The Impact of New and Emerging Technologies

The Impact of Technology 🌐

Every new technology, from robots to the smartphone, ripples outwards. It changes the **jobs** people do, the way businesses raise **money**, how we **live**, and the health of the **planet**. Designers must weigh these impacts. This module works through the **six areas** the exam expects you to consider.

Industry and enterprise 🏭

Two of the six areas concern work and money: - **Industry**: automation can raise output but cause **unemployment**; the workforce needs new **skill sets**; people move for work (demographic movement); firms cluster in science and technology parks. - **Enterprise**: new ways to fund a business, such as **crowd funding**, government funding for start-ups, and not-for-profit organisations.

Match each area of impact to an example

Name the area

A factory replaces its production workers with robots, and some staff lose their jobs. Which area of impact is this?

• Industry
• Environment
• Enterprise
• Culture and society

Sustainability and environment 🌱

Two areas concern the planet, and it helps to keep them apart: - **Sustainability** looks at the whole life of a product: transportation costs, pollution, the demand on **finite natural resources**, and the waste generated. - **Environment** focuses on the direct harm: pollution, **waste disposal**, separating materials for recycling, transportation and packaging.

Environmental impacts

Select ALL THREE that are ENVIRONMENTAL impacts of making and using products.

• Pollution released during manufacturing
• Waste that must be disposed of
• Excess packaging that is thrown away
• Crowd funding a new business
• Workers needing to learn new skills
• People changing their working hours

Impact on people 👥

New technology affects **people** in many roles: the workforce, consumers, children, and people with disabilities. It can change **wage levels** and open up **apprenticeships**. Importantly, **assistive technology** (such as voice control or advanced prosthetics) can improve access and independence for people with disabilities.

Technology for everyone

How can new technology have a POSITIVE impact on people with disabilities?

• Assistive technology, like voice control or prosthetics, can improve access and independence
• It always removes their jobs
• It has no effect on them at all
• It only ever makes products more expensive

Culture and society 🏙️

Technology also changes how we live together. This area covers **population movement**, social **segregation or clustering**, and **changing working hours**. Two modern examples matter most: the **Internet of Things (IoT)**, where everyday objects connect online, and **remote working**, which lets people work from anywhere.

The delivery drone

An interactive activity.

Answering well

In the exam, how do you best answer a question about a technology's impact?

• Give a specific positive AND negative consequence tied to that technology
• Just say it has some good and bad effects
• List as many different technologies as you can
• Say that technology is always bad

Impact summary

New technologies affect many areas. In _____, automation can raise output but cost jobs. _____ covers how businesses are funded, such as crowd funding. _____ is about the demand products place on natural resources and the waste they create. In culture and society, the Internet of Things and _____ working are changing daily life.