Technological Advances: The Negative Effects

Technological Advances The Negative EffectsTechnological advance handst as a term toilet be defined as beingness able to improve the standard of brisk done altering the production process and increasing the level of production with fewer resources (Mabry Sharplin 1986). This definition is al just ab step up linked to the act of using computers, robots and the deal but all bowel drive towards more(prenominal)(prenominal) efficient shipway of providing services is a proficient advancement. When unitary begins with premise that the gradual shift from human-sensitive methods of wind get out pose a worry in south near Africa as a emergence hoidenish, au personalityl(p) human k promptlyledge composes sufficient as a proficient advancement. engine room varies in its purposes and uses. It has become the natesbone of any sort of growth endeavour in the maturation world. Characterised by efficiency, accuracy and cost benefits. Developed countries atomic number 18 suited better to manage the negatives that come from the ein truthplacet use of engineering science. Their economies be strong enough to manage un physical exertion and the like.Often, populate that fear or be weary of fast evolving applied science be referred to as Luddites, this is untrue and grossly inaccurate for the Luddites (circa 1800s) were wreaking but uneducated large number who destroyed all(a) symbols of advancing engineering science.Nobel laureate Wassily Leontief, who gave the key none speech for the National Academy of engineering science at its 1983 symposium The Long-Term Impact of engineering on booking and Un habit, quarternot both(prenominal)what be called a Luddite, yet he expressed concern near what he saw as technological advancements undesirable distributional cause across income groups (Mabry Sharplin 1986)The complex body part sedulousness is slowly eliminating assembly lines that be human-sensitive. Jobs that antecedently neces sitate a strong human presence can right away be through off- send (precast) and brought to site just to assemble. The jobs argon becoming humiliate skilled and routine. With this in mind, one would think that there would be more jobs realised but the opposite happens, jobs reckon to be eroding.The implementation of new engineering offers the companies a competitive edge eitherplace their rivals at the cost of jobs. In social dust, efficiency is very important. Delays in time mean penalties and this requires more money.redundance caused by advancements in technology has been happening in the automotive fabrication where mechanisms realize rendered the jobs of some(prenominal) another(prenominal) humans obsolete and give remaining some fastening bolts for eight hours a day. In the construction industry, though you get out not find a machine laying bricks, there be other materials that ar being educateed to render using bricks and barricades outdated. aluminum bea ms and columns are now de-rigueur in architectural circles and this willing not reappearance long at all to catch up with the industry and it will just be a matter of time before construction gangs of fifty will shrink to ten because of cranes doing all the heavy lifting and thus ten men just fastening bolts.Technological advancement, in itself, is an singularity of development in any country. Said advancement should not bar the growth of the country by creating a pauperisation trap. A exploitation country has a few defining characteristics, defined below majority living below the poverty lineEx-colonySubject to stinting inconsistencyInequality in the consummationing environmentAs technology advances except and come along it hinders growth through promoting the utilizing methods that arent human-sensitive.Chapter 2The role of second Africas tale2.1 HistoryColonialism played a role in the current problems entropy Africa faces. To understand how technology collide wit hs employment, we use up to pitch a clearer understanding of how we got to where we are from a developmental point of view. Colonisers occupied the country and divided the country geographically to make it more manageable. They then certain urban center centres and these city centres became economic hubs in their regions. During the 1886 Witwatersrand Gold Rush, employment was take a shitd for the natives. Many natives remaining their homelands to hold up in the Gauteng mines. The cities keep mum to the mines kept flourishing as there became a need for other industries to support the influx of natives and wealthy mine averers to the minelaying cities. The homelands remained underdeveloped. Many decades later, agrarian champaigns are unchanging underdeveloped and creating employment in those areas is hard because there are very few economic development initiatives.2.1.1 Migration to the cities.As aforementioned, the movement of some(prenominal) natives from their homela nds for employment in the mining cities left over(p) numerous homelands underdeveloped. The lure of employment opportunities in a quickly developing country proved to be problematic. W.W Rostow (circa 1960), cited by Utting (2011 Development Management IV Course Notes 189190) discussed the modernization theories of