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Executive Vice President's Message
Technology... and Change?
The system of nature, of which man is a part, tends to be self-balancing, self-adjusting, self-cleansing. Not so with technology.
—E. F. Schumacher, British Economist
We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology.
—Carl Sagan
It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day's toil of any human being.
—John Stuart Mill
I've finally succumbed to temptation and bought a BlackBerry. It was a practical decision, given that I’m traveling more these days, and it enables me to stay in touch with our volunteer leadership, on their schedules. The downside: it also enables me to receive “spam” faster, and to be seldom disconnected from work.
It occurs to me how the continual advancements in technology change our lives in some ways, and, in others, not at all. Do we enjoy life any more than we did 20 years ago, before the Internet, cell phones and BlackBerrys? Are we truly more productive?
I don’t fundamentally believe our basic time management issues have changed. Workaholics twenty years ago are the same as workaholics today. I do believe we produce a much higher volume of work today—but I sometimes wonder if we are any more productive.
At CLSI, as at many of your work environments, we have the pleasure and the burden of adopting technology for efficiency at the staff office. Here, staying on the leading edge of technology is also part of the work we do in standards development, as technology applies to our new and emerging standards and products including Automation, Point-Of-Care, and Molecular Methods Area Committee projects, to name but a few. As the quotes above note, technology is, by nature, disruptive, and not always self-balancing. But it’s also true that ignoring it doesn’t change matters.
As always, please feel free to e-mail me your thoughts anytime. My BlackBerry is on.
Glen
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