What is Technology? Technology is the process by which humans modify nature to meet their needs and wants.

Most people, however, think of technology in terms of its artifacts: computers and software, aircraft, pesticides, water-treatment plants, birth-control pills, and microwave ovens, to name a few. But technology is more than these tangible products. Technology includes the entire infrastructure necessary for the design, manufacture, operation, and repair of technological artifacts, from corporate headquarters and engineering schools to manufacturing plants and maintenance facilities. The knowledge and processes used to create and to operate technological artifacts -- engineering know-how, manufacturing expertise, and various technical skills -- are equally important part of technology. Technology is a product of engineering and science, the study of the natural world. Science has two parts: (1) a body of knowledge that has been accumulated over time and (2) a process-scientific inquiry-that generates knowledge about the natural world. Engineering, too, consists of a body of knowledge-in this case knowledge of the design and creation of human-made products-and a process for solving problems. Science aims to understand the "why" and "how" of nature, engineering seeks to shape the natural world to meet human needs and wants. Engineering, therefore, could be called "design under constraint," with science-the laws of nature-being one of a number of limiting factors engineers must take into account. Other constraints include cost, reliability, safety, environmental impact, ease of use, available human and material resources, manufacturability, government regulations, laws, and even politics. In short, technology necessarily involves science and engineering. Throughout the twentieth century the uses of the term have increased to the point where it now encompasses a number of classes of technology: 1. Technology as Objects: Tools, machines, instruments, weapons, and appliances - the physical devices of technical performance 2. Technology as Knowledge: The know-how behind technological innovation 3. Technology as Activities: What people do - their skills, methods, procedures, and routines 4. Technology as a Process: Begins with a need and ends with a solution 5. Technology as a Sociotechnical System: The manufacture and use of objects involving people and other objects in combination

The Nature of Technology The nature of technology has changed dramatically in the past hundred years. Indeed, the very ideas of technology as we now conceive it is relatively new. For most of human history, technology was mainly the province of craftsmen who passed their know-how down from generation to generation, gradually improving designs, and adding new techniques and materials. By the beginning of the twentieth century, technology had become a large-scale enterprise that depended on large stores of knowledge and knowhow, too much for any one person to master. Large organizations were now required for the development, manufacture, and operation of new technologies. Complex networks of interdependent technologies were developed, such as the suite of technologies for the automobile. These include gas and oil refineries, filling stations and repair shops, tire manufacturers, automobile assembly plants, the highway system, and many more. The government began to play a larger role in shaping technology through technological policies and regulations. The meaning of the word "technology" evolved to reflect these changes. In the nineteenth century, technology referred simply to the practical arts used to create physical products, everything from wagon wheels and cotton cloth to telephones and steam engines. In the twentieth century, the meaning of the word was expanded to include everything involved in satisfying human material needs and wants, from factories and the organizations that operate them to scientific knowledge, engineering know-how, and technological products themselves. As the nature of technology changed, its meaning became more vague, leaving room for misconceptions that sometimes led to questionable conclusions. Technology has a number of distinct characteristics: 1. It is Related to Science Although there is certainly a relationship between science and technology, there is, except in certain high technology industries, very little technology that could be classified as applied science. Technology is marked by different purposes, different processes a different relationship to established knowledge and a particular relationship to specific contexts of activity. Change in the material environment is the explicit purpose of technology, and not, as is the case with science, the understanding of nature; accordingly its solutions are not right or wrong, verifiable or falsifiable, but more or less effective from different points of view. 2. It Involves Design At the centre of technology lies design. That design is the very core of engineering is affirmed by the requirement that all degree engineering courses should embody it. The design process in technology is a sequential process which begins with the perception of a

need, continues with the formulation of a specification, the generation of ideas and a final solution, and ends with an evaluation of the solution. 3. It Involves Making The motivating factor behind all technological activity is the desire to fulfill a need. For this reason all designs should be made or realized - whether that be through prototype, batch- or mass- production or some form of three-dimensional or computer model - if the need is to be truly fulfilled, the design is to be legitimately evaluated, and the design activity is to have been purposeful and worthwhile. 4. It is Multi-Dimensional Not only may design and production involve co-operation between different specialisms (between, for example, designer, production engineer and materials scientist), but may involve technologists in performing a multitude of functions, such as working with others, operating within budgets, persuading decision makers, communicating to clients and working to deadlines. 5. It Is Concerned With Values Technology is informed by values at every point. Value decisions may be called for not only in relation to the specific design criteria (i.e. aesthetic, ergonomic and economic judgments, suitability for purpose and ease of manufacture) but also in relation to the rightness or wrongness of a particular solution in ethical terms. 6. It is Socially Shaped/Shaping Technological enterprises are determined neither by advances in knowledge nor simply by the identification of needs, but by social interests. Of the potential new technologies available at any one time only a few are developed and become widely implemented. In this way technology is shaped by society, by consumer choice. yet it could also be argued that technology shapes society - the technology of the motor car, for example, has shaped our environment and our whole way of life. Technology and Science Science and technology are tightly coupled. A scientific understanding of the natural world is the basis for much of technological development today. The design of computer chips, for instance, depends on a detailed understanding of the electrical properties of silicon and other materials. The design of a drug to fight a specific disease is made possible by knowledge of how proteins and other biological molecules are structured and how they interact. Conversely, technology is the basis for a good part of scientific research. The climate models meteorologists use to study global warming require supercomputers to run the simulations. And like most of us, scientists in all fields depend on the telephone, the Internet, and jet travel.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to separate the achievements of technology from those of science. When the Apollo 11 spacecraft put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, many people called it a victory of science. When a new type of material, such as lightweight, super strong composites, emerges on the market, newspapers often report it as a scientific advance. Genetic engineering of crops to resist insects is also usually attributed wholly to science. And although science is integral to all of these advances, they are also examples of technology, the application of unique skills, knowledge, and techniques, which is quite different from science. Technology and Innovation Technology is also closely associated with innovation, the transformation of ideas into new and useful products or processes. Innovation requires not only creative people and organizations, but also the availability of technology and science and engineering talent. Technology and innovation are synergistic. The development of gene-sequencing machines, for example, has made the decoding of the human genome possible, and that knowledge is fueling a revolution in diagnostic, therapeutic, and other biomedical innovations. Technology as Knowledge There is a strong belief among technology educators that technology constitutes a type of formal knowledge that can be reduced to curricular elements. It is suggested that since technology has its own knowledge and structure, its study is similar to how one would organize the study of any other discipline in the school, such as algebra or physics. "Technology constitutes knowledge, and that all technologies are embodiments of some form of human knowledge"(Parayil -1991). "Technique" involves the practical skills of knowing and doing. The root logos have wider meaning, including argument, explanation, and principle, but its most relevant use is probably "to reason." Technology, thus, encompasses reasoned application. Technology, however, has always meant more than abstract study because of the emphasis on application, or doing, although the French use of the term "implies a high degree of intellectual sophistication applied to the arts and crafts" The etymology of the term "technology" is instructive. It comes from the Greek technologia, which refers to the systematic treatment of an art (or craft). The root techne "combines the meanings of an art and a technique, involving both a knowledge of the relevant principles and an ability to achieve the appropriate results" (Wheelwright, 1966, p. 328). In other words, "technique" involves the practical skills of knowing and doing. The root logos has wider meaning, including argument, explanation, and principle, but its most relevant use is probably "to reason." Technology, thus, encompasses reasoned application. Technology, however, has always meant more than abstract study because of the emphasis on application, or doing, although the French use of the term "implies a high degree of intellectual sophistication applied to the arts and crafts" (Hall, 1978, p. 91). The French, in

fact, are more precise in their definition and use two terms. "Technologie" is used to refer to the study of technical processes and objects, and the term "technique" refers to the individual technical means themselves, the actual application processes (Willoughby, 1990). The two concepts are mixed in the English use of "technology," and this leads to a failure to distinguish between its study and its application. In the English language, the term "technology" acquired limited usage in the late 19th century as a way to refer to the application of science (knowledge) to the making and use of artifacts. In our century, formal knowledge is inextricably linked with the development of science and technology. More recent scholars generally emphasize the importance of knowledge in defining technology (Layton, 1974; MacDonald, 1983; McGinn,1978;1991; Vincenti, 1984). The recognition of the centrality of knowledge leads to conceiving technology as more than artifact, and as more than technique and process. The defining characteristic of technological knowledge, however, is its relationship to activity. Although technological knowledge is considered to have its own abstract concepts, theories, and rules, as well as its own structure and dynamics of change, these are essentially applications to real situations. Technological knowledge arises from, and is embedded in, human activity, in contrast to scientific knowledge, for example, which is an expression of the physical world and its phenomena. As Landies (1980) observes, while the intellectual is at the heart of the technological process, the process itself consists of "the acquisition and application of a corpus of knowledge concerning technique, that is, ways of doing things" (p. 111). It is through activity that technological knowledge is defined; it is activity that establishes and orders the framework within which technological knowledge is generated and used.

Whistle Blowing A whistleblower is an employee, (even former employee but not resigned on that ground), or member of an organization, especially a business or government agency, who reports misconduct to people or entities that have the power and presumed willingness to take corrective action. Generally the misconduct is a violation of law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations, and corruption. One of the most publicized whistle blowing cases involved Jeffrey Wigand, a former executive of Brown & Williamson, who exposed the Big Tobacco scandal, revealing that executives of the companies knew that cigarettes were addictive while approving the addition of known carcinogenic ingredients to the cigarettes. Wigand's story was the basis for the 1999 movie The Insider. The term whistleblower derives from the practice of English Bobbies who would blow their whistle when they noticed the commission of a crime. The blowing of the whistle would alert both law enforcement officers and the general public of danger. The majority of whistle blowing cases are based on relatively minor misconduct. The most common type of whistleblowers is internal whistleblowers, who report misconduct to another employee or superior within their company or agency. In contrast, external whistleblowers

report misconduct to outside persons or entities. In these cases, depending on its severity and nature, whistleblowers may report the misconduct to lawyers, the media, law enforcement or watchdog agencies, or to other local, state, or federal agencies. According to Dougherty (1995), whistle blowing "refers to a warning issued by a member or former member of an organization to the public about a serious wrongdoing or danger created or concealed within the organization" (p. 2552). We would add to this definition that a genuine case of whistle blowing requires the whistleblower to have utilized, unsuccessfully, all appropriate channels within the organization to right a wrong. Some would disagree with our account. Nielsen (1997), for example, identified 12 ways that an individual could blow or threaten to blow the whistle, and he uses the term "whistle blowing" regardless of whether the revelation occurred internal or external to the organization. Our definition is in keeping with a study conducted by Sellin (1995) on patient advocacy within organizations that distinguished whistle blowing from reporting. According to Sellin, participants tended to view whistle blowing as an external action to an unresponsive organization and reporting "more as an internal process, done through organizational channels" One Case Study In 1996, Barry Adams, a registered nurse (RN) working on a sub-acute care unit in a New England hospital, blew the whistle on unsafe health care practices that he observed in his work setting. Adams became increasingly concerned about the quality, safety, and dignity of patient care as the hospital implemented staffing cuts and cost containment measures. He carefully documented unsafe practices and correlated these with inadequate staffing and a lack of adequate supervision of inexperienced nurses. There was an increased incidence of patient falls, instances where patients were left to lie in their own urine and feces, treatments not being completed, and serious medication errors. These incidents resulted from a substantial increase in the nurses patient assignments. For three months, Adams and other nurses followed precisely the process outlined by the organization to communicate concerns to hospital administrators. He soon realized that the administrators were not interested in using the information he provided to correct the situation; in fact, he was harshly criticized for collecting this information. He then decided to proceed with a variation of the traditional saying: "If its not documented, its not done" and, instead, adopted the approach: "If its not done, document it!" Also, at one point he refused to take narcotic orders from a technician working for a physician, citing that this was against the Nurse Practice Act. Adams was threatened with the loss of his job and, in spite of previous performance reviews that were excellent, he was eventually fired. He sued and won his case (his attorney was an RN). The hospital appealed and lost again. Five units of the hospital have since closed "for financial reasons." Whistleblowing and the Whistleblower