development. The underlying principle of this modernization theory was that economic development was integral to the overall development of any society. Economic development is entropy Africa witnessmed to be happening in the mining cities just and not in the farming(prenominal) areas.2.1.2 Consequence of migration.As men left to work in the cities, they left their families at home. Families that were uneducated and had no other agent of income and aroundly make a living through farming. Formal teaching was, and for the most part is just a fallacy to deal living in verdant areas. This is creating a problem because on one pass along low-skill level jobs are bei ng automated, on the other hand you fork up many pile from the boorish areas coming in with little-to-no education feel for employment. This contributes to creating what is termed a poverty trap.2.1.3 Previously Disadvantaged IndividualsPeople of colour were crush during the unjust reign of apartheid which officially began in the election of 1948 and lasted until 1994. In that time, people of colour were oppressed in every way imaginable. The end of apartheid brought roughly great elation and spelled the end of an oppressive regime, we also adopted many problems from there. For instance, the problem of unemployment. A complex issue that has no oneness solution. The previously disadvantaged individuals, i.e. people of colour in South Africa, are now trying to keep-up with the developed world. The issue is the means that are taken to develop South Africa further. The methods which utilize an excess of technology will widen the flutter amongst the rich and poor. The previously disadvantaged will be left destitute and with very few opportunities to develop themselves let alone along with the country.2.1.4 Addressing the issue of inequalityGovernment implemented Black Economic authorisation (BEE), which has now become B driveway Based Black Economic sanction (BBBEE), to facilitate the development of PDIs. Government also put a indemnity in place that was set to address inequalities in the workplace by giving construction companies a BEE status. This meant that a certain portion of the workforce had to be composed of PDI. This, of course, is a step in the right path towards addressing inequalities in the workplace.An overwhelmed GovernmentDecades after the 1886 Gold Rush, present Government still feel the effects of portion migration to the cities. Change of political regime brought close new challenges for Government. The two most importantCreating Jobs Job creation isnt oddly the responsibility of Government. They are supposed to create an enviro nment that supports and promotes job creation. Presently, graduates hurl the majority of the un busy in South Africa. Homelands are still under-developed and this doesnt seem to be changing. Policies to address the unemployment and subsequent poverty problem in cracker-barrel areas are addressed by issuing policies. The problem with policies is they are therapeutic, generic wine and do not address the problem of each rural area on a case by case basis. Another problem with policies is that they are developed by people who do so remotely so they do not know the actual problem, on the ground. satis factory Housing Housing has is a problem especially in towns environ big cities like Durban and Johannesburg. The RDP broadcast was developed for this purpose. Independent contractors pettish and word form the house. Unfortunately, many contractors dont fulfil their obligation. The problem doesnt get better and we see rampageous service delivery protests. The tender process in itself is heavily damage and damage by political interference and corruption.2.2.1 Failure to create jobs.As aforementioned, the current Government is struggling to create job or sort of failing to create an environment that promotes job creation. According to the World trust (2011), Local Economic Development ( conduct) refers to the realizeive efforts mingled with Government and non- governmental institutions to create an environment that is conducive to both economic growth and employment. In essence, LED provides the community ways to improve their endangerments of getting investment from external sources and their own backup environment. The aim is to create a better life for all. hoidenish communities dont train much of this happening and the focus needs to move towards decentralization.The stringency of rural development policy makers in urban areas is also to the scathe of rural areas. The sheer distance leads to misappropriation of funds and resources and this keeps t he rural areas underdeveloped. top-down centralized policies rarely accomplish their goals because the policy makers arent anchored in the rural veracity on the ground (International Labour place 2012)2.2.2 Critical analysis of the tender processThe tender process was initially meant to open up opportunities for people of colour to enter the world of business and trade. Unfortunately, the tender process is marred by corruption and political interference and this in counter-productive and robs the people it was meant to assistant in the first place.The process begins by realising a need for a service in a particular community