Green house...not the gases, the actual house

The Futurist magazine has a fair share of green technology predictions. In the article below it discusses future buildings being designed to be responsive to fluctuations in the surrounding climate in hopes to increase their resource efficiency. The technology is referred to as “Protocell cladding” which takes advantage of bioluminescent bacteria or other such materials by using them as coatings for the outside of building structures. These materials will be designed to collect water and sunlight, helping to cool the interiors and produce biofuels.

http://www.wfs.org/futurist/2011-issues-futurist/may-june-2011-vol-45-no-3/tomorrow-brief/greener-architecture-bio-buil

 

Coincidentally, another article in the futurist predicts the destruction of the worlds resources as the East becomes more materialistic like the West. Perhaps the green movement will reverse this trend by making our materials less "damaging" to the ecosystem. I guess I know which prediction I'll be rooting for.

Discussion on the "New Agora": Thoughts on SDP

Below is a link to a discussion on SDP, an idea on how to develop better group communication toward a truly democratic system.

http://www.harnessingcollectivewisdom.com/sdp_process.html

Proponents of SDP are suggesting more than just a new process, but rather an entire paradigm shift in language and how we communicate about problems and ideas. The steps of SDP draw from centuries of beliefs and observations of functional and dysfunctional group dynamics. Some known problems such as Group Think (see space shuttle Challenger disaster investigations) which destroy sound decision making are accounted for using different strategies for moving decision making to a more democratic style. Deliberate tear down of power rankings is another key component. No one stakeholder's views should have any more weight than another's simply by position, power, or wealth. This differs from the Delphi study method where some participants are considered experts in their particular area. This arguably gives undue credence to their input before it is even evaluated. This is undesired in the SDP model.

This "New Agora" for democratic design and decision making could prove useful in developing new technology. One of my immediate criticisms is that this concept seems to be aimed at complex, even global problems such as social systems. It seems to cumbersome for solving a business problem or product design. The underlying theories and principles however, have been used effectively in these situations. It seems then, that the concepts could be used to develop a new culture for problem solving for an innovation think tank type of environment. I'm not sure that it would follow the SDP process exactly as defined in the article above, but certainly ideas such as one person/one vote for gathering ideas is sound logic. The product user may be the best person to ask about product design, not the engineering "expert".

Commuting

Traffic is a significant problem in large cities (and growing surrounding areas). The inconvenience of sitting in your vehicle when there are better things to do is one issue that bothers me. Then there is the cost of fuel and the pollution that adds to the nuisance. Technology has made some great strides towards reducing the latter. Halal (2008) dedicates an entire chapter in his book on the promise of technology. There is the dream of flying cars, hybrids and fuel cells, hydrogen replacement, and other wonderful petro elimination possibilities. Heck, my new Camry gets 40mpg which beats the 12 in my old pickup which only hauls dirt and sod these days.

This reduction of the cost of driving on the pocketbook and the environment is a great thing. But what about technology fulfilling its promise of getting rid of driving to work to begin with. Well, the technology is there for remote access and even virtual offices are becoming 3-D virtual. But is it a technology problem. Halal suggest that there is a deeper rooted issue for commuting to move to telecommuting...politics and culture. Societal structure barriers may be at blame for the congested freeways. To deal with technology and the changes it requires to grow, Halal suggests that more than an organization change is required. Capitalist America requires an "institutional change" (p. 108). Can we give up our control? The hierarchical nature of business management can be restrictive. Working from home gives up a sense of control to some managers. Where some see loss of control, others see freedom for creativity. These different corporate cultures remind me of the kids from Microsoft waltzing into Big Blue IBM in there flip flops and shorts back in the day. It will be interesting to see how those brave enough to defy the traditional corporate bureaucracy will fare. Will they die from poor structure and management or will they innovate and destroy the slow lumbering giants?

Halal, W. (2008). Technology's promise : expert knowledge on the transformation of business and society. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire England New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Human Augmentation Research: Dephi or NGT Method

The use of information systems to aid disabled people is a promising use of technology for the future. Physical disabilities such as mobility, vision, and hearing impairment are only a few things that are being addressed through technology. More research into these problems can bring some potentially unique and undiscovered solutions to the forefront of technology manufacturers and vendors. There are two research methods that may offer help in this area: the Delphi method and the nominal group technique (NGT).

According to Skulmoski and Hartman (2007) the Dephi method is well suited when the goal is to improve our understanding of problems, opportunities, and possible solutions. It is an iterative process of data collection from experts which allows them to voice their ideas on complex problems and then revise their ideas based upon anonymous interaction with the other experts feedback and thoughts. This method has been used for extremely difficult and  complex issues such as nuclear proliferation and war strategies.

The nominal group technique can be useful for collecting semi-quantitative, rank-ordered feedback data obtained from the participant’s perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of an evaluated process or function such as a training program (Dobie, Rhodes, Tysinger, & Freeman, 2004). This process has been used to evaluate course development activities by soliciting input from participants in a round robin fashion and then analyzing the data in rich discussions. There is less anonymity in NGT than in the Delphi method. It is also less iterative in nature. Based on these two methods, a complex problem such as computer augmentation for disabled persons may be benefited most by the Delphi method of research. Since this technology requires extreme innovation to overcome the challenges that have impeded progress, the forecasting nature of Delphi studies based on expert ideas may spawn creativity for new solutions. The NGT is more of an evaluation tool, not that new ideas could not spawn from the post discussion phase. It just seems that the “steel sharpens steel” phenomenon would seemingly be greater in the Delphi type of interaction among experts in the field.

Dobie, A., Rhodes, M., Tysinger, J. W., & Freeman, J. (2004). Family Medicine, 36(6), 402-6.

Skulmoski, G. J., & Hartman, F. T. (2007). The Delphi Method for Graduate Research. Journal of Information Technology Education, 6, 1-21.

Sometimes all of the talk of "greenness" makes me want to take a blow torch to a polar ice cap. I am a huge outdoors nut, and I love nature as much as the next person, but humans will be humans.  I hate the drama and hidden agendas on both sides of the greenhouse argument. When the earth has had enough, she will show us the door. It won't be the first time, ask an apatosaurus.

What I do love is science. This cool presentation on biomimicry is very thought provoking. Perhaps science, with a little help from nature's prototypes, can slow down the pace at which we sprint towards the destruction of human existence by our own devices. And if we don't blow ourselves up, the next supercaldera, asteroid, or calthrate gun might end it all tomorrow. Despite all this, we should not plan on getting roasted or frozen (global warming or dimming, you pick) by circumstance before our great grandchildren have to deal with our screwups. Here's lookin' at you science.

http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_shares_nature_s_designs.html