Emerging Tech, Business Transformation, and all that jazz.. My tryst with technology!
An Introductory Greeting
Firstly, a huge thank you to Anna and the Women Tech Conference for inviting me and helping me coordinate this event. I'm Ne Harika, a rising junior at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, majoring in mechanical engineering. I'm thrilled to be here today, with such an incredible group of women, discussing our shared passion for technology. As a newcomer to these types of events, please bear with me as I navigate through this new experience.
The Impact of Technology on Our Lives
Today, let's delve into my journey of growing up amidst rapid technological advancements. But before we dive in, I'd like you all to participate in a small exercise. Close your eyes and think about your dreams. When you dream at night, what scenarios present themselves? What emotions do you feel? Hold onto those thoughts as we move through our session. You'll find their relevance as we proceed.
Modern World, Modern Connections
We live in a world divided by technological access. Some have smartphones, others do not. Some were born before the year 2000; others were welcomed to the world after. Even conservation efforts split people into two types: those who remember to switch off their lights and those who forget. As per a recent survey, 4 in 10 people still do not have access to modern technology. In contrast, those who do leverage it to stay connected with families, friends, and colleagues, transforming how we network and interact.
Technology's Twofold Influence
Modern technology has indisputably revolutionized how we communicate and interact globally, contributing to a process of globalization that has fundamentally altered modern society in both positive and negative ways. Being a latter-day innovation, the internet has been a critical catalyst in this revolution, aiding businesses in reaching international consumers, allowing families and friends to connect regardless of geographical boundaries, and democratizing access to information.
A Study in the Impact of Technology on Dreams
Remember the dreams you were contemplating? An interesting study conducted in 2008 by the University of Dundee in Scotland draws parallels between our dreams and technology exposure. Participants were split into two groups: adults above 55 and those between 18 and 30. Intriguingly, many of the older adults who grew up with black-and-white television reportedly had dreams in monochrome, whereas the younger participants, having grown up with colored TVs and digital media, had colored dreams. This reveals a startling impact of technology on our subconscious, where it shapes even our dreams.
Final Thoughts and Reflection
While technology has rapidly evolved over the past few decades, it's critical for each of us to reflect on its influences and impacts. The most critical, in my opinion, is the advent and popularization of the internet. With this in mind, think about how technology has shaped your life experiences and even your dreams. By understanding its effects, we can better navigate our relationship with technology and leverage it to better our lives.
Question and Answers
If anyone has any questions or would like to share their insights or experiences, please feel free to voice them. Feel free to connect with me on Linkedin or other social media channels to continue the discussion around technology's impact on our lives.
Closing Remarks
Thank you again for joining us today. Your presence and participation have enriched this conversation. Here's to many more such engaging discussions on technology and its impact. Have a fantastic evening. Goodbye.
Video Transcription
Uh So let's get started. Uh Before I begin, I want to give a huge shout out to Anna as well as the women tech conference for having me and for helping me sort out all the logistics. So thank you so much for that.So, uh before I begin, I want to give everyone a little introduction of myself. So, hello, everyone. I am Ne Harika, a rising junior at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. My major is mechanical engineering and I'm super excited to learn and educate here today with so many uh cool women here. Uh Before I begin, I just wanna say that I'm very new to the whole conference uh structure and everything. So please uh go easy on me and don't judge me. I um so today I plan to go about discussing my trust for technology being a Y2K baby. Uh Before I begin, I want to actually uh give you guys an activity so that we can engage better. So the activity is that I want you all to just close your eyes. And as I uh continue to have this discussion, I want you to think about your dreams. What do you dream about at night? What do you think? What do you dream about? What do those dreams consist of? So, I want you to just think about the dreams that you have at night. Uh And you'll understand the significance of this at the end, but just keep that in mind, think about it as I'm giving you this talk.
So now let me segue into a little bit of uh poetry to help you understand what I'm trying to say. Uh There are two types of people, those who have a smartphone and those who don't. There are two types of people, those born before 2000 and those after, there are two types of people, those who raise their hands and others who raise their voices. There are two types of people, those who make use of technology and others that get used by that technology. There are two types of people, those who switch off the light to conserve energy and others that forget to switch off the light. There are two types of people, those that cater to the needs and others that cater to the ones. There are two types of people, those that care for the planet and others that do not. There are two types of people that are connected and those that are yet to be connected. If you know that four in 10 people do not have any technology, which means that 40% of the people on this planet are still uh inaccessible to the technology that we currently are. All right. So living in a modern world, our lives are made easier through the use of technology. The ability to keep in touch with family, business associates and having access to email are just a few reasons why we rely on our digital resources.
But what happens when it breaks or malfunctions? What do we do then? From the time it was founded, modern technology has had one goal in mind, providing professional quality work and strong commitment to customer satisfaction. Modern technology has revolutionized the way people all over the world communicate and interact. This revolution has led to a system of globalization which has fundamentally changed modern society in both good and bad ways. The most important technological uh change over the past 20 years is the advent of and popularization of the internet. The internet connects billions of people around the world um and allow the type of connectivity in ways which the world has never seen. Companies are able to do business with consumers from the country. Instantaneously, friends and families are able to talk to one another and see each other regardless of location and information sits at the fingertips of every person with a computer tablet or phone. Now, with that being said, do you remember at the beginning? I asked if it was simple exercise of thinking of your dreams, what these dreams consist of? What do you dream about? Who is in your dream, et cetera, et cetera. So, uh now that's where this whole thing comes into play. In 2008. A study was conducted by the Scotland Dun Dundee University.
So what they did is they made two categories, they categorized adults above the age of 55 into one block and the adults in the age group of 18 to 30 in another block. Now, what they asked them to do is so we are aware that people who are above the age of 55 uh grew up in a household with a black and white TV set, they did not have access to visiting media instantly or at a very young age. But if you think about those in the age group of, let's say 18 to 30 they, we are the ones who have actually grown up with television in our homes, color television in our homes. We have digital media. So what they observed is that those above the age of 55 actually uh had black and white dreams or some of their dreams were actually black and white because that's how they grew up with technology. They were severely impacted with the technology in in their childhood with the black and white TV. So a lot of their dreams are actually black and white. Whereas if you look at the 18 to 30 a young adults or the younger part, their dreams were actually colored because ever since they were born or since their childhood, they had access to color TV, colored pictures, the digital media, etcetera, etcetera.
So from this, we understand that this is how technology has impacted their dream. The severe impact of technology, not only on their lives, but even when they are disconnecting, disengaging, even then we see how the technology has impacted them. So what I want you to do now is think about how technology has really impacted you in both good and bad ways and how it has been impacting your dreams. Thank you so much. Now I am opening the floor up uh for questions in case anybody has some uh like I mentioned, the most important technology in my view is definitely the development of the internet. The internet is something that connects you to various resources. And therefore, according to me, the most important technology in my view is the internet. Uh OK, so if there are no further questions, I guess we can end it here. Uh Thank you so much. I would love to connect with you all further over linkedin or other social media. Uh Thank you so much for joining again today. Thank you for being here. Uh Thank you. Uh Have a great evening. Bye.