and then station that particular project out to tender with various contractors who then send back their estimates of how much it would cost to build the demand base of operations. The corruption begins when the tenderers scoop bribing officials to give them the contract. Too often the contractors themselves are incompetent and end up breaching contracts. The reason for their incompetency can be credited to the lack of knowledge. most(prenominal) new contractors have no formal cultivation and make very few attempts at getting adequate educational activity and the cycle keeps on going.The process itself is not flawed the issue is with monitoring it. There isnt an separate body that monitors the tendering process and this leads to corruption and moves back as a nation. Monitoring, or lack thereof, is not the primary solution to corruption because corruption is familiar in all developing countries.Chapter 3 Basic education and trainingLack of a proper educational framework in rural areasBantu Education was open to give people of colour the most basic education. A means to create more muscle for the machine that was apartheid. The structure was such(prenominal) that skills development formed part of the school curriculum. Students who left the institution of Bantu Education left with skills and could go start tone for work immedi ately after. Universities were reserved for Whites only.In rural areas however, school substructure was few and far in between. As South Africa developed and established itself as a source of mineral wealth many go into the urban areas (See, Chapter 1) and left the rural areas as they were. Rural areas dont have any economic development, chances for employment are slim. dismantle if businesses are encouraged, their longevity is combust short because there is no Local Economic Development.Schools in rural areas do not, to this day, receive adequate resources to teach. School buildings are of mud elude construction. The chaos that arises from there can only be imagined when the rainy conciliate starts. The education system in South Africa is not at its most stellar as we saw during the Limpompo Textbook Fiasco (M. Madia, 2012).This in construction creates problems when the students produced from rural schools are thrust into a society that demands a dear(p) knowledge of techno logy and pliable minds. The students, coming from a background with no knowledge of computers and the like will end up looking for employment that requires a low-skill level.On the other end of the spectrum, employers are looking for ways to increase productivity without affecting lollys. On a building site, having cover delivered, as opposed to mixing it on site, saves time and consequently saves money.Lower-skill jobs are slowly becoming redundant and the education system in rural areas isnt keeping up with the demand for technology savvy candidates. As a result, a cesspool of unemployment and everything it carries many other social problems such as crime and corruption. Desperation can kill you.Language barriers (machinery use)Communication is demand on site for all operations to continue. The language barrier between employer and employee makes the employee less desirable for employment. Employees from rural areas are often not hygienic versed in languages either than their h ome-language.Similarly with machinery use, employers wouldnt employ someone with a minimal understanding of the language of instruction. Besides that being a haleness and safety hazard, it wouldnt be beneficial and training would take longer than it should.Misunderstandings on site (machinery use)Any sort of misunderstanding on site has a financial repercussion. With this in mind, employers avoid workers with little-to-no understanding of the language of instruction.There is a clear disconnectednession between the education department in rural areas and the required calibre of graduates. This in turn leads to students coming from that system to be left behind. When that happens and the very students are put into a system that requires a certain level of knowledge, knowledge that they lack. Subsequently, these people bear the grunt of job displacement due to the introduction of technology and/or automation.Chapter 4 Methods of constructionThe manner in which construction projects a re carried out has changed dramatically. Change is constant and will not stop as humans develop further and further. From the times of the great Pharaohs, where heavy materials were rolled on logs, to present day where heavy materials are hauled into the air with cranes.4.1 Evolution of MethodsTraditional construction was of mass concrete. The older buildings like the Durban Station were of mass concrete and required many labourers to set up shutters, mixing concrete and pouring. Mixing of concrete was done on site. Technological advancements moved towards using central concrete depots and having concrete delivered to site. The purpose of technological advancement is to increase production spell utilizing the to the lowest degree amount of resources. To a very large extent it is good, the problem begins when technology advances at the cost of peoples jobs.Project send offningProject cookery has become