Anandhi Narayanan
When I think about my life alone and how much technology has changed – it’s amazing. Take the telephone, for example. Being born in the mid 70s, I have seen the introduction of the cordless phone, the cell phone, the smartphone and the smartwatch. All made possible because of advancements in technology, which is moving at a faster and faster pace. For the longest time, the impact for me was a psychological debate on how to properly balance technology to aid our lives. And as a mom, it was about making sure my kids spent enough time playing outside rather than on devices.
In 2014, I broadened my view on technology’s impact, largely because I was trying to grasp what was driving youth unemployment. As I probed more deeply into the issue, what became most apparent was that all these disruptions in technology were only continuing to happen at a faster pace. Innovation is taking place faster than it ever has before. Which means nothing really lasts for long in the market before something new overtakes it.
How are we able to innovate so fast? It’s because technology has become more accessible which has opened up the marketplace for innovation beyond massive corporations. Big companies buy products or services that have sufficient market value. At the same time, large companies are looking for technology that reduces costs through automation.
Traditional jobs are changing and new types of jobs are arising. The challenge our society is faced with is that these jobs are hard to predict. They are hard to predict because the change is happening so fast. What we know is that technology has managed to become in the fabric of everything. Technology is not a fad, it’s here to stay.
So whether it’s to bring new products to the market place, or to help reduce costs of operations by leveraging technology, my perspective on technology has shifted towards realizing that my kids and our youth need to learn technology in order to stay relevant in the future economy.
As a mom, I have added technology making to my suite of extra-curricular activities. My kids play sports, learn music and take coding or tech-making classes. For the first time, I hired a web developer to teach my son web development. I hope other parents begin to realize that readying their youth for tomorrow extends past learning traditional subjects and that exposure to tech is not only about using devices, but about creating as well.
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