Whether you are using technology for personal purposes, business or other purposes, understanding how it works is important. In addition to the practicalities of how it operates, understanding what it was intended to do is also crucial.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to technology. The first claims that technology is a technologically complex phenomenon that is difficult to define. The second claims that technology is a relatively simple process. However, the difference is not necessarily clear cut.
Many people will give different meanings to technology depending on their perspective. For example, some people will say that it’s the use of a technologically complex tool while others will claim it’s the application of science to a problem. In other cases, they may deem it to be the application of mathematics or a collection of techniques.
Regardless of the specifics, the most obvious use of technology is to make communication easier. In the past, a person would have to physically cross a physical barrier to communicate. Today, with the invention of the telephone, an individual can transmit information from one location to another without leaving the comfort of their home. Similarly, the invention of the printing press shortened the time it took for information to travel from one place to another.
Generally, technology consists of three major elements: techniques, tools and processes. These are then combined to produce a technological solution to a specific problem. Developing a technology is usually a step-by-step process. Each succeeding stage builds on the previous one and validates the underlying ideas.
During the development of a new technology, many nations struggle to develop and enforce rules for exchange of technologies across national borders. This often leads to divergent consequences. Several international organizations are involved in the creation and development of norms and standards for new technologies. Some examples of these organizations include the World Economic Forum, the International Organization for Standardization, the World Bank and the United Nations.
The term ‘technology’ has a long history. It was probably derived from the Indo-European root tek, which means ‘work with wood.’ It is likely that the word was used in the late 19th century by William Barton Rogers, who proposed the name of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The emergence of the term ‘technology’ in the early 1900s marked a shift in the way we think of larger scale technological systems. It also made the point that a simple process is not enough.
In the United States, the federal government has hampered the growth of rate-sensitive sectors by aggressively hiking interest rates. This has caused significant damage to industries that rely on rate-sensitive currencies. In Europe, the European Space Agency (ESA) is working on a variety of projects to help Europe achieve its growth goals and provide indispensable enabling technologies for a knowledge society.
The study of artificial intelligence has become a separate field of research. This is not to say that technology does not have a role to play in the creation and application of artificial intelligence.