more streamlined and can be managed by a single soul as opposed to be an ent ire team. Project readiness in South Africa has attracted a great amount of attention over the past few years because of its association with infrastructure. As South Africa develops further, infrastructure will be required. Many construction projects are complex and required teams to manage them, over time computer programmes were developed and managing large projects became easier.Technology has afforded us the opportunity to much with very little resources. It has also created a situation where those who do not adopt are left behind. This is well and good in a developed state but South Africa is a developing country with a 25% unemployment rate and laborious to grow as more and more technology is being introduced into the industry. The industry itself will do better, productivity will increase but many people will be permanently displaced, in terms of employment.The planning of projects will eventually be handled by a single person using a computer programme. The availability o f jobs will decrease as companies need fewer people to run successful projects.Chapter 5 mental synthesis MaterialsBuilding materials arent exempt from advancements. There has been a movement from mass concrete, to brick and block and now we are in the age of marque and glass construction. The movement from one age to the next has an adverse effect on employment. Presently, steel and glass construction needs just a few men and a crane. A shift in the paradigm of construction.Lighter Materials. device materials have gotten igniter while retaining their strength. Materials like fibreboard are now common place in offices.Even materials that always were the heaviest, like concrete, have had their share of technological advancement. Air-infiltrated concrete is lighter than conventional concrete. The secret is in the air bubbles that are trapped within the concrete that make it lighter while making it a bit easier to work with. This particular pillowcase of concrete is strong enough to take the loads of conventional concrete but can also be used as a cantilever slab (with reinforcing).Precast Items.With the paradigm shift of construction materials, precast items are becoming more common. From lintels in residential construction to entire bag slabs in commercial property. A shift that has brought about increased productivity. cover pouring and curing is the most time consuming exercise on site and having that time saved means saving money too.The problem, again, with such an advancement is how it affects employment. Concrete mixing, as a low-skill level job, employed preferably a few labourers (proportional to size of project) and with concrete mixing being withdraw from equation, many are left out of work.The biggest hurdle is the lack of training initiatives for workers that have been displaced due to automation. They are left unemployed and unemployment leads to other social problems.Chapter 6 GlobalisationAccording to the Education and Training Unit of So uth Africa (2012), world(prenominal)ization refers to the changes in technological, political and economic that make the world different in its functioning to the way it was twenty or thirty years ago. The check of globalisations can be seen in the emergence of giant corporations with branches all over the world.Globalisation forces developing nations to adjust their structures in order to match those of the developed nations. both this to help developing nations secure loans to help their flailing economies.BusinessDictionary.com refers to globalisation as a movement towards integration of many aspects of trade. In the same vein, they go on to say that globalisation exists weaker economies when applied discriminately.Keeping up with the world.Even though South Africa has mineral wealth, it is still an emerging economy. The reason for this is the compound history of South Africa (Refer to Chapter 2). The outside(a) markets play a role in how development in South Africa is imple mented. This is where politics come into play.P. Kingsworth in his clause Globalisation of South Africa describes the conditions under which the fate of common South Africans would be controlled by international markets. After the failure of the Reconstruction Development Plan (RDP) in 1996, the Growth Employment and Redistribution program (GEAR) was set-up to take its place.The difference between GEAR and RDP was that where RDP promised free basic services, GEAR privatised utilities and would bill all users. whatever of these users live below the poverty line. Rapid advancements in technology threaten jobs and yet the poorest of the poor must still pay for services.Global trends to employers.To employers, global trends dictate how they should react to the current market. Technological advancements give them an edge of the opposite word and that edge equals more profit. As crude as it may seem, profit is the bottom-line to most, if not all, employers.Globalisation has afforded e mployers a chance to compete on an international scale. Increased connectivity with international markets offers them the option of showcasing their services overseas. In order to be able to satisfy