In an ethically responsible Organization like a HCO, whistleblowing should not have to occur because there would be internal procedures to address staff concerns. We believe that whistleblowing is a moral action of last resort and that, under certain circumstances; it is not only appropriate, but also necessary. When whistleblowing occurs in the way we have defined it, we believe it is a morally courageous action. When all is said and done, the whistleblower must blow the whistle for the right moral reason and reasoning. It follows, therefore, that the whistleblower him or herself must be carefully scrutinized. What are the personal and the professional reputations of the whistleblower? What is the motive driving the whistleblower? Is it to benefit the client or the organization, or is it a need for attention or revenge? Is the whistleblower's cause seen as legitimate and significant by trustworthy colleagues and friends? Is the whistleblower aware of the potential consequences of blowing the whistle and still willing to accept responsibility for actions taken? In our case, Adams personal and professional reputations were above reproach (21 persons attested to his high integrity during the suit over his termination), and he blew the whistle out of a concern for patient safety and staffing inadequacies. He was aware of the consequences of his actions and willing to assume responsibility for them. Whistleblowing and Clashes of Values What makes whistleblowing so difficult for all persons involved? Chiefly, it is the clash of values inherent in most cases of whistleblowing. This clash of values may take many forms, for example, loyalty to clients or to ones own integrity versus loyalty to the organization. But what is meant by personal integrity and by loyalty? By personal integrity is meant that one is consistently true to one's moral ideals and value system and is able to demonstrate this consistency in how one lives her/his daily life. By loyalty is meant that one is steadfast in allegiance to others and does not desert or betray others in their time of need. Loyalty also suggests other virtues such as mutual respect, promise keeping, and ability to keep confidences. In addition, one must remember that at times loyalty can be blind or misplaced and, thus, ceases to be a virtue because harm, rather than good, can come from it (Silva & Synder, 1992). In Adams case, he placed loyalty to safe patient care and his role as patient advocate over the profit motive of the hospital. Moral Justification for Whistleblowing Whistleblowing should not be a capricious matter; a person's or an organization's life or death may result from it. Thus, strong moral justification must exist for blowing the whistle and, ideally, the whistleblower should have an established reputation for high integrity lest his or her personal characteristics detract from the issues . The following are considered some necessary conditions that should be established before one undertakes blowing the whistle and Adams met all of them: 1. The reason the whistleblower is blowing the whistle is because he/she sees a grave injustice or wrongdoing occurring in his/her organization that has not been resolved despite using all appropriate channels within the organization; 2. The whistleblower morally justifies his/her course of action by appeals to ethical theories, principles, or other components of ethics, as well as relevant facts; 3. The whistleblower thoroughly investigates the situation and is confident that the facts are, as she/he understands them;

4. The whistleblower understands that her/his primary loyalty is to client(s) unless other compelling moral reasons override this loyalty; 5. The whistleblower ascertains that blowing the whistle most likely will cause more good than harm to client(s); that is, clients will not be retaliated against because of the whistleblowing; and 6. The whistleblower understands the seriousness of his/her actions and is ready to assume responsibility for them. Our underlying premise is that when whistleblowing occurs there is an institutional failure. We agree with Hunt (1995b) that whistleblowing represents a "multi-layered breakdown in accountability" (p. xvii). Since the common welfare of citizens, particularly in matters of health, is a goal of the health care professions, whistleblowing affects health care institutions, corporations, providers, and clients profoundly. At the core of the whistleblowing issue lies accountability--public and private organizational accountability, health care professional organizational accountability, health care worker accountability, and consumer/client accountability. Whistleblowing and Organizational Ethics James Rest (1986) proposes a four-step model for individual ethical decision-making. According to Rest, the individual must: 1. Recognize a moral issue; 2. Make a moral judgment; 3. Resolve to place moral concerns ahead of other concerns; and 4. Act on the moral concern. The move toward increased competition in business exacerbates the conditions leading to instances of whistleblowing. We believe that cases of whistle blowing are indicative of an ethical failure at the organizational level. "It [whistleblowing] is a position no one should be in. It has consumed my life for two years."(Barry Adams, RN, whistleblower, 11/3/98) Famous whistleblowers Stanley Adams, a former Hoffmann-LaRoche executive, who discovered evidence of price fixing in 1973. He passed the evidence to the European Economic Community, who erroneously leaked Adams' name back to Hoffman-LaRoche. Adams was arrested for industrial espionage by the Swiss government and spent six months in jail. He fought for ten years to clear his name and receive compensation from the EEC.

Ingvar Bratt, a former Bofors engineer who revealed himself as the anonymous source in the Bofors Scandal about illegal weapon exports. An act that led to a new Swedish law (SFS 1990:409) concerning company secrets which commonly is referred to as Lex Bratt.

Satyendra Dubey, who accused employer NHAI of corruption in highway construction projects in India, in letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Assassinated on

November 27, 2003. He was assassinated in Gaya, Bihar for fighting corruption in the Golden Quadrilateral highway construction project. Enormous media coverage following his death leads to Whistleblower Act in India. {Pls refer to the Ford Pinto case and BART Case of Text Book} Whistleblower Week in Washington (WWW) The week of May 13-19 2007, whistleblowers from all over the country gathered in Washington, D.C., to convince the United States Congress to pass stronger whistleblower protections for both government and private sector workers. Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, founder of the No FEAR Coalition and No FEAR Institute, served as Chair of the first ever Whistleblower Week in Washington. The event was coordinated around the fifth anniversary of the May 15, 2002 enactment of the "Notification and Federal Employee Anti discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002," which is now known as the No FEAR Act. One purpose of the Act is to "require that Federal agencies be accountable for violations of anti discrimination and whistleblower protection laws."

DEPLETION OF NATURAL RESOURCES All forms of energy are stored in different ways, in the energy sources that we use every day. These sources are divided into two groups -- renewable (an energy source that can be replenished in a short period of time) and nonrenewable (an energy source that we are using up and cannot recreate in a short period of time). Renewable and nonrenewable energy sources can be used to produce secondary energy sources including electricity and hydrogen. Renewable energy sources include solar energy, which comes from the sun and can be turned into electricity and heat. Wind, geothermal energy from inside the earth, biomass from plants, and hydropower and ocean energy from water are also renewable energy sources. However, we get most of our energy from nonrenewable energy sources, which include the fossil fuels -- oil, natural gas, and coal. They're called fossil fuels because they were formed over millions and millions of years by the action of heat from the Earth's core and pressure from rock and soil on the remains (or "fossils") of dead plants and animals. Another nonrenewable energy source is the element uranium, whose atoms we split (through a process called nuclear fission) to create heat and ultimately electricity.

Non-renewable energy resources Introduction Worldwide there is a range of energy resources available to us. These energy resources fall into two main categories, often called renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. Each of these resources can be used to generate electricity, which is a very useful way of transferring energy from one place to another such as to the home or to industry. Non-renewable sources of energy can be divided into two types: fossil fuels and nuclear fuel. (Students are expected to prepare the scientific explanations of these resources) How Are Natural Resources Depleted We make extensive use of the various natural resources at our disposal. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil in which our plants grow, the forests and grasslands that support our wildlife, the numerous minerals and fuel resources that support our factories are all vital for our very survival.

Since mankind inhabited the earth, its resources have been used. When human numbers were small, the depletion of resources was very gradual. Butt when the world population doubled, from 2.5 billion in 1959 to 5.5 billion in 1995in a short span of only 45 tearsyou can imagine the great strain on the earths resources. The rapid growth of the worlds population and the excessive use of the earths resources have drastically changed the face of the earth. Each year more forests and grasslands disappear. Every day our rivers are clogged, our oceans are poisoned and the air is polluted.

The burning of fossil fuels, forest fires and the emission of smoke and chemicals from factories all add to the concentration of carbon dioxide in the lower atmosphere. This depletes the ozone gases which filter out much of the suns harmful ultra violet rays. The basic problem we face today is that the earths natural resources are being depleted at a most alarming rate because 470 square km of tropical forest is cleared, 170 square km of desert is created, 71 million metric tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide is added to the lower atmosphere and 1600 metric tons ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons is added to the ozone layer. Natural Resources Being Depleted At Record Rates United States Leads World in Over-Consumption: Vital Signs Report The annual Vital Signs report by the WorldWatch Institute identified 44 trends that indicate the world is on a path toward irrevocable and damaging global warming, and that climate change is not the only serious environment issue confronting the global community. "The world is running out of time to head off catastrophic climate change, and it is essential that Europe and the rest of the international community bring pressure to bear on U.S. policymakers to address the climate crisis," Erik Assadourian, Vital Signs Project Director, said in a statement made available to the press. "The United States must be held accountable for its emissions, double the per capita level in Europe, and should follow the EU lead by committing to reducing its total greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050." The United accounted for over 21% of global carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning in 2005. Raging fires in Greece, flooding in England and intense heat waves across southeastern Europe are early warning signs of climate change that should be headed, the non-profit group said. Here are some of the facts presented in the report: More wood was removed from forests in 2005 than ever before. Steel production grew 10% to a record 1.24 billion tons in 2006, while primary

aluminum output increased to a record 33 million tons. Aluminum production accounted for roughly 3 percent of global electricity use. Meat production hit a record 276 million tons (43 kilograms per person) in 2006. Meat consumption is one of several factors driving rising soybean demand. Rapid

expansion of soybean plantations in South America could displace 22 million hectares of tropical forest and savanna in the next 20 years. The rise in global seafood consumption comes even as many fish species become scarcer: in 2004, 156 million tons of seafood was eaten, an average of three times as much seafood per person than in 1950.

The warming climate is undermining biodiversity by accelerating habitat loss, altering

the timing of animal migrations and plant flowerings, and shifting some species toward the poles and to higher altitudes. The oceans have absorbed about half of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans in the last 200 years. Climate change is altering fish migration routes, pushing up sea levels, intensifying coastal erosion, raising ocean acidity, and interfering with currents that move vital nutrients upward from the deep sea. Despite a relatively calm U.S. hurricane season in 2006, the world experienced more weather-related disasters than in any of the previous three years. Nearly 100 million people were affected. While U.S. carbon emissions continue to grow, the fastest rise is occurring in Asia, particularly China and India. Consumption of energy and many other critical resources is consistently breaking records, disrupting the climate and undermining life on the planet, according to the latest World watch Institute report, Vital Signs 2007-2008. The 44 trends tracked in Vital Signs illustrate the urgent need to check consumption of energy and other resources that are contributing to the climate crisis, starting with the largest polluter, the United States, which accounted for over 21 percent of global carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning in 2005. Europe, already feeling the effects of climate change, should pressure the U.S. to join international climate negotiations, according to Erik Assadourian, Vital Signs Project Director. With a global population of 6.6 billion and growing, the ecosystem services upon which life depends are being stretched to the limit due to record levels of consumption: In 2006, the world used 3.9 billion tons of oil. Fossil fuel usage in 2005 produced

7.6 billion tons of carbon emissions, and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide reached 380 parts per million. More wood was removed from forests in 2005 than ever before. Steel production grew 10 percent to a record 1.24 billion tons in 2006, while

primary aluminum output increased to a record 33 million tons. Aluminum production accounted for roughly 3 percent of global electricity use. Meat production hit a record 276 million tons (43 kg per person) in 2006. Meat consumption is one of several factors driving soybean demand. Rapid South

American expansion of soybean plantations could displace 22 million hectares of tropical forest and savanna in the next 20 years. The rise in global seafood consumption comes even as many fish species become scarcer: in 2004, 156 million tons of seafood was eaten, an average of three times as much seafood per person than in 1950. While U.S. carbon emissions continue to grow, the fastest growth is occurring in Asia, particularly China and India. But without a U.S. commitment to emissions constraints,

persuading China and India to commit to reductions is unlikely. The only hope for reducing the worlds carbon emissions is for the U.S. to begin reducing its emissions and cooperating with other nations immediately. The EU may be the only entity that can make that happen, said Assadourian. With the U.S. Congress preparing to take up far-ranging climate legislation this fall, and with President Bush planning to hold an international climate change summit in Washington, now is the time to act. If the U.S. and other nations walk away without concrete plans to implement a binding agreement, the EU should not hesitate to use its diplomatic clout to press the issue, suggested Assadourian. Already, the window to prevent catastrophic climate change appears to be closing. Some governments are starting to redirect their attention away from climate change mitigation and towards staking their claims in a warming world. Canada is spending $3 billion to build eight new patrol boats to reinforce its claim over the Arctic waterways. Denmark and Russia are starting to vie for control over the Lomonosov Ridge, where new sources of oil and natural gas could be accessed if the Arctic Circle becomes ice freefossil fuels that will further exacerbate climate change. These actions assume that a warming world is here, said Assadourian. Wasting Away: Natural Resources and the Environment We are totally dependent on natural resources. Everything we have or use is made of natural resources, or raw materials and energy obtained from the environment. The clothes you're wearing, the chair you're sitting on, your house and TV and school and books, the school bus, city streets, whatever you ate for breakfast, and the package your breakfast came in are made of natural resources. Natural resources sustain human life. Non-renewable resources include oil and gas, soil and water, and minerals like iron and aluminium. They are found in strictly limited quantities on our planet and are not replenished by natural processes (except in geological time frames of millions of years). Renewable natural resources include things like trees which can be replenished or will grow again. However, even these are available in finite quantities. Trees, for example, can only grow so fast. Sunlight and wind are the only natural resources available in essentially limitless amounts. And, although it's not the kind of "event" that makes front-page news, many scientists think that depletion of natural resources is one of the biggest problems our society will face in the twenty-first century. Our use of natural resources affects the environment in many ways. Our use of natural resources has impacts that go far beyond simply using materials that are in limited supply. The environment is affected at every stage of the chain of extraction-processingmanufacturing-marketing-consumption-disposal. The harvesting of raw natural resources directly impacts the environment through mining, timber cutting, construction of dams, and the like. Then the raw materials must be made into a usable form, such as metallic ores into more pure metals. This is an energy-intensive process that typically results in air and water pollution as well as unwanted or even toxic by-

