Social Impact Assessment for ICT †Free Samples for Students

Question: What is the Social Impact Assessment for ICT? Answer: Introducation The social impact assessment in this report focuses on the analysis of nanotechnology and its importance. The report specifically looks at the boom that can be created by nanotechnology if used and developed properly. It is possible to build complex structures with the atomic precision and it is possible with the help of nanotechnology. If nanotechnology is achieved once, it will be enable in development of highly advanced products at lower costs in bulk. Further, when nano-factories will acquire the producing ability of other nano-factories, the production then only is restricted by resources and not by any other means. The social impact assessment looked specifically at the nanotechnology which is described as below- Nanotechnology - It is the field of science and technology. It has been discovered by scientists that material at all dimensions can have different properties in comparison to the same materials at large scale. It can result in endless possibilities of improved devices, materials and structures if we will be able to create understanding of these differences and be able to learn the controlling mechanism of the assembly of small structures (Rathbun and Heally, 2005; Azoulay, Senjen and Foladori 2012). Below are the physical, logical, procedural and social elements of nanotechnology- The physical structure of nanoparticles is that these particles have large surface area because of which they are unique, which leads to the domination of contributions that are made by the small bulk of materials. The nanoparticles are red in color. Gold nanoparticles can melt at low temperatures when compared to gold slabs. Also, in photovoltaic cells the absorption of solar radiation is much higher in nanoparticles as the particles are very small and are able to absorb a greater amount of solar radiation(Mandal 2017). The logical structure of nanoparticles is that they have large surface area to volume ratio which means that the aggregated surface area of the material is much larger than the corresponding bulk material which is having the same mass. As most chemical reactions happen at the surface, it leads to much higher chemical activity (GreenFacts 2017). The social aspect of nanotechnology has contributed towards major changes in the global economy and way of living. But these nanotechnologies pose threats and many uncertainties to the society. This is because the risk which accompanied with their uses is very uncertain. Moreover, their potential social and economic effects also raise questions on their uses with regard to the equity and fairness as many of them are difficult to anticipate (Center for Nanotechnology 2017). Analyze the Ethical Issues The following analysis will highlight the ethical issues associated with the nanotechnology. The analysis will outline the areas of specific concerns which needs to be addressed resulting in advantages of resolving the ethical issues and specific concerns. No matter how successful an innovation is or how useful a technology is, every innovation and technology has to face some issues associated with it whether technical, political, social, ethical or many more. The section highlights some ethical issues in nanotechnology which are in immediate need to be addressed as they may result in risks and turn out in having adverse effects thereby. The concept of nanotechnology is fuzzy and diverse and is currently on great hype. So, it is correct to divide ethical issues into general and specific issues. Specific issues of nanotechnology arise out of applications, technological products and research processes and also the processes of manufacturing right from the laboratory scale to industrial scale. General issues arise out of the way in which programs of nanotechnology are launched, governed and controlled and also depend on the situation in broader societal and scientific concepts. Nanotechnology possesses promising benefits and beneficial results for society and also contributes to the well-being of the humanity as a whole in the case if ethical issues are considered and resolved timely. Specific issues Associated environmental and health issues in new materials- In the current scenario, the most important and urgent issues is the associated environmental and health risks of nano particles. This is due to a substantial gap between transnational and national regulations. It is known from several years that particles having identical chemical position have different properties which depend on their shape and size in the range of nanometer. This further includes thermodynamic, optical, mechanical, electromagnetic, biological, chemical and catalytic properties and also the way in which these particles travel and migrate in the environment and with the help of biological membranes. So it states that a substance can pass the tests of toxicity required for new chemicals in a case the tests are being performed on large particles, despite the fact that small particles of identical substance are toxic in nature. Control issues of new devices- Many nanotechnology aims at making electronic computing devices that should be smaller and faster in nature. In addition to this, devices which are used for emission and signal detection, storage and collection of solar energy, chemical, mechanical, and electrical operations, all are miniaturized at micro level. All these technologies together are able to provide toolbox for various devices and systems of devices which are able to perform complex tasks with utmost autonomy. Because of the reason that many technologies are involved in toolbox extension, it has been called enabling technologies and these results in ethical issues about devices. The new devices may cause changes, get into privacy and can build up a surveillance system with are not detectable or the devices may perform quasi-autonomous decisions, devices may interact with each other and in result, their behavior becomes uncontrollable and unpredictable. In such cases, ethical issues arise w hen devices get uncontrollable and harm humans without the existence of anyone who can be blamed and held responsible for the harm. General issues Ethics education for science students- Education shift implies that at the graduate level in the field of engineering and science, it is