international demand, they need to automate systems. That is a factor that leads to job loss.Chapter 7 Technology Computer ProgrammesWith globalisation burning gamey at the heels of a developing South Africa, computer programmes come as part of the globalisation package. It was an inevitable move and one that was greatly take in terms of development.Computer programmes dont directly affect low-skill employees, its a challenge that will face those that havent been introduced to computer programmes in University. Again, the highlight of the clear disconnect between the industry and the education system. Many graduates fall into the chasm unbeknown to them, with very little help from the industry and Universities.CCS For contractorsCCS or the Candy system is a computer programme that is specifically aimed at making the job of a contractor manageable. A contractor with many projects going on at the same time will need a computer programme that will integrate forecasting, estimating, valuations and project planning. The design of the Candy system is such that it can be understood by anyone with a knowledge of construction. putrefaction has created a distorted view of contractors. It is a general view that many contractors cannot manage projects and therefore cannot control funds. Quantity surveyors are usually employed to help them control funds for contractors. Programmes like CCS have now effrontery smaller contractors with the option of being able to control their own projects and therefore their own funds without needing a beat surveyor to do the work for them.WinQS for maestro Quantity SurveyorsWinQS is a programme designed more for professional quantity surveyors as it offers an in-depth interface that will require a quantity canvas background. WinQS can pr oduce complete bills of quantities because it has JBCC contracts within the programme itself. On a consultation with Steve Naidoo (2012 August 5th), he explained the great help that came with the introduction of computers. Doing bills on chart paper and having to transport them great distances, as opposed to emailing, has made work a lot easier.Consulting firms will employ the use of WinQs more widely. A alliance that employed many quantity surveyors will need fewer with the introduction of such programmes. The results of automation are clear in South Africa. People are losing jobs and not enough is being doing to move on small enterprises. What is being done is being overshadowed by corruption while the fate of South Africas youth dangles helplessly in the face of poverty and a host of other social problems.Chapter 8 Case StudiesI have selected two cases that I felt were relevant to highlight my growing concerns about the problems that come with technological advances. I cannot d eny the great leaps we have taken with the help of technology. The problem is how these leaps tend to take developing nations back a few travel, especially when coupled with international pressure (via Globalisation, see Chapter 6).The first example highlights the advantages offered by technology and its advancements, it also highlights the change and how it would affect a developing nation.The Ark Hotel, ChinaThe Broad Group, a construction company ground in China, was able to build a 30 spirit level building in just 15 days. The fastest construction of a hotel. What was amazing was how there were zero injuries. The hotel itself was designed and built to withstand an quake with a magnitude of 9 on the Richter scale.Building materials were all prefabricated and brought to site to be assembled. This could be the secret to their Super-fast power as it was dubbed in the British DailyMail (2012). The movement to precast and prefabricated materials is as inevitable as the first move of a well-informed toddler. South Africa, as the toddler, is expected to start ravel before it knows how to walk.The Ark Hotel, was built like a structure made of Legos. All the pieces were made and fabricated off-site and brought to site to be assembled by a few specialists and a crane.Construction like this in a developing nation could cripple it. In countries where the construction industry employs the most people, a move towards using prefabricated material could be disastrous not only in the short-term but in the long-term too.Sanrals E-TollSanral has undertaken to build open-road tolling for road users in Gauteng. The network will be 560kms covering 34 of Gautengs busiest interchanges the most infamous being Allandale, William Nicol, Rivonia and Elands.The reason that E-Tolling was introduced is to fund the improvements of roads. The tolling will be based on a user-pay system. It will become necessary to get an E-Tag for the motor vehicle that will be transporting passenge rs and every month a instruction will arrive at your doorstep, detailing your daily commute through the several tolls on your way to your destination.This system could be rolled out throughout the entire country. According to Sanral (2012), only 19% of the countries roads are tolled roads, the remaining 81% arent tolled roads. The reality is that the money that is made from the tolled roads is stingy to perform maintenance on roads.The system will be unman and thus