products. Next, to produce specific consumer products like clothes, camcorders, or skateboards, further manufacturing processes are needed. These manufacturing processes also use energy and often generate pollution. Then the final consumer products need to be transported and stored, which again involves additional inputs of energy and materials and has further environmental impacts. Finally, the products must be packaged and marketed to us, the public. This involves still more natural resource use and more environmental impacts related to packaging materials, billboards, print ads, and so on. Packaging and advertising contribute significantly to the cost of a product and to its overall environmental impact as well. In the United States, discarded packaging materials alone account for about 35% of household trash. Print advertising in catalogues, fliers, magazines, and newspapers also contributes significantly to household trash. When we actually purchase an end product, is the chain of impact finally complete? Not yet! If using the product we have bought requires gasoline, batteries, or electricity, the production and use of these generates more pollution. At some point, whatever the item - be it a few ounces of packaging that holds a fast-food meal for two minutes, or a two-ton automobile that lasts for years - we throw it away. But really, there is no "away." Something must be done with the stuff we no longer want. That can cause problems. A lot of our trash is just plain dangerous. Even common household products like paint, batteries, and cleaning supplies are often toxic. Also, the sheer volume of trash we produce is a problem in itself. In some parts of the U.S., trash is incinerated or burned. Incineration produces air pollution, and the ash left behind is toxic. In other areas, trash is buried in landfills. That has problems, too. Landfills require huge tracts of land. Pollution problems often develop around older landfills. Newer landfills are built to stricter health and environmental standards. However, both landfills and incinerator ash must be carefully monitored for hundreds of years into the future. How much is enough? Of course, some products we buy are necessary to our health and well-being, or improve the quality of our lives. We need clothes and stoves and so on. And who would want to give up books and music and other things the enrich our lives? The question of concern is, at what level of consumption are we using up our natural resources and our environment for things that we don't need and that don't really enhance our lives? The developed countries of the world hold 25% of the world's population, but consume 75% of all energy, 85% of all wood products, and 72% of all steel produced. Americans consume the most of all, even more than people in other developed countries. For example, we consume about twice as much energy per person as the British, French, Swedes, Norwegians, or Japanese. Our consumption of other resources is also high. In Fact, from 1940 to 1976, Americans consumed more minerals than did all of humanity up to then. And our consumption rate for most resources is still rising. Commercialism impacts the environment. Our consumption rate reflects the level of commercialism in our culture. Over the last few decades, advertising has gradually helped

convince us to make changes in our lives. Ads surround us. They encourage us to want more and buy more, often regardless of our true needs. Commercialism stimulates artificial wants, and satisfying these wants means consuming more material goods and thus increases resource consumption and environmental impacts. Ads suggest that we should want things that are newer, faster, fancier, more fashionable, a different colour, larger or smaller, just like what everyone else has or different from what everyone else has. This perceived obsolescence is used to stimulate us to buy more. The classic example of perceived obsolescence is fashions in clothing. The same approach is used when makers of computers, stereos, cars, an other products tempt us with new products even though the older versions serve our needs well. A related approach, planned obsolescence is used by makers of other products. For example, some toys, equipment, calculators, small appliances, and other items are built to last only a short while. When broken, these items are not able to be repaired but must be replaced. Finally, purveyors of fast food and prepared foods tell us that life will be easier and more fun if we eat their highly processed and packaged foods. A healthy environment and a supply of natural resources are basic to our well-being. The basic premise of almost all ads is that we will be happier if we have this, too. Companies with products for sale would like us to believe that, since their profits increase when we buy their products. Yet our well being and happiness are not necessarily dependent on having more and more and more material goods. Our long-term health, happiness, and well-being are dependent on a healthy environment, as well as on our relationships with family and friends. Does commercialism foster a culture of waste - a culture in which we are encouraged to make choices that are fundamentally at odds with our need to conserve natural resources and care for the environment? It seems that the typical American lifestyle involves always wanting more. When we live in highly consumptive lifestyle, we use more resources and create more pollution. Many environmental problems are tied to our rate of consumption of material goods and thus of natural resources. The most basic method of caring for our environment is to conserve natural resources and use them wisely. Center for the Study of Commercialism, Washington, D.C.

The Club of Rome Introduction: The Club of Rome is an organisation that is composed of "scientists, economists, businessmen, international high civil servants, and heads of state and former heads of state from all five continents who are convinced that the future of humankind is not determined once and for all and that each human being can contribute to the improvement of our

societies."(According to the Website of the organisation). The Club of Rome was founded in April 1968 by Aurelio Peccei, an Italian scholar and industrialist, and Alexander King, a Scottish scientist. The Club of Rome raised considerable public attention with its report The Limits to Growth, which has sold 30 million copies in more than 30 translations making it the best selling environment book in world history. The report was published in 1972, which predicted that economic growth could not continue indefinitely because of the limited availability of natural resources, particularly oil. The oil crisis of 1973 increased public concern about this problem. Jordanian Prince El Hassan bin Talal is the current President of The Club of Rome. Some other active members are: Benjamin Bassin, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Juan Luis Cebrian, Orio Giarini, Talal Halman, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Jos Sarney, Javier Solana, Manmohan Singh, Kamal Hossain, Esko Kalimo, Ashok Khosla, Martin Lees, Roberto Peccei, Maria Ramirez Ribes, Victor A. Sadovnichy, Keith Suter, Majid Tehranian, Raoul Weiler, Anders Wijkman, and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Limits to Growth: Limits to Growth was a 1972 book modeling the consequences of a rapidly growing global population, commissioned by the Club of Rome. Donella Meadows was its lead author. The book used the World3 model (The World3 model was a computer simulation of interactions between population, industrial growth, food production and limits in the ecosystems of the Earth. It was originally produced and used by a Club of Rome study that produced the model and the book Limits to Growth. The principal creaters of the model were Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows, and Jrgen Randers. The model was documented in the book Dynamics of Growth in a Finite World) to simulate the consequence of interactions between the Earth's and human systems. The most recent updated version was published on June 1, 2004 by Chelsea Green Publishing Company under the name Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update. Donnella Meadows, Jorgen Randers, and Dennis Meadows have updated and expanded the original version. They had previously published ""Beyond the Limits"" in 1993 as a 20 year update on the original material. The conclussions drawn in this model are: 1. If the present growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached sometime within the next one hundred years. The most probable result will be a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline in both population and industrial capacity. 2. It is possible to alter these growth trends and to establish a condition of ecological and economic stability that is sustainable far into the future. The state of global equilibrium could be designed so that the basic material needs of each person on earth are satisfied and each person has an equal opportunity to realize his individual human potential.

 If the world's people decide to strive for this second outcome rather than the first, the sooner they begin working to attain it, the greater will be their chances of success. All five elements basic to the study reported here--population, food production, and consumption of non-renewable natural resources--are increasing. The amount of their increase each year follows a pattern that mathematicians call exponential growth. Such exponential growth is a common process in biological, financial, and many other systems of the world. The tone behind the report of the club in their dialects is, "Not blind opposition to progress, but opposition to blind progress". They insisted on the fact that society would receive each technological advance by establishing the answers to three questions before the technology is widely adopted. The questions are: What will be the side effects, both physical and social, if this development is introduced on a large scale? What social changes will be necessary before this development can be implemented properly, and how long will it take to achieve them? If the development is fully successful and removes some natural limits to growth, what limit will the growing system meet next? Will society prefer its pressures to the ones this development is designed to remove? The people of the Club of Rome was in search for a model that represents a world system that is:

1. Sustainable without sudden and uncontrollable collapse; and 2. Capable of satisfying the basic material requirements of its entire people The overwhelming growth in world population caused by the positive birth-rate loop is a recent phenomenon, a result of mankind's very successful reduction of worldwide mortality. The controlling negative feedback loop has been weakened, allowing the positive loop to operate virtually without constraint. There are only two ways to restore the resulting imbalance. Either the birth rate must be brought down to equal the new, lower death rate, or the death rate must rise again. All of the "natural" constraints to population growth operate in the second way--they raise the death. Any society wishing to avoid that result must take deliberate action to control the positive feedback loop--to reduce the birth rate. But stabilizing population alone is not sufficient to prevent overshoot and collapse; a similar run with constant capital and rising population shows that stabilizing capital alone is also not sufficient. What happens if we bring both positive feedback loops under control simultaneously? We can stabilize the capital stock in the model by requiring

that the investment rate equal the depreciation rate, with an additional model link exactly analogous to the population-stabilizing one. If the most unrealistic assumption is relaxed, -that we can suddenly and absolutely stabilize population and capital, replacing them with the following: 1. The population has access to 100 percent effective birth control. 2. The average desired family size is two children. 3. The economic system endeavours to maintain average industrial output per capita at about the 1975 level. Excess industrial capability is employed for producing consumption goods rather than increasing the industrial capital investment rate above the depreciation rate. Now the Model has arrived at a minimum set of requirements for the state of global equilibrium. They are: 1. The capital plant and the population are constant in size. The birth rate equals the death rate and the capital investment rate equals the depreciation rate. 2. All input and output rates--birth, death, investment, and depreciation--are kept to a minimum. 3. The levels of capital and population and the ratio of the two are set in accordance with the values of the society. They may be deliberately revised and slowly adjusted as the advance of technology creates new options. An equilibrium defined in this way does not mean stagnation. Within the first two guidelines above, corporations could expand or fail, local populations could increase or decrease income could become more or less evenly distributed. Technological advance would permit the services provided by a constant stock of capital to increase slowly. Within the third guideline, any country could change its average standard of living by altering the balance between its population and its capital. Furthermore, a society could adjust to changing internal or external factors by raising or lowering the population or capital stocks, or both, slowly and in a controlled fashion, with a predetermined goal in mind. The three points above define a dynamic equilibrium, which need not and probably would not "freeze" the world into the population One key idea that the book Limits to Growth discusses is that if the rate of resource use is increasing, the amount of reserves cannot be calculated by simply taking the current known reserves and dividing by the current yearly usage, as is typically done to obtain a static index. For example, in 1972, the amount of chromium reserves was 775 million metric tons, of which 1.85 million metric tons were mined annually. The static index is 418 years ( = 775 Mmt/1.85 Mmt/year), but the rate of chromium consumption was growing at 2.6% annually (Limits to growth, pages 54-71). If instead of assuming a constant

rate of usage, the assumption of a constant rate of growth of 2.6% annually is made, the resource will instead last 93 years (note that the book rounded off numbers). In the book, they list quite a few of these exponential indices for both the current reserves, and for five times the current reserves: Resource Static Index 11 240 Growth Rate 2.6 4.1 1.8 3.9 Exponential Index 95 9 93 20 5 times reserves Exponential Index 154 29 173 50

Chromium 420 Gold Iron

Petroleum 31

The static reserve numbers assume that the usage is constant, and the exponential reserve assumes that the growth rate is constant. For petroleum, neither assumption was correct in the years that followed due to the OPEC's oil embargo, followed by a return to increasing production. The exponential index has often been misquoted, for example, The Skeptical Environmentalist states: "Limits to Growth showed us that we would have run out of oil before 1992" (page 121). What Limits to Growth actually has is the above table which has the current reserves (that is no new sources of oil are found) for oil running out in 1992 assuming constant exponential growth. Criticism Limits to Growth attracted controversy as soon as it was published. Yale economist Henry C. Wallich labeled the book "a piece of irresponsible nonsense" in his March 13, 1972 Newsweek editorial. Wallich's main complaints are that the book was published as a publicity stunt with great fanfare at the Smithsonian in Washington, and that there was insufficient evidence for many of the variables used in the model. According to Wallich, "the quantitative content of the model comes for the authors' imagination, although they never reveal the equations that they used." Considering that the detailed model and Meadows et al justifications were not published until 1974 (two years after Limits to Growth) in the book Dynamics of Growth in a Finite World, Wallich's complaint about "the peculiar presentation of their work and by their unscientific procedures" has merit. Similar criticisms were made by others. Robert M. Solow from MIT, complained about the weak base of data on which Limits to Growth's predictions were made (Newsweek, March 13, 1972, page 103). Dr. Allen Kneese and Dr. Ronald Riker of Resources for the future stated "the authors load their case by letting some things grow exponentially and others not. Population, capital and pollution grow exponentially in all models, but technologies for expanding resources and controlling pollution are permitted to grow, if at all, only in discrete increments."(Newsweek, March 13, 1972, page 103) Writing for the Michigan Law Review, Alex Kozinski, a Ronald Reagan-appointed judge, discussed Limits to Growth at length at the beginning of his review of The Skeptical Environmentalist, calling the authors 'a group of scientists going by the pretentious name The Club of Rome.' Another harsh critic of Limits to Growth was Lyndon LaRouche, who authored a 1983 book There Are No Limits to Growth and included the Club of Rome prominently in his view of a global Malthusian conspiracy.

