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TECHNOLOGY

How technology changes

the world and the opportunity

for Open 5G

By Christiaan Schultz, Now Media Intern

COVID-disruption versus tech disruption technology changes the world, then
Prof Brian Armstong, keynote speaker at the NEC XON 5G OpenRAN Event, aims to we can think how we can respond in a
answer the question: “How can you talk about technological disruption when the biggest constructive, profitable way.”
disruption the world has seen for the last half-century has been COVID?” He used Carlota Perez’ five techno-
He uses the metaphor of the boiling frog to describe and compare the disruptions. economic paradigms (TEPs) to tackle
“If you take a frog and throw it into a pot of boiling water it will jump out, because the this question. The first TEP is the
shock in the temperature difference will cause it to react and jump out and it will be Industrial Revolution, the second is the
okay. But if you take a frog and put it in a pot of cold water and bring the pot slowly to Age of Steam and Railways, and the
the boil, because the frog is cold-blooded, it will not notice the temperature change, it third the Age of Steel, Electricity and
will not jump out and it will boil to death.” Heavy Engineering. The fourth and fifth
“COVID disruption is a bit like taking our businesses and throwing them TEP is the Age of Oil, the Automobile
into the pot of boiling water, and our businesses all responded profoundly and and Mass Production, and the Age of
dramatically. Most people were surprised at the way that business could respond Information and Telecommunications
to COVID and it has been painful, but most businesses have survived – some have respectively.
even thrived.” “There are technological
“Tech disruption is a bit like taking our businesses and putting them “Businesses changes that trigger how
in the pot of cold water and bringing it slowly to the boil, because it is a need to recognise technology changes
pervasive, persistent, powerful change in our environment,” he added. that we do not have the world. It is a whole
the luxury of waiting range of technologies
How has technology affected the economy and society? generations to respond that interact with
Technology has changed the way humans have worked throughout history [to the fourth industrial each other, feed off
and Prof Armstrong stated that the pace in which technology is doing so is each other, and build on
becoming shorter and shorter, especially with society now being on the cusp revolution]. each other. So it is these
of the fourth industrial revolution. clusters of interconnected
“Businesses need to recognise that we do not have the luxury of waiting innovation, which then gives rise
generations to respond [to the fourth industrial revolution]. It is hugely unsettling, to infrastructures – and now that starts
it causes social stress and organisational stress, but our ability to respond is being pointing us, or is the first clue, of where
challenged because of this acceleration of the rate of technological change,” he said. we are getting in terms of 5G – because
Answering the question of how technology has affected the economy, Prof Armstrong in each of these revolutions are new
stated that it has done so through widespread connected innovation, transformation infrastructures that arise, which drive
of labour and the nature of work, changing labour relations and social ramifications, and empower the full impact of this
transformation of everyday social life, and the global transformation of trade and power. revolution.”
When it comes to how it has affected society, Armstrong provided answers such According to Perez’, each TEP starts
as, incomes are rising, people are living longer, poverty is falling fast, infant mortality is off with growth that goes up into a
falling, and fewer people are starving, but all of this has left the environment stressed. bubble and the bubble ultimately bursts.
“Technology has also changed businesses around the world, as seven of the ten This is where the world re-organises
biggest companies in the world are now tech companies. The world is changing, it is not and re-jigs itself between each TEP.
only the tech, it is the way we organise and connect with the market that changes as New tools, new organisations and new
well,” he added. infrastructures are a few of the critical
conditions that cause these ‘bubble
How does technology change the world? bursts’. Prof Armstrong stated that these
Prof Armstrong believes it is important to understand how technology has changed the conditions “then actually oil and enable
world in order to understand how it does change the world. “If we can figure out how the TEPs we are in”.

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