres will allow people to watch films on demand, and possible to play electronic games with users in other locations. ƒÞ Loss of Social Awareness ƒÞ 'The world of CS & IT is a world made for a very fortunate few, maybe 20% of the population;. the rest, who don't know how to use it, who don't know how to make products out of it . and this is the underclass. 'Currently in the US, computers are reversing the trend towards racial and ethnic equality. ƒÞ This is because computers in the workplace have raised the educational requirements for today's workers yet there are more computers to be found in predominantly white schools. This disparity can also be found in the difference between the facilities, for example, in our inner city schools and ...