Nevertheless, many today think that the overall message was accurate: the resources of the Earth are finite and are thus, inevitably, subject to natural limits. Is Small Still Beautiful? Questions of Scale

Small is Beautiful: a study of economics as if people mattered, the seminal work by E.F. Schumacher, founder of ITDG (Intermediate Technology Development Group), was first published 34 years ago. It captured the imagination of a generation and has been cited as one of the most influential books of the 20th century. The book is a collection of essays, mostly written in the 1960s, that covers an extraordinary range of questions concerned with the interplay between technology, society and the economy. The title has now passed into common usage, though it was not the title Schumacher would have chosen himself. As the subtitle suggests, it argued that economic thinking had lost connection with any value system. It challenged the limitless pursuit of material wealth, cautioned against over-exploitation of natural resources, and questioned the relationship of modern society with the natural world. It provided an explanation of intermediate technology and called for a rethinking of approaches and priorities in Third World development. At the heart of the book "was the idea that modern technological society was headed for disaster because of its obsession with an economics ignorant of natural processes and limits, without regard of basic human values, that regarded big (and by extension fast, expensive, complex, powerful and aggressive) as better, and biggest as best." The first part of Small is Beautiful was headed 'The Modern World. Thirty four years on, the world is clearly quite different from the one Schumacher was describing. We have had the end of the Cold War and the collapse of centrally planned economies; globalization is the new dogma, and the state is retreating from the direct provision of services; information technology is everywhere, and climate change affects everyone. For the new generation Schumacher is unknown and Small is Beautiful is no more than good advertising copy. Yet public debate about technology and society is perhaps greater now than three decades ago. Scarcely a day goes by without media coverage of the advantages or disadvantages of genetic engineering, cloning, nanotechnology, nuclear power and microelectronics. It is timely therefore to revisit the questions asked by Small is Beautiful and understand their relevance to todays world.

Technology One of Schumachers greatest contributions was the concept of

"The idea of unlimited economic growth, more and until everybody is saturated with wealth, needs to seriously questioned." be more

intermediate technology, which in turn laid the foundations for the appropriate technology movement. Intermediate technology would be more productive than traditional technologies but still labor-intensive. It would be cheaper and less sophisticated than the capital-intensive technology of modern industry. It would be technology that lends itself to "From an 'small-scale establishments' or, as Gandhi said, "Not mass production but production by the masses". Schumachers focus on technology arose from his identification of unemployment as the major development problem. The pressing need was and is

economic point of view, the central concept of wisdom is permanence."

to create workplaces and at the same time enable people to be more productive; for this, changes in the technologies they use are needed. Whilst recognizing that economic development was essential, the emphasis was on economics as if people matter; on meaningful employment and improvements to productivity which start (and end) with people. For modern industry today, small-scale technology means something altogether different to intermediate technology. When we talk about small-scale and technology in the same sentence now, it is likely to be micro-electronics, biotechnology or nanotechnology. The question for developing countries is whether these new small-scale technologies are, or can be, appropriate for the needs of poor women and men. Can they address the challenge of poverty and inequality? Are they, indeed, needed for poverty reduction and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals? While intermediate technology was envisaged as more attuned to the natural world (non-violent was Schumachers phrase). Economics Though a professional economist, Schumacher was quite critical of the dismal science. When calling into question the emphasis in "a where start you already technology you can when not and becoming are rich

productive

powerful"

conventional economics of continuous growth, he highlighted the limits to growth placed by the Earths resources, and thus helped lay the foundations for the environmental movement. Rather than maximizing consumption, economics should be about minimizing resource use. Environmental economics itself has developed over the past three decades and become a recognized specialist field. However, the ability of economic policy to take account of environmental costs remains undeveloped. In the globalize economy, international regulation remains firmly based on the conventions of "Production should be mainly from materials use." local and

mainly for local

economics found lacking by Schumacher. Does economic globalization therefore present undefeatable barriers to internalizing environment costs? A second major element of Schumacher's economics as if people matter is the value placed on local economies. Indeed, one of the characteristics of appropriate technology would be the use of locally available raw materials and production for local markets. Though this concern for the local draws from Gandhis ideas for self-sufficiency, they also echo Keynes who said "let goods be homespun whenever it is reasonable and conveniently possible, and above all, let finance be primarily national". The concern for local economies was not just for avoiding unnecessary resource use. The emphasis of conventional economics on maximization results in aggressive international competition, which can lead to national rivalries and social disruption. Instead, in minimizing the use of resources, we should focus on local markets and minimize imports. This clearly does not sit well with advocates of open economies and globalization Large-scale economies and organizations, argued Schumacher, rest on a principle of exclusion "you can only become productive and do your own thing if you are already rich and powerful". The argument for small-scale organization was also partly on

"Now what is the difficulty large scale?" about

grounds of efficiency and the resources large organizations must deploy on unproductive administration. Though information technology developments have undoubtedly reduced these costs, there is still a doubt that large corporations are economically more efficient. But the concern with large organizations was also one of power- the effects they have on the ability of smaller communities to do their own thing. In opposition to 'globalization' and the idea that it is inevitable and too late to reverse, has emerged the growing 'localization' movement. Localization is a set of interrelated policies that actively discriminate in favor of the more local whenever it is reasonably possible. Proponents argue that localization would enable developing countries to protect their industries and food production systems from competition with cheap imports. It would also eliminate the unnecessary transport of goods over long distances, and promote increased local control over the economy. For Schumacher, one response to the question of organizational scale lay in the ability of economics and government to manage a multiplicity of small-scale units. Today we might call this a networked approach, made all the more feasible by modern information technology. But would this achieve localization? Critics argue that localization could go the same way as centrally planned economies, restricting choice and opportunity while failing to satisfy the aspirations of many for material consumption and wealth. In the end, the challenge for localization, as for reformed globalization, will be whether it can reduce poverty.

The Human Scale Four characteristics described in Small is Beautiful came to define appropriate technology simple, small-scale, low-cost and non-violent. These were regarded by many as the criteria for choosing the technologies suitable for poor communities. But, they were seen by Schumacher only as the likely characteristics of the technologies that would be of most benefit to people living in poverty, given their typical circumstances. Scale or size of itself was not the point. By focusing on the question of scale, whether in terms of technology or economy, we can lose sight of the truly important questions of technology and human development. The question of the appropriateness of technology for the needs of a social group remains valid, but in answering it we must look not to size but to human beings, the women and men, young and old, able and disabled, and enable them to make the choices that they want and to have control over what happens to them. Size doesnt really matter. What does matters is whether technology and the economy, and decisions about technology and economics, place people first. The question of scale is thus whether things are 'human scale' or not and human scale is to be measured by a metaphysical and moral yardstick.

Small is dangerous? Schumacher, science, and social development

Development after Schumacher As science and technology become ever more complex, ever smaller and ever closer to revealing the mysteries of life, the greater is the publics anxiety. It would be easy to dismiss their fears as the result of Hollywood and newspaper scaremongering. But concerns go far wider. Prince Charles voices alarm at nanotechnologys grey goo; Bill Joy, chief scientist of Sun Microsystems, warns that 21st century technologies threaten to make humans an endangered species; while Britains Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, puts the chances of civilization coming to an end in this century through the impact of new technologies as high as 50:50. Britains science minister, David Sainsbury, responded to this mood by commissioning the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering to look at nanotechnology and report on whether there is a need for new regulations. Thirty years ago it was supposed to be beautiful. Now, small is dangerous. "Man is small, and, therefore, beautiful." small is

Both the catchy title and provocative content of Small Is Beautiful, the economist E.F. Schumachers innovative book, struck a chord with the 1960s generation with its critique of orthodox economics and big projects and its search for a more holistic approach to how we live and govern ourselves. Schumachers concern was with our ability to make economic or technological choices in the long-term interest of our communities. In retrospect, Small is Beautiful was an intellectual precursor to both the anti-globalization movement and sustainable development as we know it today. The eclectic (diverse) mix of hard-nosed economics and ethical argument in Small is Beautiful reflected the idiosyncratic (peculiar) trajectory of its author. Fritz Schumacher spent much of his working life as an economist at the National Coal Board and was one of the intellectual architects of the International Monetary Fund. But his restless and curious mind led him to fuse his economic training with the search for a spiritual dimension to life. The book offered an alternative vision of development. Its central message was that conventional economics and inappropriate technologies were failing both the planet and the developing world. Rather than impose modernity on developing countries, what we all needed was a smaller, more human-scale approach to development, using more sustainable technologies. This calls for economics as if people mattered (the books equally striking subtitle) coincided with the spirit of the age. But thirty four years on, the modern world described by Schumacher has been radically transformed. The impact of globalization and wholesale economic liberalization makes his vision of self-sufficient local economies look both utopian and anachronistic. There is no longer a Julius Nyerere or Kenneth Kaunda to experiment with visions of a national road to development. Economic orthodoxy, as laid down in the Washington Consensus, is universally applied and reinforced by multilateral lending policy. Small-scale manufacturing sectors in developing countries collapse in the face of vast economies of scale in China. Small-scale agriculture is undermined by heavily subsidized northern imports. Meanwhile, small-scale technology today is more likely to be associated with silicon chips, genetic engineering and nanotechnology than the appropriate, affordable intermediate technologies that Schumacher envisaged. The challenge of poverty Among these transformations, there is one constant: abject poverty on a vast scale. Now, as thirty years ago, most of the billion poorest people in the world are rural dwellers. As Schumacher wrote: The heart of the matter is that world poverty is primarily the problem of two thousand million villagers unless life in the hinterland is made tolerable, the problem of world poverty is insoluble.

Another linkage between then and now is the arrogant presumption by international development institutions that one size fits all. Responding to the needs of the impoverished inhabitants of this rural hinterland remains the biggest challenge in reducing obscene levels of poverty. Yet nobody appears able to offer any compelling vision of where their future lies. What Schumacher understood is that the key issues are not so much of scale but of power. His focus was on our ability to make economic or technological choices in the long-term interest of communities. That is why Small is Beautiful resonates with todays controversies regarding globalization and bio- or nanotechnology. Scientific and technological development is hugely exciting. It could, and should, have a major role to play in reducing poverty and restoring our eco-systems if it can be harnessed to benefit the many rather than profit the few; to prolong rather than foreshorten our custodianship of natures scarce resources. But failure to observe a precautionary approach in the research and development of transformational science may well introduce unintended consequences for our societies and ecosystems. Genetically-modified (GM) food crops, for example, may have the potential to solve world hunger; but in the hands of multinational corporations, they could also undermine the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers. The explosive development of information and communications technology could help developing countries to leapfrog the industrial revolution; yet there is also the danger of a knowledge divide opening up to put wealth further out of reach. Can we make new technologies work for the poor? The jury is still out. Science for survival If we are to harness technology for sustainable development, we need to reconcile the tension between scientific optimism and growing public skepticism (cynicism). There is a widening and dangerous gap between rapid technological development and our ability as citizens to understand the science and so make effective choices. We also need to reassess priorities in and expectations of scientific and technological development. A recent UN report, commenting on the skewed emphases of the worlds scientific research effort, concluded that we are more likely to find a cure for baldness than for malaria. But if technological resources were appropriately targeted, the Millennium Development Goals would be well within reach. We desperately need to reallocate our scientific efforts to sustain life on earth while building sustainable livelihoods for its dispossessed. The emerging new technologies might capture the headlines and inspire excitement and anxiety in equal measure. Yet nearly three billion people almost a half of humanity continue to rely on biomass for their main energy need, cooking. The key to their future is more prosaic (colorless): the availability of affordable, appropriate technologies. What we need is a movement to democratize the priorities for scientific and technological

development. If we can do that, we can help to deliver the great win-win scenario of this century to eradicate poverty without it costing the earth. Technology in Developing Nations (Sanjay) A significant case study- Researchers who report on high-tech in the developed world, often take for granted the role technology can play in developing nations. An interesting case study in this regard might be from UNRISD(United Nations Research Institute for Social Development), a United Nations agency dedicated to studying the social aspects of developing nations; in this particular instance the report focused on information and communications technology and its role in the Western African nation of Senegal. Senegal was chosen due to its position as a country struggling to recover from a serious economic crisis, yet has progressive policies aimed at promoting mass access to telephone and Internet technologies. The goal of the research was to find out what recent changes in government control over the media mean for the development of independent radio and television, and to what extent can and does information and communication technology play in improving the climate for economic growth, social welfare and democracy in Senegal? Challenges The studies commissioned by UNRISD focused on the main sectors of Senegalese society: government, media and business, and services such as health and education. The findings reveal that despite progressive policies surrounding the development of a telecommunication infrastructure, the use of ICT in these major sectors have proved to be problematic under both state and private ownership. One reason for this is that the government itself is not a vanguard user of computers. ICT use in health and large businesses is also limited, possibly due to problems with electricity supply and cost of Internet connection. Even the newly independent media companies, considered pioneers in their dissemination of uncensored information and use of mobile phones, make surprisingly little use of Internet-connected computers in their daily operations. Further, a culture of information control and a fear of viruses and hacking discourage more widespread use of the Internet. Despite the seemingly inefficient use of access to the Internet, research does reveal an encouraging picture of Senegalese society as a whole. There has been an explosion of telephone use, and to a lesser extent Internet use, as well as strong interest in interaction with independent media. All these factors allow for the development of micro-enterprises, local languages, and of transparency, accountability and democracy in the country. Policy Implications and Conclusions of UNRISD