starts the problem. The people that were employed will now be jobless as tolls will no longer need people to collect monies. This is yet another example of how technology is making people redundant. oneness cannot help but be in awe of the great technological leap, the same technological leap is at the same time robbing people of jobs and yet again bring the problem of unemployment to the fore.Chapter 9 ResolutionIn cases like these were it is one power reigning supreme over a nation, a solution cannot be employed. Res olutions can however be offered. These suggestions are subject to reviewing and adjustment.Using human-sensitive methods on site that dont rely heavily on the use of machinery.The human resource is abundant and renewable. Employers in South Africa ought to be looking into using this readily purchasable resource. It may be argued that machines do not take sick-days, thats acceptable but machines will not be the ones using your project upon completion. We are creating a society we cannot afford. 25% of the state is unemployed and as more technology is being introduced more people will lose their jobs in favour of automated systems.Site work can be carried out by labourers instead of machines. Simple tasks like batch concrete mixing can be carried out by labour instead of machines and be delivered to site.The problem is not one dimensional for instance, a contractor has a need to keep a healthy stream of work coming in because of the corrupt nature of the construction industry where certain parties are earmarked for jobs. In cases like this, the contractor will be trying to turn a profit on every job and one way of doing that is by always completing jobs on time, he does this by having a smaller team that uses specialist technology to help complete jobs quickly and usually under-budget. He keeps his business afloat(predicate) and doesnt employ many.Government regulation.*The dilemma facing South Africa is the corrupt nature of our leaders. Technology provides a higher level of production while neglecting the steps taken to reach that level of productivity. Technology renders humans redundant and government is aware but is benefitting through the use of technology. Technology entrenches the divisions of the past by keeping the privileged employed and the rest of the country in close proximity of poverty. Perhaps, the only difference between present day and apartheid is that those who can adapt and use technology stand a better chance of being employed over thos e that very little knowledge of technology and the way in which it works. Unfortunately, those that have a limited knowledge of technology form the majority of the countrys population.The onus is therefore on Government to make up ones mind how technology is introduced and implemented in the construction industry in South Africa before we are faced with a situation where the poor have nothing to eat but the rich.Training of people and subsequent employmentThe best way to get a better workforce is by training them. During Apartheid, skills-training was a part of the school curriculum. That aspect of the curriculum must come back to address South Africas skills shortage.The only difference is the training will be for specific industries. Science and technology, research and development, medicine and engineering are fields that require younger thinkers. It seems like our education system is amassing an army of entrepreneurs that have no idea of how to manage their businesses. Small bu siness fail because of mismanagement.The use of people as a resource can also be seen as a technological advancement because with enough training, efficient ways of carrying tasks out are inevitable.Addendum 1 living documentationAddendum 2 BibliographyEducation and Training Unit of South Africa 2012 Understanding Globalisation (Online) easy at www.etu.org.za Accessed 26 August 2012Kingsnorth, P 2004 The globalisation of South Africa (Online) gettable at uk.oneworld.net Accessed 26 August 2012Mackenzie, C 2012 Theyre now a super-fast power How the Chinese built a 30 storey hotel from scratch in just fifteen days (Online) uncommitted at www.dailymail.co.uk Accessed 27 August 2012Sabol, L 2007 Technology, Change, and the building industry (Online) available at http//www.dcstrategies.net/files/2_sabol_technology_change.pdf Accessed 27 August 2012Mabry, R. H, Sharplin, A. D 1986 Does more technology create unemployment? (Online) available at http//www.cato.org/publications/policy- analysis/does-more-technology-create-unemployment Accessed 24 August 2012International Labour Office 2012 Boosting Local Economies in rural areas (Online) available at www.ilo.org/led Accessed 15 August 2012European Science Technology Observatory 2002 Impact of technological structural change on employment prospective analysis 2020 (Online) available at http//www.mcrit.com/espon_scenarios/files/DOCUMENTS/eur20258en.pdf Accessed 18 August 2012Kletzer, L. G 1998 Job Displacement (Pages 115-136) (Online) available at http//www.jstor.org Accessed 10 August 2012Talbot, D 2012 Tectonic Shifts in Employment (Online) available http//www.technologyreview.com Accessed 12 August 2012Moavenzadeh, Fred, Koch Rossow, J. A 1975 The construction in