“Based on your exploration, try to summarise in 400 words what you know and think about the influence of technology on society in general and specifically on organisations. What are some of the main points organisations have to consider that they may not have had to consider in the past?”
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I have experienced the evolution of technology firsthand, from a clunky, shared computer in primary school to a smartphone that enables constant connectivity to the world around me through Web 2.0. Our devices are getting smarter, but our expectations for what technology must achieve are increasing. At the bare minimum, organisations must have a webpage that is easily identifiable in search engine results, provides easy communication, and has a social media page. For the 85.4% of Australians that use a smartphone to search the Internet (Consuegra, 2023), websites must also have the functionality to be viewed on different-sized devices or risk clients closing your page in favour of a competitor.
As well as expectations from technology users as to what organisations should be providing for them, service providers are increasingly moving their operations online (such as Centrelink, Telstra or any bank) and expecting their clients to all have access to a computer and have digital skills to complete the tasks required of them such as an uploading a form or paying a bill. The reality that I see every day working in a public library is that people are being left behind as the technology is not accessible to them. This “digital divide” was also highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic when students sat in cars outside shopping centres to access Wi-Fi to attend their online classes.
Moving services online can save organisations money as computers pick up more of the work but there are safety risks involved with having enormous amounts of people’s data on the internet, just ask Optus or Medibank. Organisations must provide security for clients’ financial and personal details and have a clear policy on how they store (or sell) these details to third parties.
The influence of technology on interpersonal skills is concerning, I believe it has lowered people’s ability to communicate verbally due to the prevalence of email and instant messaging. Organisations need to consider how they communicate with their clients in a world where one misstep can be broadcast over social media and their reputation destroyed. Is their messaging inclusive, can is be understood by people with English as a second language? Are there assistive technologies available to help people interact with an organisation? Users expect technology to be accessible to them and make their lives easier, not harder, and I think organisations need to consider that to be effective.
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References
Consuegra, H. (2023). Australian mobile data usage statistics 2023. Red Search. https://tinyurl.com/yc342c9b
You make an excellent point about the influence of technology on interpersonal skills. Although I am aware of the issue, I have never seriously considered its impact on information organisations.