In terms of development policy and practice, UNRISD research indicates that the big players in Senegal are not capable of providing the impetus that will transform Senegalese economy and society, or their relative position in the world economy. The research also concludes that there is not just one information society, Senegal has proved this by adapting to the information age and on its own unique way. These dynamics need to be well understood before development funding is directed toward attempts to steer emerging trends in particular social or economic directions. Failure to do this can lead to public investment unwittingly building barriers and closing opportunities, rather than the contrary. The Developed and Developing CountriesThere are significant social and economic differences between developed and developing countries. Many of the underlying causes of these differences are rooted in the long history of development of such nations and include social, cultural and economic variables, historical and political elements, international relations, geographical factors. These, however, do not tell the whole story. The differences in the scientific and technological infrastructure and in the popularization of science and technology in the two groups of countries are the most important causes of differential social and economical levels. An essential prerequisite to a country's technological progress is early recognition of necessity of a good educational system. This was one of the key factors that contributed to Japan's economic success. The role of Technion, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Weizmann Institute in Israel's rapid development cannot be underestimated . Science and Technology in Developed and Developing Countries. As Abdus Salam, the Nobel Laureate in physics in 1979 observes, in the final analysis it is basically mastery and utilization of modern science and technology that distinguishes the South from the North Some developing countries have made important contributions to the development of science and technology in the past and some even served as the cradle of human civilization. But the flowering of science and technology that began in Europe in the 17th century was used to advantage by only a relatively small group of nations. This situation created not only a difference in material aspects of cultures, but also a difference in the social climate of the two groups of countries. The practical use of science through technology created the climate for ever increasing emphasis on the pursuit of science and education in developed countries, where funding scientific enterprises is widely accepted as a vital and long-term investment. Today, in developed countries basic and applied scientific research is an essential investment in the long-term welfare. In their universities, they assign highest priority to stimulating and nurturing scientific and technical talent, and to the concomitant training of

students. What is emerging from this priority is the close association of education and economical growth. Accelerating the rate of growth and rate of productivity can basically be accomplished by stimulating and supporting scientific education in universities. Salam states that science in developing countries has been treated as a ``marginal activity'' and perceived even as an ``ornament.'' Indeed, most of the developing countries do not realize that their situation can only be rectified with the infusion of modern science and technology into their societies. Although some of the developing countries are aware of the importance of science and technology, this awareness does not necessarily make it easy to develop, and popularize science. Inadequate scientific infrastructure is a critical factor which creates strong barriers to the path of advancement in developing countries. The critical size of human resources and infrastructure, and the amount of investments in these areas, illustrates how science and technology are of neglected importance in developing countries. Industry and universities in Turkey face shortages of researchers-10 for every 100,000 of population compared with 280 in US, 240 in Japan, 150 in Germany, 140 in the UK. Thus, developing countries have principal shortcomings in their funding and supporting scientific infrastructure. Another indicator of how science is of neglected importance in developing countries is that most of these countries fail to stress that, for long term effectiveness, technology transfer should always be accompanied by science transfer. From the simplest to the most highly complex industrial products are based upon the rapid advances and accumulation of scientific knowledge in various related areas. Compared to technologists, economists, and planners, the extent to which scientists are allowed to play a role in nation building is another important problem. Few developing countries have formulated such a policy of allowing scientists to play their roles. In summary, the social and economic growth of the developed countries is dependent on an essential emphasis on education, science, and technology. The basic problems of developing countries are the weak educational and scientific infrastructure, and a lack of appreciation of the importance of science as an essential ingredient of economical and social development. Strategies and Policies for Developing Countries Modern science permeates every aspect of economic and social life. For this reason education, research and technology as instruments for accelerating development should receive special attention in national planning in the developing countries. One of the major factors for marginal science and technology development in the most developing countries is the lack of planning and management of these activities. Thus far, only a few developing countries have attempted to formulate and adopt a national policy.

In order to make a realistic plan, not only a vision, but also scientific leadership, and investment in scientific enterprise both by government and private sectors are required. Short-term financial considerations in investment decisions that have been observed so far in developing countries will always be more costly and time consuming. The science policy in a developing country should be determined in collaboration with the government, universities and industry. This collaboration should take into account technological needs, resources and practices. For this purpose, government efforts must be addressed to establish an industry-university cooperation to communicate technological advances to potential users. Developing countries which plan to have a rapid economic growth, should first consider if they have provided ideal opportunities for their high-level scientists and nurtured their talents for the nations' well-being. Furthermore, these countries must ensure the economic and social well-being of their scientist and provide an attractive and well equipped research environment to their migration to countries with enriched scientific and social opportunities. Science and technology based industry should be identified as a major source of economic growth and a means of addressing important social problems as well. In conclusion, developing countries should be committed to retaining high-level scientists, stimulating them, and providing funds and other support to encourage and maintain their productivity. Science and technology can play their role in development only when the integrity of the whole enterprise-research institutions, universities, publications research priorities and emphasis and the education of creative scientists, as well as those active in science is preserved. Thus, the simplest strategy in developing countries is first of all, to increase the percentage of GNP that is to be devoted to universities and research institutions. In conclusion like Salam it can be said that it is a political decision on the part of those who decide on the future of developing countries to take proper steps toward creating, mastering and utilizing the resources of science and technology.

What is Technology Transfer?

Introducing Technology Transfer Technology transfer is the process of developing practical applications for the results of scientific research. The communication or transmission of a technology from one country to another. This may be accomplished in a variety of ways, ranging from deliberate licensing to reverse engineering. Technology transfer is the sharing of knowledge and facilities among industries, universities, governments and other institutions to ensure that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a range of users who can then further develop the technology into new products, processes, materials or services. While conceptually the practice has been utilized for many years (in ancient times, Archimedes was notable for applying science to practical problems), the present-day volume of research, combined with high-profile failures at Xerox PARC and elsewhere, has led to a focus on the process itself.

"Transfer of technology is the transfer of knowledge for the manufacture of a product, for the application of a process or for the rendering of a service and does not extend to the transactions involving the mere sale of goods" (article 1.2 of the project of the United Nations Code of Conduct on the transfer of technologies, article 10.7 of the EC Exemption Regulation for categories of technology transfer agreements). It can be defined as the transfer of intellectual property (patents, copyrights, trade secrets, know-how, etc.) from the laboratory to the marketplace. It encompasses all the various life cycles of a product, from the initial thought through design to marketing and selling the product.

The concept of technology transfer is not all together new. As early as The 1958 Space Act, legislation was written with the purpose of transferring technology between the federal labs and the private sector. The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and the Stevenson-Wydler Act of 1980 laid the groundwork for the process, and the 1986 Federal Technology Transfer Act opened the doors to research and development partnerships between federal labs and U.S. industry. Subsequent legislation and Executive Orders have broadened their scope. Defining Technology Transfer There is no widely accepted definition of technology transfer, but, generally speaking, technology transfer is the sharing of knowledge and facilities among: Federal laboratories Industry Universities Federal, state, and local governments Third party intermediaries The concept of technology transfer as a practical matter becomes clearer when one understands what technology transfer is designed to accomplish. For instance, the purpose of a federal technology transfer program is to make federally generated scientific and technological developments accessible to private industry and state and local governments. These users are then encouraged to develop the technology further into new products, processes, materials, or services that will enhance our nation's industrial competitiveness or otherwise improve our quality of life. Why Transfer Technology? Technology and innovation can help to: Improve living standards Increase productivity Generate new industries and employment opportunities Improve public services Create more competitive U.S. products in world markets.

By one estimate, from one-third to one-half of all U.S. growth has come from new technologies. Federal laboratories frequently make discoveries and advances in science and technology that could also be applied to commercial products. By transferring those discoveries and advances to the private sector, the federal laboratories are making an additional contribution to the economy and quality of life in this nation. Federal Policy The underlying philosophy and approach are to derive national benefits from technology commercialization by capitalizing on recent scientific developments to promote the technical and economic growth of the Nation. Transfer process Many companies, universities and governmental organizations now have an "Office of Technology Transfer" (also known as "Tech Transfer" or "TechXfer") dedicated to identifying research which has potential commercial interest and strategies for how to exploit it. For instance, a research result may be of scientific and commercial interest, but patents are normally only issued for practical processes, and so someone -- not necessarily the researchers -- must come up with a specific practical process. Another consideration is commercial value; for example, while there are many ways to accomplish nuclear fusion, the ones of commercial value are those that generate more energy than they require to operate. The process to commercially exploit research varies widely. It can involve licensing agreements or setting up joint ventures and partnerships to share both the risks and rewards of bringing new technologies to market. Other corporate vehicles, e.g. spin-outs, are used where the host organization does not have the necessary will, resources or skills to develop a new technology. Often these approaches are associated with raising of venture capital (VC) as a means of funding the development process, a practice more common in the US than in the EU, which has a more conservative approach to VC funding. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in technology transfer intermediaries specialized in their field. They work on behalf of research institutions, governments and even large multinationals. Where start-ups and spin-outs are the clients, commercial fees are sometimes waived in lieu of an equity stake in the business. As a result of the potential complexity of the technology transfer process, technology transfer organizations are often multidisciplinary, including economists, engineers, lawyers, marketers and scientists. The dynamics of the technology transfer process has attracted attention in its own right, and there are several dedicated societies and journals. Just have a look of the green colored text INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMME

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Ministry of Science and Technology Government of India INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMME PREAMBLE Internationalization of technologies and production is becoming a common phenomenon for attaining and retaining global competitiveness. At the same time, regional and sub-regional trade blocks are being formed - formation of SAARC is an example. India can and should take advantage of its comparative advantages over other developing countries, particularly in the context of our need of promoting exports of high value added products and services. We have established strong technological and industrial capabilities in several areas which could as well be of considerable relevance and utility to other developing countries. A beginning has been made in exporting our technologies directly and indirectly to other developing and also to industrially advanced countries by sending experts and skilled manpower abroad, establishing joint ventures, undertaking turnkey projects, licensing of know-how, providing training to foreign personnel etc. Although, these efforts have been very useful, there is a vast scope to increase these activities for which a systematic and integrated approach needs to be undertaken. This calls for harmonization of aims and activities of industry, commerce, finance, trade agencies and government. There is a need for structured documentation of our technological and industrial capabilities and strengths, showcasing and demonstration of technology export capabilities and facilitation of technology transfer and trade at the firm level. Keeping this in view, "International Technology Transfer Programme of Department of Scientific & Industrial is aimed at supporting activities relating to promotion of international technology transfer and trade including export of technologies, projects, services and technology intensive products, with India as the focus. ACTIVITIES Documentation of Technology Export Performance and Capabilities

Readily available and updated documentation on technology related export performance and capabilities of our industrial units, R&D organizations and other export promotion agencies helps in policy formulation, technology related business promotion, keeping track of past performances, course correction and setting targets for the future. Documents and publications serve as the basic form of visible output of any activity. Availability of documentation, additionally on CD ROMs, websites, etc. makes it more user friendly and widely accessible.

The programme supports activities towards preparation of such documentation.

Showcasing and Demonstration of Technology Export Capabilities

It is essential to widely publicize our technological capabilities for promotion of business ventures abroad and formulation of technology transfer projects involving foreign agencies. Sensitization of trade promotion bodies and industry associations towards enhanced thrust on technology and value added technology intensive products is important in view of the rapidly growing global competition. Physical participation of R&D organisations, technology based industrial units, in the public as well as private sector and other relevant agencies in trade fairs/exhibitions, in India and abroad, helps in identification of technology related business opportunities, initiation of dialogue with the potential customers and awareness creation about Indias capabilities to supply technologies, turnkey projects and services. This also helps in upgradation of our exportable capabilities and technologies.