necessary to integrate ethics components in science education. In addition to this, ethics education is a way more important and mandatory for engineering students, but not for science education because recent considerations are made for the scientists to perform neutral ethical research. For these reasons, education for ethics must be playing a major role at least in all the field of nanotechnologies. Technology governance- In many countries, there is a problematic trend in national and international policy of science due to the exemplification of the recent launch of national nanotechnology initiative. It undermines the models of deliberative and democratic making of decisions. Because of the buzzword nanotechnology many diverse technologies tend to disregard and resulting to the situation of which nanotechnology to support and which not. Hype has been generated of this term without analyzing the pros and cons of each technology involved. These have led to the creation of exaggerated hopes and fears in the minds of the public that undermines technology assessment. Many countries have jumped on the bandwagon, instead of allowing participation of citizen in making decisions. This is because to avoid the fear of being left behind from other countries. (Schummer 2007)(United States National Nanotechnology Initiative 2017)(Wolfson 2003) Identified risks Nano pollutants are the nanoparticles which are very small and can easily enter the lungs or can be absorbed by the skin of a human being. They can be natural or man-made. The highest risk is to the workers in the research and manufacturing process of nanotechnology. The technology can lead to privacy invasion as it includes virtually undetectable surveillance devices which lead to increasingly spy on governments, private citizens and corporations. It leads economic upheaval as molecular manufacturing includes assembling of products and one molecule at a time. It makes the product more precisely and low cost and leads to the confusion of whether it proves to a boom or bust to the global economy. Nanotech weapons can be possibly very small in size and are untraceable weapons which are made up of nanotechnology and they can be much smaller than the size of an insect with the help of the intelligence of a super computer. It can further lead to possible bio and nano technology arms race. (NAP 2011, FutureForAll 2017, Wright 2016) Identified benefits Nanotechnology can benefit the energy sector as it can transform the ways in which the energy has been obtained and used by us. It will make economical solar energy as it will be helpful in reducing construction cost of solar panel and other related equipment. It will open up new and innovative methods of storing and generating energy. It has the potential to bring major advantage in medicines as nanobots can be sent to the patients arteries to clear many blockages. Surgeries will become accurate and faster and will lead to repairing of injuries cell by cell. Damaged genes can be fixed, drug production can be refined, drugs can be tailored at a molecular level with the objective of making them effective and reducing the associated side effects. All this can be done by using nanotechnology. Once the availability and need of nanotechnology increase it will lead to low cost manufacturing of products thus making the products to be available at low cost and will be helpful in creating economic upheaval. (Nanogloss 2017)(Edwards 2017)(Nano phere 2014) Framework for Social Opportunity and Impact Risk Assessment (Huff and Martin 1995) Topics of Ethical Analysis Responsibility Ethical Issues Individual Professional Quality of Life Use of Power Risks Reliability Property Rights Privacy Equity Access Honesty Deception Levels of Social Analysis Individuals X X X X Communities Groups X X X Organisations X X X X X Cultures X X X Institutional Sectors X X X Nations X X X X X X Global X X X Social opportunity and impact risk assessment Likelihood of Occurring Likely to occur if creation of nanotechnology weapons is successful and possible. Nano and bio technology arms race. Uncontrollable and unpredictable behaviour of nanotechnology devices. Privacy invasion as a spy on governments, private citizens and corporations. Can likely to occur when it is going to gain recognition. Economic upheaval as it leads to the confusion of boom or bust to the global economy. Likely to occur as the particles are very small. Nano pollutants can easily enter lungs and can be absorbed by the skin. LOW LOW Opportunity / Impact / Consequence HIGH Incidental Minor Significant Major Severe Local, small-scale, easily reversible change on social characteristics or values of the communities of interest or communities can easily adapt or cope with change. Local small-scale opportunities emanating from the project that the community can readily pursue and capitalize on. Short-term recoverable changes to social characteristics and values of the communities of interest or community have substantial capacity to adapt and cope with change. Short-term opportunities emanating from the project. Medium-term recoverable changes to social characteristics and values of the communities of interest or community have some capacity to adapt and cope with change. Medium-term opportunities emanating from the project. Long-term recoverable changes to social characteristics and values of the communities of interest or community have limited capacity to adapt and cope with change. Long-term opportunities emanating from the project Irreversible changes to social characteristics and values of the communities of interest or community have no capacity to adapt and cope with change. Legend: Low Social Impact or Opportunity Medium Social Impact or Opportunity High Social Impact or Opportunity Table 2 - Social opportunity and risk categorisation Social impact assessment guideline Recommendations In line with the above stated general and specific ethical issues, some recommendations are drawn so that the identified concerns of ethical issues can be resolved for better results to the business, people and society. Below are some of the recommendations which can help in resolving the ethical issues of nanotechnology for a better future in the field of technology- Products that are based on nanoparticles and nanostructured composites are already available in the market and some of them are in the pipeline, it is recommended