Technology Adoption
Today, we are seeing the impact of globalization in many places. The economic crisis in Greece, Spain, and Portugal is beginning to spread to others European countries and soon to the world. Few years ago, the financial crisis in the U.S. spread to Europe and impacted their economies; it is now spreading to Asia where China and India are being impacted. When trading slowdown, when people stop buying, the key driver for economic growth lost its momentum, companies shut down and many people lose their jobs. Most people only see globalization as an economic force but few understand that the root of globalization is technology. With the application of Information Technology (IT) such as the Internet, smart phones and online business, many things will change as more technologies will be introduced in the next few years and the pace of change will continue to accelerate.
Globalization can provide opportunities for economic growth or decay depends upon the adoption of technology or the failure to response to it. In this fast changing world, inaction or failure to act is the key factor preventing economic growth. Without growth, there are few opportunities and fewer jobs. As the global world is opening to more competitions, every country must deal with the issue of technology adoption. For example, automated machines and robots are replacing labor workers so the demand for labor workers is decreasing but the need of technology workers is increasing. Innovation such as genetic modified crops is increasing agriculture productivity and shifts the balance of food supplies power in favor of few countries in the global market. New innovated drugs can eradicate some diseases, keep people live longer but increase the cost of healthcare and the demand for healthcare workers.
Technology adoption requires new thinking, new education, and new skills. Because the skills to succeed today are different from the skills in the past, adopting technology requires knowledge from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). It means the education system must change quickly to develop a new generation of knowledge workers. These highly educated workers will be the fuel for economic growth and jobs creation. Without them, there will be no hope to overcome the global economic force. The big question is how does the technology adoption work?
The typical adoption of technology goes through four phases: Awareness, Understanding, Acceptance, and Support. If you do not know about technology, you will not adopt it; in this phase, communication is the most important factor to let people know about the technology. If you do not understand technology, you will not adopt it; in this phase, education is the most important factor to train people technology skills. If you do not see the benefits of technology, you will not adopt it; in this phase leaderships is the most important factor to set direction for technology adoption. If you do not support the adoption of a technology, it will not happen; in this phase funding, investing and monitoring of the adoption process are important. The last phase is the critical phase as it determines success or failure of technology adoption. Many companies often failed in this phase because it is easy to let people know about technology, train them on technology, or talk about the benefits but without management leaderships and oversight, it will NOT happen. History is full of stories about failure to change when technology change.
Technology adoption is a process determined by members of a company or a society. The rate of the adoption is depending on the awareness, understanding, acceptance and support of those members. According to Dr. Everett Rogers, there are five types of people who have influence on technology adoption: The Innovators are scientists who invent or pursue the technology. The Early Adopters are people who have vision about what technology can do and want to adopt it to benefits society. The Early Majority are conservative people who may understand the benefits but rather wait until the technology is well established before adopt it. These people are more concerned with money and do not want to do anything until they are sure of their own benefits. The Late Majority are followers who do not understand or care about technology but follows direction and accept whatever come their way. The Laggards are people who do not want to change or adopt anything for variety of reasons. They just want to maintain their own status and refuse to do anything that may impact their position. They always hold on to their belief and ideas regardless.
Dr. Geoffrey Moore conducted research on technology adoption in large companies and found that there was a big gap between the visionary (early adopter) and the conservative (early majority). The visionary are enthusiastic about the benefits but do not have the mean to make it happens. The conservative are concerned with financial and often delay any change until they are sure of their own financial success. They want to wait until new technology is established so they can be sure for their success. Dr. Moore concluded: “If the gap between visionary and conservative is too big, adoption will not happen. If it takes longer time, the opportunity will be lost.” He advocated that the best way for technology adoption is to focus on bridging the gap between the visionary and the conservative because the Followers will always follow and the Laggards will never change.
Today there is a new generation of young people who has grown up with technology. They know about technology as well as understand the benefits so technology adoption can happen much faster if there are opportunities. Young people are quickly to adopt new thing and they must be encouraged to develop opportunities for themselves because the future belong to them. The main obstacle is proper education and training as without the needed skills, the opportunity will be lost.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