The programme supports organization of technology based trade fairs, participation of technology intensive organizations in such fairs, setting up of Technology Trade Facilitation Centres, organization of Training-cum-Awareness Programmes for Overseas Participants

Facilitation of Technology Transfer and Trade at the Firm Level Besides broad-based support provided under the above two categories, it is essential to provide hand-holding and support at the firm level in order to facilitate technology transfer negotiations, draft/finalize MOUs/Agreements and materialize business deals and contracts. The programme supports organization of area-specific buyer-seller meets in Indai and abroad which provide a platform for one-to-one interactions between interested business partners. The Problems of Technology Transfer As in most industrial research laboratories there was the pressure to show practical relevance of the work. To that end, the project developed a number of prototype tools that were considered practical and useful by academic standards. But academic standards are not good enough to be accepted by those responsible for real products. Several attempts to transition some of the lab's technology to product divisions were met with universal rejection. There were several reasons for this rejection, most of them non-technical in nature. Academics tend to develop tools in the abstract, i.e., they solve an intellectually interesting problem without regard to actual applications. When scientists talk about concepts such as ``completeness of decision procedures'' of ``expressiveness of languages,'' their value will not be apparent to decision makers. Technology must be

sold by describing the concrete problems being solved, how much time is saved, and how quality is improved. The technology is irrelevant, it is its impact that matters. People in charge of software projects are extremely concerned about schedule risk. Even if a new tool promises great time savings, it will be rejected if there is even minimal risk that it might negatively impact the schedule. Large potential time savings are often not realistic due to a steep learning curve. Researchers tend to build tools in isolation without consideration of the environment and the work process of software production. Tools that require changes in an established software development process are difficult to sell. An important reason for rejection is the perceived and often real lack of maintenance and support for systems that come out of research labs. One frequent objection to the use of machine generated code was readability. From the academic point of view, machine generated Ada code is no different than compiler generated assembly code. But the programmer in the field will be skeptical of the new technology and will want to inspect and understand the code. As a consequence significant effort was spent on generating human readable, commented code. Case for country Like IndiaSome may see technology transfer as an industry acquiring scientific know-how from a research laboratory. But for most people, the term conjures up a vision of some poor developing country gratefully receiving an advanced technology from abroad. There's a problem with this picture, however. For the world's rural and urban poor, including some 700 million people in India, technologies transferred in this way rarely have the potential to provide the goods and services they actually need. The problems and material needs of the poor are entirely different from those of the rich. A product that makes sense in the North American or Japanese market may be entirely irrelevant to or even against the interests of consumers in a low-income country. Similarly, the realities of production in developed and developing countries will be completely different. Labour is cheap in a developing country and capital is scarce, while the opposite is true in an industrialized one. This means that a "copy-cat" production process brought in from a totally different economic context may be disastrous for the economy that imports it, if it is unchanged and unadapted. Equally bad are the technologies that have had an unacceptable impact on the environment in industrialized countries, yet still find their way to developing countries without any redesign. This unfortunate situation persists because there are no financial incentives in market-led economies to adapt such products and processes. Transferring trouble

So, while the 3 billion people living on less than $2 a day have obvious needs a regular and nutritious supply of food, clean water, safe and inexpensive housing, sanitation, affordable transportation and sustainable energy they may instead receive a vast array of packaged snacks, a choice of two brands of cola, any amount of unaffordable cement and steel, designer soaps and shampoos, luxury cars, and industrial and transportation solutions that require large amounts of imported fossil fuels. And while it is known that one of the key ways of reducing poverty is to create large numbers of jobs and livelihoods through the establishment of small, decentralized enterprises, this is almost always subverted by the large-scale, highly automated, laboursaving technologies that are the only ones available on the international market. If developing countries are to find the solutions that are right for them, they will unquestionably have to do it themselves. The concept of technology transfer is meaningful in the South only if it is either from Southern laboratories or adapted by such laboratories. In essence, it needs to be technology development, not transfer. Technologies for making products and services in demand by the better-off consumer in developing countries can largely be left to corporate research laboratories because they can build the costs of R&D into the pricing of their products and pass these costs on to those customers that can afford to pay. But this will not lead to technologies or products needed by the poor, or for societal needs where the profits are not sufficient to attract private-sector players. For these markets, a whole new approach is needed. Until recently, this has been the monopoly of publicly funded and government-run research institutions. But now more and more players, including NGOs and social enterprises, are entering the field. Organization like Development Alternatives, a social enterprise has been developing technologies aimed at improving the lives of the worlds poorest for the past 20 years. The task they have set themselves is to help fulfill the social objectives of equitable development and environmental conservation the means to empower our fellow citizens in a way that delivers the goods and services they need on a large scale and in a sustainable manner. In India, we need to create 15 million new jobs every year if we are to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out by the United Nations. At current rates of growth in employment, it will take us more than a century to meet the targets. I believe the approach we at Development Alternatives have adopted has the potential to reduce that time period drastically. The business of eradicating poverty

We need to create new technologies that can help people both escape from poverty and create new jobs. Such products include a hand-operated press that converts mud into hard bricks for low-cost housing; a vertical kiln that bakes bricks made from ordinary clay; a machine for transforming industrial waste into cheap roofing tiles; a process for converting weeds into a substitute for diesel fuel; woodstoves that dramatically reduce fuel consumption and smoke; and hand-powered looms and paper-making machines made by modernizing Problems with patents One major obstacle that lies in the way of achieving the MDGs relates to our current systems for protecting "intellectual property", such as patents and copyrights. These have been highly successful in accelerating innovation, leading to new, useful products and services that can generate significant profits. However, it is difficult to apply the concept of intellectual property to products fulfilling basic needs or intended for the public good, which offer few possibilities for profits to the private sector, but huge benefits to society as a whole. Economists have written tomes on the ways a market can fail, but this is one area that seems to be taboo. For more than two decades, we have avoided patenting our inventions, with the purpose of encouraging users instead to use our designs free of charge. While we have sold significant numbers of our own technologies, so have other entrepreneurs facilitating the growth of the market. This has allowed us to help create thousands of new businesses, both in India, and sometimes in other, even poorer, developing countries. We have been happy for people to do this as it opens up new markets for the products, and thus has both benefited people and created more jobs. However, another 40 million job-seekers are expected to seek employment in India by 2010. One million of these are projected to take up jobs in information technology. The remaining 39 million will need to find work in more traditional industries as well as in agriculture, which employs some 70 per cent of India's workforce, as well as in India's service industries. If we really want to create enough jobs to meet the needs of these new workers, organizations such as ours need to raise substantial amounts of capital to expand the range of our products, inventions and services. To do this, we have had to engage with intellectual property, for example by franchising our services to users and obtaining royalties for our products. The commercial wing of Development Alternatives, Technology and Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), was set up to manufacture and market our products and services. Any profits from TARA are fed back into Development Alternatives, and boost the work we do among the poor. centuries-old designs.

Sustainable Development Global pandemics, climate change, natural disasters, poor soil conditions, and deforestation these issues are at the heart of sustainable development.

Sustainable development is defined as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (Brundtland Commission, 1987). Global warming is an example of what happens when we do not develop sustainably. Today, over 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day, and life expectancy in nine African countries is less than 40 years. Meanwhile, the actions of the rich world, such as loading the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, are compromising the well being of future generations and pushing our planet toward an uncertain future. Ignoring the issues of sustainable development has many possible consequences, such as rising sea levels, extreme droughts, erosion and loss of forests, increases in slum populations, species extinctions and collapsing fisheries. There is also increasing evidence that issues such as water scarcity play a role in internal violence and regional conflict. Simple interventions like adding nitrogen to depleted soil can dramatically increase crop yields for smallholder farmers. At the turn of the new millennium, the leaders of 191 nations agreed that together they have the resources and the political will to eradicate the extreme poverty, hunger and disease that kills millions of people each year in the poorest parts of the world. In 2005, the United Nations published a science-based blueprint for how these goals called the Millennium Development Goals can be accomplished. However, much of the aid from donor countries remains well below their pledge of 0.7% GNP. Why do we need sustainable development? Because the need for development is as great as ever, yet our environmental footprint and impact is increasing. Future development cannot simply follow the model of the past. This is true for the world as a whole, and for every community in this country. The global picture is striking. A quarter of the world's people have to survive on incomes of less than US $1 a day and a fifth have no access to health care. Demand for natural resources such as oil, wood and water are rapidly increasing and yet these are finite resources. It is certainly a challenge, and one that is becoming larger: the world's population will increase by half, another three billion people, by 2050. In the past, economic activity tended to mean more pollution and wasteful use of resources. We have had to spend to clean up the mess. A damaged environment impairs quality of life. We have to find a new way forward. This is the challenge of sustainable development. For the future, we need ways to achieve economic, social and environmental objectives in balance, and consider the longer term implications of decisions. We need to improve the efficiency with which we use resources and we need international co-operation to overcome environmental problems, to allow trade to flourish and to help the world's poorest people as we move towards a more global society. Central, regional and local government have all made a commitment to taking forward the sustainable development agenda and work towards improving quality of life.

Environmental ethics
Environmental ethics is the discipline that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its nonhuman contents. This

entry covers: (1) the challenge of environmental ethics to the anthropocentrism (i.e., human-centeredness) embedded in traditional western ethical thinking; (2) the early development of the discipline in the 1960s and 1970s; (3) the connection of deep ecology, feminist environmental ethics, and social ecology to politics Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers the ethical relationship between human beings and the natural environment. It exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including law, sociology, theology, economics, ecology and geography. Environmental ethics is properly but a sub-section of environmental philosophy, which includes environmental aesthetics, environmental theology, and all the other branches of philosophical investigation (e.g., epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of science, etc). 1. Introduction: The Challenge of Environmental Ethics Suppose that putting out natural fires, culling feral animals or destroying some individual members of overpopulated indigenous species is necessary for the protection of the integrity of a certain ecosystem. Will these actions be morally permissible or even required? Is it morally acceptable for farmers in non-industrial countries to practise slash and burn techniques to clear areas for agriculture? Consider a mining company which has performed open pit mining in some previously unspoiled area. Does the company have a moral obligation to restore the landform and surface ecology? And what is the value of a humanly restored environment compared with the originally natural environment? It is often said to be morally wrong for human beings to pollute and destroy parts of the natural environment and to consume a huge proportion of the planet's natural resources. If that is wrong, is it simply because a sustainable environment is essential to (present and future) human wellbeing? Or is such behaviour also wrong because the natural environment and/or its various contents have certain values in their own right so that these values ought to be respected and protected in any case? These are among the questions investigated by environmental ethics. Some of them are specific questions faced by individuals in particular circumstances, while others are more global questions faced by groups and communities. Yet others are more abstract questions concerning the value and moral standing of the natural environment and its nonhuman components. In the literature on environmental ethics the distinction between instrumental value and intrinsic value (i.e., non-instrumental value) has been of considerable importance. The former is the value of things as means to further some other ends, whereas the latter is the value of things as ends in themselves regardless of whether they are also useful as means to other ends. For another example, a certain wild plant may have instrumental value because it provides the ingredients for some medicine or as an aesthetic object for human observers. But if the plant also has some value in itself independently of its prospects for furthering some other ends such as human health, or the pleasure from aesthetic experience, then the plant also has intrinsic value. Because the intrinsically valuable is that which is good as an end in itself, it is commonly agreed that something's possession of intrinsic value generates a prima facie direct moral duty on the part of moral agents to protect it or at least refrain from damaging it. Many traditional western ethical perspectives, however, are anthropocentric or humancentered in that either they assign intrinsic value to human beings alone (i.e., what we

might call anthropocentric in an absolute sense) or they assign a significantly greater amount of intrinsic value to human beings than to any nonhuman things such that the protection or promotion of human interests or well-being at the expense of nonhuman things turns out to be nearly always justified (i.e., what we might call anthropocentric in a relative sense). Aristotle (Politics, Bk. 1, Ch. 8) maintains that nature has made all things specifically for the sake of man and that the value of nonhuman things in nature is merely instrumental. The Bible (Genesis 1:27-8) says: God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Generally, anthropocentric positions find it problematic to articulate what is wrong with the cruel treatment of nonhuman animals, except to the extent that such treatment may lead to bad consequences for human beings. Immanuel Kant (Duties to Animals and Spirits, in Lectures on Ethics), for instance, suggested that cruelty towards a dog might encourage a person to develop a character which would be desensitized to cruelty towards humans. From this standpoint, cruelty towards nonhuman animals would be instrumentally, rather than intrinsically, wrong. Likewise, anthropocentrism often recognizes some non-intrinsic wrongness of anthropogenic (i.e. human-caused) environmental devastation. When environmental ethics emerged as a new sub-discipline of philosophy in the early 1970s, it did so by posing a challenge to traditional anthropocentrism. In the first place, it questioned the assumed moral superiority of human beings to members of other species on earth. In the second place, it investigated the possibility of rational arguments for assigning intrinsic value to the natural environment and its nonhuman contents. 2. The Early Development of Environmental Ethics Although nature was the focus of much nineteenth and twentieth century philosophy, contemporary environmental ethics only emerged as an academic discipline in the 1970s. The questioning and rethinking of the relationship of human beings with the natural environment over the last thirty years reflected an already widespread perception in the 1960s that the late twentieth century faced a population time bomb and a serious environmental crisis. Among the accessible work that drew attention to a sense of crisis was Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1963), which consisted of a number of essays earlier published in the New Yorker magazine detailing how pesticides such as DDT, aldrin and deildrin concentrated through the food web. Commercial farming practices aimed at maximizing crop yields and profits, Carson speculated, were capable of impacting simultaneously on environmental and public health. On the other hand, historian Lynn White jr., in a much-cited essay published in 1967 (White 1967) on the historical roots of the environmental crisis, argued that the main strands of Christian thinking had encouraged the overexploitation of nature by maintaining the superiority of humans over all other forms of life, and by depicting all of nature as created for the use of humans. Nevertheless, White argued that some minority traditions within Christianity (e.g., the views of St. Francis) might provide an antidote to the

arrogance of a mainstream tradition steeped in anthropocentrism. Two years later, the Stanford ecologist, Paul Ehrlich, published The Population Bomb (1968), warning that the growth of human population threatened the viability of planetary life-support systems. 3.1 Deep Ecology Deep ecology was born in Scandinavia, the result of discussions between Nss and his colleagues Sigmund Kvaly and Nils Faarlund (see Nss 1973 and 1989; also see Witoszek and Brennan (eds.) 1999 for a historical survey and commentary on the development of deep ecology). All three shared a passion for the great mountains. On a visit to the Himalayas, they became impressed with aspects of Sherpa culture particularly when they found that their Sherpa guides regarded certain mountains as sacred and accordingly would not venture onto them. Nss decided to formulate a position which extended the reverence he and the Sherpas felt for mountains to other natural things in general. The shallow ecology movement, as Nss (1973) calls it, is the fight against pollution and resource depletion, the central objective of which is the health and affluence of people in the developed countries. The deep ecology movement, in contrast, endorses biospheric egalitarianism, the view that all living things are alike in having value in their own right, independent of their usefulness to human purposes. The deep ecologist respects this intrinsic value, taking care, for example, when walking on the mountainside not to cause unnecessary damage to the plants. Furthermore, deep ecology also endorses what Nss calls the relational, total-field image, understanding organisms (human or otherwise) as knots in the biospherical net, the identities of which are defined in terms of their ecological relations to each other. Nss maintains that the deep satisfaction that we receive from close partnership with other forms of life in nature contributes significantly to our life quality. 3.2 Feminism and the Environment Broadly speaking, a feminist issue is any issue that contributes in some way to understanding the oppression of women. Feminist theories attempt to analyze women's oppression, its causes and consequences, and suggest strategies and directions for women's liberation. By the mid 1970s, feminist writers had raised the issue of whether patriarchal modes of thinking encouraged not only widespread inferiorizing and colonizing of women, but also of coloured people, animals and nature. Sheila Collins (1974), for instance, argued that male-dominated culture or patriarchy is supported by four interlocking pillars: sexism, racism, class exploitation, and ecological destruction. Emphasizing the importance of feminism to the environmental movement and various other liberation movements, some writers, such as Ynestra King (1989a and 1989b), argue that the domination of women by men is the original form of domination in human society, from which all other hierarchies -- of rank, class, and political power -- flow. For instance, human domination of nature, it has been argued, is a manifestation and extension of the oppression of women, in that it is the result of associating nature with the female, which had been already inferiorized and oppressed by the male-dominating human culture. 3.3 Social Ecology