that there is a need to define new standards with the objective of safety testing concerns of these products and their erosion and also these standards should be made basic for new regulations. Moreover, there is a need to conduct a research in nanoparticle toxicology as it was a type of much too long neglected research. In addition to this, research has to be conducted in the methods for making nanoparticles safe by encapsulation and surface treatment. With the objective of coping up and addressing the issue of control and responsibility over new nanotechnology devices, it is recommended that strict regulations are required to be introduced which will help in defining the level of necessary control possessed by the human. The scope will be defining the level of tasks allowed by devices and will also assign clear reporting responsibilities to the users and producers of nanotechnology devices. It is also recommended that the new devices which are being developed have to be accompanied with methods and instruments which can further help in disabling and detecting these nanotechnology devices. IT is also recommended that ethics education should be made compulsory in science education so that students of all the countries are well aware of the ethical concerns of technology specifically nanotechnology right from the beginning. It is also recommended that rather giving so much hype to the term nanotechnology it is necessary to evaluate the pros and cons of diverse technologies involved in the fuzziness of this diverse term. It is also recommended that there is a need to assess the world economic impact of each and every nanotechnology, in a case any country is affected, they have to prepare themselves well in advance and respond to RD and economic programs. The affected countries should focus on the RD which helps in making use of their domestic resources. It is recommended that the countries should research technological substitutes of the technologies which depend on their resources with the objective of tapping the economic effects those substitutes can have. Readers Guide Information and communication Technology professionals are the intended audience of this document and it is possible assuming that some relevant background of nanotechnology is known to the readers. However, in line with the readers who are not much aware of the topic will be able to know what nanotechnology is all about after having a glimpse of this section. Reference 1- (Rathbun and Cornell, What is Nanotechnology? 2005) Reference 2- (Nanowerk 2017) Reference 3- (Filipponi and Sutherland 2017) All the above listed citation will help the reader in guiding what nanotechnology is all about, what does it mean, the history of nanotechnology, applications and implications of nanotechnologies, its benefits to the environment, society, energy sector, and information and communication technology. From reading the above listed references, one will be able to have sufficient knowledge about what nanotechnology is and what is its importance in the modern society and technology field. Methodology The methodology used to create this social impact assessment is that secondary research and secondary data have been used to collect data and information about the nanotechnology. We have used secondary research as it is refined, precise, accurate and up to date. Secondary data allows using precise information and there is no involvement of fake data and knowledge to be posted online which has helped us in creating a report with most accurate data and information up to our best knowledge. References Azoulay, David, Rye Senjen, and Guillermo Foladori. 2012. Social and Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology Development in the Asia Pacific Region. IPEN. Center for Nanotechnology . 2017. Nanotechnology Society. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.cns.ucsb.edu/about/nanotechnology-society. Edwards, Clare. 2017. Advantages Disadvantages of Nanotechnology. Accessed May 11, 2017. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-nanotechnology-37398.html. Filipponi, Luisa, and Duncan Sutherland. 2017. "Nano Technologies." FutureForAll. 2017. Nanotechnology Risks. Accessed May 11, 2017. https://googleweblight.com/i?u=https://www.futureforall.org/nanotechnology/risks.htmgrqid=z2VJvZEkhl=en-IN. GreenFacts. 2017. What are the physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles? Accessed May 12, 2017. https://copublications.greenfacts.org/en/nanotechnologies/l-3/3-nanoparticle-properties.htm#0p0. Mandal, Dr Ananya. 2017. Properties of Nanoparticles. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/Properties-of-Nanoparticles.aspx. Nano phere. 2014. Nanotechnology and nanomaterials. Accessed may 11, 2017. https://nanosphere.gu.se/nanotechnology---benefits-and-risks. Nanogloss. 2017. Advantages and Disadvantages of Nanotechnology. Accessed May 11, 2017. https://nanogloss.com/nanotechnology/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-nanotechnology/#axzz4gn7hjTTC. Nanowerk. 2017. What is nanotechnology? Definition. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology/introduction/introduction_to_nanotechnology_1.php. NAP. 2011. Risks Associated with Nanotechnology. Accessed may 11, 2017. https://googleweblight.com/i?u=https://www.nap.edu/read/13037/chapter/5grqid=gwYHWT3shl=en-IN. Rathbun, Lynn, and Cornell. 2005. What is Nanotechnology? june. Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.nnin.org/news-events/spotlights/what-nanotechnology. Rathbun, Lynn, and Nancy Heally. 2005. "What Is Nanotechnology?" Accessed May 12, 2017. https://www.seas.virginia.edu/admin/diversity/k12/files/NNIN-What-Is-Nanotechnology.pdf. Schummer, Joachim. 2007. "Identifying Ethical Issues of Nanotechnologies." Nanotechnologies, Ethics, and Politics. 79-98. United States National Nanotechnology Initiative. 2017. Ethical, legal and socitel issues. Accessed May 11, 2017. https://www.nano.gov/you/ethical-legal-issues. Wolfson, Joel Rothstein. 2003. Social and Ethical Issues in Nanotechnology: Lessons from Biotechnology and Other High Technologies. Mary Ann Liebert. Wright, Paul FA. 2016. "Potential risks and benefits of nanotechnology: perceptions of risk in sunscreens." The Medical Journal of Australia 204 (10): 369-370. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2016/204/10/potential-risks-and-benefits-nanotechnology-perceptions-risk-sunscreens.