Classical Marxists regarded Nature as a resource to be transformed by human labour and utilized. Members of the Frankfurt School such as Max Horkheimer and Theodore Adorno interpret Marx himself as representative of the problem of human alienation from nature. At the root of this alienation, they argue, is a narrow positivist conception of rationality -- which sees rationality as an instrument for pursuing power, technological control and progress, and takes observation, measurement and the application of purely quantitative methods to be capable of solving all problems. This conception, Horkheimer and Adorno (1969) argue, requires revision. Their project is to replace the narrow positivistic model of rationality with the so-called Romantic values of the aesthetic, moral, sensual and expressive aspects of human nature, and bring these into harmony with our rational faculties. The oppression of what they call outer nature (i.e., the natural environment) through science and technology, they argue, is bought at a very high price: the project of domination requires the suppression of our inner nature, the world of manifold needs and longings at the center of human life and its vulnerability. He suggests that we can choose to put ourselves at the service of natural evolution, to help maintain complexity and diversity, diminish suffering and reduce pollution. In this way, we can also to some extent overcome the kind of alienation that so worried the Frankfurt School. Bookchin's social ecology recommends that we use our gifts of sociability, communication and intelligence as if we were nature rendered conscious, instead of turning them against the very source and origin from which such gifts derive. Oppression of nature should be replaced by a richer form of life devoted to nature's preservation.

Environmental laws
In the Constitution of India it is clearly stated that it is the duty of the state to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country. It imposes a duty on every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife. Reference to the environment has also been made in the Directive Principles of State Policy as well as the Fundamental Rights. The Department of Environment was established in India in 1980 to ensure a healthy environment for the country. This later became the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1985. The constitutional provisions are backed by a number of laws acts, rules, and notifications. The EPA (Environment Protection Act), 1986 came into force soon after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and is considered an umbrella legislation as it fills many gaps in the existing laws. Thereafter a large number of laws came into existence as the problems began arising, for example, Handling and Management of Hazardous Waste Rules in 1989. Following is a list of the environmental legislations that have come into effect: General Forest and wildlife Water Air General 1986 - The Environment (Protection) Act authorizes the central government to protect and improve environmental quality, control and reduce pollution from all sources, and prohibit or restrict the setting and /or operation of any industrial facility on environmental grounds. 1986 - The Environment (Protection) Rules lay down procedures for setting standards of emission or discharge of environmental pollutants.

1989 - The objective of Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules is to control the generation, collection, treatment, import, storage, and handling of hazardous waste. 1989 - The Manufacture, Storage, and Import of Hazardous Rules define the terms used in this context, and sets up an authority to inspect, once a year, the industrial activity connected with hazardous chemicals and isolated storage facilities. 1989 - The Manufacture, Use, Import, Export, and Storage of hazardous Microorganisms/ Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells Rules were introduced with a view to protect the environment, nature, and health, in connection with the application of gene technology and microorganisms. 1991 - The Public Liability Insurance Act and Rules and Amendment, 1992 was drawn up to provide for public liability insurance for the purpose of providing immediate relief to the persons affected by accident while handling any hazardous substance. 1995 - The National Environmental Tribunal Act has been created to award compensation for damages to persons, property, and the environment arising from any activity involving hazardous substances. 1997 - The National Environment Appellate Authority Act has been created to hear appeals with respect to restrictions of areas in which classes of industries etc. are carried out or prescribed subject to certain safeguards under the EPA. 1998 - The Biomedical waste (Management and Handling) Rules is a legal binding on the health care institutions to streamline the process of proper handling of hospital waste such as segregation, disposal, collection, and treatment. 1999 - The Environment (Siting for Industrial Projects) Rules, 1999 lay down detailed provisions relating to areas to be avoided for siting of industries, precautionary measures to be taken for site selecting as also the aspects of environmental protection which should have been incorporated during the implementation of the industrial development projects. 2000 - The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 apply to every municipal authority responsible for the collection, segregation, storage, transportation, processing, and disposal of municipal solid wastes. 2000 - The Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules have been laid down for the regulation of production and consumption of ozone depleting substances. 2001 - The Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 rules shall apply to every manufacturer, importer, re-conditioner, assembler, dealer, auctioneer, consumer, and bulk consumer involved in the manufacture, processing, sale, purchase, and use of batteries or components so as to regulate and ensure the environmentally safe disposal of used batteries. 2002 - The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) (Amendment) Rules lay down such terms and conditions as are necessary to reduce noise pollution, permit use of loud speakers or public address systems during night hours (between 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight) on or during any cultural or religious festive occasion 2002 - The Biological Diversity Act is an act to provide for the conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of biological resources and knowledge associated with it Forest and wildlife 1927 - The Indian Forest Act and Amendment, 1984, is one of the many surviving colonial statutes. It was enacted to consolidate the law related to forest, the transit of forest produce, and the duty leviable on timber and other forest produce.

1972 - The Wildlife Protection Act, Rules 1973 and Amendment 1991 provides for the protection of birds and animals and for all matters that are connected to it whether it be their habitat or the waterhole or the forests that sustain them. 1980 - The Forest (Conservation) Act and Rules, 1981, provides for the protection of and the conservation of the forests. Water 1882 - The Easement Act allows private rights to use a resource that is, groundwater, by viewing it as an attachment to the land. It also states that all surface water belongs to the state and is a state property. 1897 - The Indian Fisheries Act establishes two sets of penal offences whereby the government can sue any person who uses dynamite or other explosive substance in any way (whether coastal or inland) with intent to catch or destroy any fish or poisonous fish in order to kill. 1956 - The River Boards Act enables the states to enroll the central government in setting up an Advisory River Board to resolve issues in inter-state cooperation. 1970 - The Merchant Shipping Act aims to deal with waste arising from ships along the coastal areas within a specified radius. 1974 - The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act establishes an institutional structure for preventing and abating water pollution. It establishes standards for water quality and effluent. Polluting industries must seek permission to discharge waste into effluent bodies. The CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) was constituted under this act. 1977 - The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act provides for the levy and collection of cess or fees on water consuming industries and local authorities. 1978 - The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Rules contains the standard definitions and indicate the kind of and location of meters that every consumer of water is required to affix. 1991 - The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification puts regulations on various activities, including construction, are regulated. It gives some protection to the backwaters and estuaries. Air 1948 The Factories Act and Amendment in 1987 was the first to express concern for the working environment of the workers. The amendment of 1987 has sharpened its environmental focus and expanded its application to hazardous processes. 1981 - The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act provides for the control and abatement of air pollution. It entrusts the power of enforcing this act to the CPCB. 1982 - The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Rules defines the procedures of the meetings of the Boards and the powers entrusted to them. 1982 - The Atomic Energy Act deals with the radioactive waste. 1987 - The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act empowers the central and state pollution control boards to meet with grave emergencies of air pollution. 1988 - The Motor Vehicles Act states that all hazardous waste is to be properly packaged, labeled, and transported.

Impact Analysis (Also known as Change Impact analysis and Solution effect analysis)
When things change in your organization, do you ever wish that someone would think things through a little better to avoid the confusion and disruption that often follows? Or have you ever been involved in a project where, with hindsight, a great deal of pain could have been avoided with a little more up-front preparation and planning? Hindsight is a wonderful thing but so, too, is Impact Analysis. This technique is a useful and severely under-used brainstorming technique that helps you think through the full impacts of a proposed change. As such, it is an essential part of the evaluation process for major decisions. More than this, it gives you the ability to spot problems before they arise, so that you can develop contingency plans to handle issues smoothly. This can make the difference between well-controlled and seemingly effortless project management, and an implementation that is seen by your boss, team, clients and peers as a shambles. Technology assessment Technology assessment is the study and evaluation of new technologies. It is based on the conviction that new developments within, and discoveries by, the scientific community are relevant for the world at large rather than just for the scientific experts themselves, and that technological progress can never be free of ethical implications. Also, technology assessment recognizes the fact that scientists normally are not trained ethicists themselves and accordingly ought to be very careful when passing ethical judgement on their own, or their colleagues, new findings, projects, or work in progress. Technology assessment assumes a global perspective and is future-oriented rather than backward-looking or anti-technological. ("Scientific research and science-based technological innovation is an indispensable prerequisite of modern life and civilization. There is no alternative. For six or eight billion people there is no way back to a less sophisticated life style"). TA considers its task as interdisciplinary approach to solving already existing problems and preventing potential damage caused by the uncritical application and the commercialization of new technologies. Therefore any results of technology assessment studies must be published, and particular consideration must be given to communication with political decision-makers. TECHNOLOGY IMPACT ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT Discipline that seeks, with the aid of various methods (e.g. listings of problems, objectives and means), to analyse the effects of technology on different areas of life and to avoid identifiable harmful or unwanted consequences or promote a human- and environment-

centred technology strategy. At present it comprises three component elements: technological forecasting, impact analysis and policy analysis, in which an attempt is made to take account of imponderables of future developments, particularly as regards the nature of the process of political and economic implementation. This is of special importance in the case of universally applicable technologies (e.g. microelectronics). The nature and impact of their use depend on how, in a given situation, the available elements are selected and combined with organization and human-related measures. Since the users concerned are, however, able to anticipate future developments in only an approximate fashion, there is an increased danger that all other considerations will be subordinated to whatever happen to be the dominant interests at the time. In the past, there was no institutionalized basis for technology impact analysis and assessment in the different advanced European countries like Germany. GBR etc., and it remained confined to ad hoc committees of inquiry. Nowadays, for instance, the Federal Parliament Committee for Research, Technology and Technology Impact Analysis has attached to it a corresponding Bureau, which is part of a Division of the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Centre, Federal Republic of Germany. Basically, it is only through the attitudes of the actors concerned that technology impact analysis has an effect on the shaping of industrial relations. Nevertheless, the "state of the art" concept has resulted in the introduction into statutes and technical standards of a normative entitlement to provision against risk that is linked to more than strictly technical possibilities.

Discussions on Human Centered Technology

Technologies that people use today are quite often difficult to use and do not fit to our way of doing things. We have to learn many types of user interfaces, new paradigms and tools, and understand many logical schemes before we are able to use technology. As humans we have different aims and goals, culture, habits, skills and knowledge. We can ask, what is human centered technology? Different users see and experience technology differently. Technology should also be adaptable. It should adapt to the user skills and level of knowledge and to the way the user uses the technology. When discovering new ways to use technologies, developers should always bear in mind the determinants of different users. From global perspective people are using more and more technology. Technology should be functional in different cultures, in different age groups and overall in different contexts. Technology should be considered as a tool that helps and simplifies normal human everyday processes. The whole usage context including the factors relating to the user, should define the characteristics of the technological solutions. The use of technology is not a value itself. The most important value in new technologies is the fact that user is able to accomplish his/her tasks effectively. Too often the design of technologies is dictated by the technologies themselves. Human centered technology can be understood as being technology that supports human actions in various usage contexts. The Subject matter of the discussion regarding Human-centered technology must consist

the following questions How do we get knowledge from the humans as the users of the technology? What are the challenges of this technology from the point of view of different disciplines? HUMAN- AND ENVIRONMENT-CENTRED TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY Concept signifying employee access to decision-making in the process of the development and selection of technologies in the work context. It constitutes an attempt to eliminate the situation where employees play no more than a purely reactive role in the introduction of new technologies, the practical implementation of process innovations and the manufacture of new products. The organization of such a strategy in the establishment requires, in particular, the appropriate knowledge and an extended degree of codetermination in the workplace. Well-tried models of the strategy exist in Scandinavia, where trade unions, in conjunction with scientists and work groups within the establishment, develop and test alternative production techniques on the basis of specific examples and then make them the subject of negotiation in the context of collective agreements and works agreements. In Federal Republic of Germany, the only instances as yet have been proposals for the conversion of armaments industries and a number of projects on process-related employee participation. The beginnings of such a strategy in practice are also to be found in the "Work and Technology" Action Programme. In recent years, the unions have been seeking to exert an influence on the design of technologies mainly in their bargaining policy, by means of agreements on protection against rationalization and wider-ranging collective agreements concluded as part of a qualitative bargaining policy. In addition, the institution of technology advisory services is intended to provide suggestions and assistance for establishment-level representatives and companies themselves in the design and use of technologies within the establishment. Assembly line An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which interchangeable parts are added to a product in a sequential manner to create a finished product. The assembly line was improved largely by Henry Ford and his engineers, Ford was also the first to build factories around the concept. It usually consists of each worker in control of one specific job and their work related movements are reduced to a minimum. History Until the 19th century, a single craftsman or team of craftsmen would create each part of a product individually, and assemble them together into a single item, making changes in the parts so that they would fit together - the so-called English System of manufacture. Eli Whitney developed the American System of manufacturing in 1799, using the ideas of division of labor and of engineering tolerance, to create assemblies from parts in a repeatable manner. Ransom Eli Olds patented the first assembly line concept which he put to work in his Olds Motor Vehicle Company factory in 1901, becoming the first company in America to mass-produce automobiles.

Henry Ford's engineers perfected the assembly line concept by 1913, and Ford was the first to build entire factories around the concept. Assembly line was an evolution at Ford by trial and error not any single event. It was a team effort consisting primarily of Peter E. Martin, the factory superintendent; Charles E. Sorensen, Martins assistant; C.Harold Wills, draftsman and toolmaker; Clarence W. Avery and Charles Lewis, a first line supervisor. They added the conveyer belt, and production by 1916 made over 700,000 model T's --twice the output of all competitors combined. The increased efficiency allowed Ford to cut prices in half, and in half again, selling the car for $360 in 1916, and $290 by 1924. He made 15 million model T's by 1927. He integrated the assembly line concept with many ideas from the Efficiency Movement, including the famous $5 day that attracted the best workers. Complex safety procedures --especially assigning each worker to a specific location instead of allowing them to roam about--dramatically reduced the rate of injury. The combination of high wages and high efficiency is called "Fordism," and was copied by most major industries. Sociological problems Some theoretical sociologists assumed that workers must have felt alienated from the product of their work. Actual studies of workers did not reveal the predicted alienation. Because workers had to stand in the same place for hours and repeat the same motion hundreds of times per day, some might have suffered from what are now called repetitive stress injuries, but Ford installed his own medical department with industrial nurses, and they reduced the accident and injury rate. Man Machine Interface The user interface is the aggregate of means by which people (the users) interact with a particular machine, device, computer program or other complex tool (the system). The user interface provides means of: Input, allowing the users to control the system Output, allowing the system to inform the users (also referred to as feedback)

Introduction To work with a system, the users need to be able to control the system and assess the state of the system. For example, when driving an automobile, the driver uses the steering wheel to control the direction of the vehicle, and the accelerator pedal, brake pedal and gearstick to control the speed of the vehicle. The driver perceives the position of the vehicle by looking through the windscreen and exact speed of the vehicle by reading the speedometer. The user interface of the automobile is on the whole composed of the instruments the driver can use to accomplish the tasks of driving and maintaining the automobile. The term user interface is often used in the context of computer systems and electronic devices. The user interface of a mechanical system, a vehicle or an industrial installation is often referred to as the human-machine interface (HMI). Older, not gender-neutral version of the term is man-machine interface (MMI). The abbreviation MMI is still in use, but is said to refer to mammal-machine interface. In science fiction, HMI or MMI is sometimes used to refer to what is better described as direct neural interface. However, this latter usage is seeing increasing application in the use of (medical) prostheses (e.g., cochlear implants).

Usability The design of a user interface affects the amount of effort the user must expend to provide input for the system and to interpret the output of the system, and how much effort it takes to learn how to do this. Usability is the degree to which the design of a particular user interface takes into account the human psychology and physiology of the users, and makes the process of using the system effective, efficient and satisfying. Usability is mainly a characteristic of the user interface, but is also associated with the functionalities of the product. It describes how well a product can be used for its intended purpose by its target users with efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction, also taking into account the requirements from its context of use. These functionalities or features are not always parts of the user interface (e.g. are you able to reverse with your car or not), yet they are key elements in the usability of a product. User interfaces in computing In computer science and human-computer interaction, the user interface (of a computer program) refers to the graphical, textual and auditory information the program presents to the user, and the control sequences (such as keystrokes with the computer keyboard, movements of the computer mouse, and selections with the touchscreen) the user employs to control the program. Automation: The art of making processes or machines self-acting or self-moving. Also pertains to the technique of making a device, machine, process or procedure more fully automatic. It is needed to industrialize processes, for higher throughput, greater reliability and often for cost- effectiveness. Automation is usually characterized by two major principles: (1) mechanization. ie machines are self-regulated so as to meet predetermined requirements (a simple example of self-regulation can be found in the operation of a thermostatically controlled furnace); (2) continuous process, ie production facilities are linked together, thereby integrating several separate elements of productive process into a unified whole. the replacement of human workers by machines; the automatic transfer and positioning of work by machines, or the automatic operation and control of a work process by machines, without significant human intervention or operation, in order to improve performance. Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated) or industrial automation or numerical control is the use of control systems such as computers to control industrial machinery and processes, replacing human operators. In the scope of industrialization, it is a step beyond mechanization, where human operators are provided with machinery to assist them with the physical requirements of work. History of automation Early machines were simple machines that substituted one form of effort with a more humanly manageable effort, as lifting a large weight with a system of pulleys or a lever. Later machines were also able to substitute natural forms of renewable energy, such as wind, tides, or flowing water, for human energy. The sailboat replaced the paddled or oared boat. Still later, early forms of automation were driven by clock type mechanisms or similar devices using some form of artificial power source a wound-up spring, channelled flowing

water, or steam to produce some simple, repetitive action, such as moving figures, making music, or playing games. Such early moving devices, featuring human-like figures, were known as automatons and date from perhaps 300 BC). In 1801, the patent was issued for the automated loom using punched cards. This invention by Joseph Marie Jacquard revolutionized the textile industry. The most visible part of modern automation can be said to be industrial robotics. Some advantages are repeatability, tighter quality control, higher efficiency, integration with business systems, increased productivity and reduction of labor. Some disadvantages are high capital requirements, severely decreased flexibility, and increased dependence on maintenance and repair. For example, Japan had to scrap many of its industrial robots when they were found to be incapable of adaptation to substantially changed production requirements and so not necessarily able to justify their high initial costs. By the middle of the 20th century, automation had existed for many years on a small scale, using simple mechanical devices to automate simple manufacturing tasks. However the concept only became truly practical with the addition (and evolution) of the digital computer, whose flexibility allowed it to drive almost any sort of task. Digital computers with the required combination of speed, computing power, price, and size first started to appear in the 1960s. Before that time, industrial computers were almost exclusively analog computers and hybrid computers. Since then digital computers have taken over control of the vast majority of simple, repetitive tasks, and ever more semi-skilled and skilled tasks, with some food production and inspection being a notable exception. As anonymous so famously remarked, "for very many rapidly changing tasks, it is difficult to replace human beings, who are so easily retrainable within a wide range of tasks and, moreover, so inexpensively produced by unskilled labor." There are still many jobs which are in no immediate danger of automation. No device has been invented which can match the human eye for accuracy and precision in many tasks; nor the human ear. Even the admittedly handicapped human is able to identify and distinguish among far more scents than any automated device. Human pattern recognition, and human language recognition and language production ability is well beyond anything currently envisioned by automation engineers. Specialised hardened computers, referred to as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), are frequently used to synchronize the flow of inputs from (physical) sensors and events with the flow of outputs to actuators and events. This leads to precisely controlled actions that permit a tight control of almost any industrial process. (It was these devices that were feared to be vulnerable to the "Y2K bug", with such potentially dire consequences, since they are now so ubiquitous throughout the industrial world.) Human-machine interfaces (HMI) or computer human interfaces (CHI), formerly known as man-machine interface]]s, are usually employed to communicate with PLCs and other computers, such as entering and monitoring temperatures or pressures for further automated control or emergency response. Service personnel who monitor and control these interfaces are often referred to as stationary engineers. Another form of automation involving computers is test automation, where computercontrolled automated test equipment is programmed to simulate human testers in manually

testing an application. This is often accomplished by using test automation tools to generate special scripts (written as computer programs) that direct the automated test equipment in exactly what to do in order to accomplish the tests. Social issues of automation Automation raises several important social issues. Among them is automation's impact on employment. Indeed, the Luddites were a social movement of English textile workers in the early 1800s who protested against Jacquard's automated weaving looms often by destroying such textile machines that they felt threatened their jobs. Since then, the term luddite has come to be applied freely to anyone who is against any advance of technology. Some argue automation leads to higher employment. One author made the following case. When automation was first introduced, it caused widespread fear. It was thought that the displacement of human workers by computerized systems would lead to severe unemployment. In fact, the opposite has often been true, e.g., the freeing up of the labor force allowed more people to enter higher skilled jobs, which are typically higher paying. One odd side effect of this shift is that "unskilled labor" now benefits in many "First-world" nations, because fewer people are available to fill such jobs. Some, such as technocrats, argue the reverse, at least in the long term. They argue that automation has only just begun and short-term conditions might partially obscure its longterm impact. Many manufacturing jobs left the United States during the early 1990s, but a one-time massive increase in IT jobs, at the same time, offset this. It appears that automation does devalue labor through its replacement with less-expensive machines; however, the overall effect of this on the workforce as a whole remains unclear. Today automation of the workforce is quite advanced, and continues to advance increasingly more rapidly throughout the world and is encroaching on ever more skilled jobs, yet during the same period the general wellbeing of most people in the world (where political factors have not muddied the picture) has increased dramatically. What role automation has played in these changes has not been well studied. One irony is that in recent years, outsourcing has been blamed for the loss of jobs in which automation is the more likely culprit. This argument is supported by the fact that in the U.S., the number of insourced jobs is increasing at a greater rate than those outsourced. Further, the rate of decline in U.S. manufacturing employment is no greater than the worldwide average: 11 percent between 1995 and 2002. In the same period, China, which has been frequently U.S. Millions of human telephone operators and answerers, throughout the world, have been replaced wholly (or almost wholly) by automated telephone switchboards and answering machines (not Indians or Chinese). Thousands of medical personnel have been replaced in many medical tasks from 'primary' screeners in electrocardiography or radiography, to laboratory analyses of human genes, serum, cells, and tissues by automated systems. Even doctors have been partly replaced by remote, automated robots and by highly sophisticated surgical robots that allow them to perform remotely and at levels of accuracy and precision otherwise not possible. See Robot doctors and Surgical robots. criticized for "stealing" American manufacturing jobs, lost 15 million manufacturing jobs of its own (about 15% of its total), compared with 2 million lost in the

Current emphases in automation Currently, for manufacturing companies, the purpose of automation has shifted from increasing productivity and reducing costs, to broader issues, such as increasing quality and flexibility in the manufacturing process. The old focus on using automation simply to increase productivity and reduce costs was seen to be short-sighted, because it is also necessary to provide a skilled workforce who can make repairs and manage the machinery. Moreover, the initial costs of automation were high and often could not be recovered by the time entirely new manufacturing processes replaced the old. (Japan's "robot junkyards" were once world famous in the manufacturing industry.) Automation is now often applied primarily to increase quality in the manufacturing process, where automation can increase quality substantially. For example, automobile and truck pistons used to be installed into engines manually. This is rapidly being transitioned to automated machine installation, because the error rate for manual installment was around 1-1.5%, but has been reduced to 0.00001% with automation. Hazardous operations, such as oil refining, the manufacturing of industrial chemicals, and all forms of metal working, were always early contenders for automation. Another major shift in automation is the increased emphasis on flexibility and convertibility in the manufacturing process. Manufacturers are increasingly demanding the ability to easily switch from manufacturing Product A to manufacturing Product B without having to completely rebuild the production lines. Safety issues of automation One safety issue with automation is that while it is often viewed as a way to minimize human error in a system, increasing the degree and levels of automation also increases the consequences of error. For example, The Three Mile Island nuclear event was largely due to over-reliance on "automated safety" systems. Unfortunately, in the event, the designers had never anticipated the actual failure mode which occurred, so both the "automated safety" systems and their human overseers were innundated with vast amounts of largely irrelevant information. With automation we have machines designed by (fallible) people with high levels of expertise, which operate at speeds well beyond human ability to react, being operated by people with relatively more limited education (or other failings, as in the Bhopal disaster or Chernobyl disaster). Ultimately, with increasing levels of automation over ever larger domains of activities, when something goes wrong the consequences rapidly approach the catastrophic.