TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY

CE 753

Lectures : 2 Year : IV
Tutorials : 0 Part : II
Practical : 0

Course Objectives: The course has been devised to provide knowledge of environment,
technology and its impact on society. It would be helpful to the students to understand the
global, national and local environmental issues and challenges of the information society.

1. Technology (8hours)
1.1. Definition,
1.2. Impact of technology on environment & society,
1.3. Benefits of technology due to new inventions,
1.4. Conflict of technology, technology creates opportunity for society to change
1.5. Appropriate technology,
1.6. Intermediate technology, labor based and labor intensive technology,
1.7. Shifts in employment due to technological advancement,
1.8. Role of technology to unmask old social problems, society’s control of technology,
1.9. Impact of technology on culture, tradition and social values,
1.10. Technology is irreversible,
1.11. Agricultural age, industrial age and information age,
1.12. Characteristics of information society,
1.13. Information as power and wealth
2. Development approach (6 hours)
2.1. LEP (labor based, environment friendly and participatory),
2.2. Community management, engineer’s role as facilitator,
2.3. Key features of infrastructure development policies of Nepal,
2.4. Ethnographic approach to collect information,
2.5. Participatory approach as community empowerment,
2.6. Participatory tools, focus group discussions, key informant’s interview,
2.7. Participatory observation, structured questionnaire,
2.8. Resource mapping, wealth ranking, poverty definition

3. Brief history of human civilization (4 hours)

3.1. Early civilization,
3.2. Great renaissance of Europe,
3.3. Early part of industrial revolution,
3.4. Transformation of industrial society into information society,
3.5. Impact of world war 1 & 2, Population explosion,
3.6. Rise of environmental issues,
3.7. Climate change as a threat to human civilization
4. Environment (3 hours)
4.1. Definition,
4.2. Importance, ecology & ecosystem,
4.3. Conservation of environment,
4.4. Optimum utilization of natural resources,
4.5. Renewable and non-renewable resources,
4.6. Conflict of resources,
4.7. Global environmental issues,
4.8. Environmental issues of Nepal
5. Water and air pollution (6 hours)
5.1. Fecal-oral infection transmission route
5.2. Preventive measures,
5.3. On site sanitation (including eco -sanitation),
5.4. Importance of health education,
5.5. Organic pollution,
5.6. Inorganic pollution (nitrate, fluoride, iron, manganese, calcium arsenic, heavy metals),
water pollution due to insecticides and pesticides
5.7. Sources, causes & impacts of air-pollution
5.8. Mitigation measures,
5.9. Indoor air pollution,
5.10. Severity of its problems in Nepal
6. Climate change (3 hours)
6.1. Definition, causes, impacts,
6.2. Mitigation measures,
6.3. International efforts to mitigate its problems,
6.4. Bio –gas, organic farming,
6.5. Deforestation and its consequences,
6.6. Importance of national parks, conservation areas and forestation programs in Nepal
References:
1. B. C. Punmia, Ashok Kumar Jain and Arun Kumar Jain, "Environmental Engineering”, Laxmi
Publications (P) Ltd., New Delhi, 1998
2. H.G. Wells, "Brief History of Civilization"
3. J. Neharu, "Glimps of World History"

Examination scheme
The question will cover all the chapters in the syllabus. The evaluation scheme will be as indicated
in the table below:
Marks
Chapters Hours
Distribution*
1 8 10
2 6 8 * There may be minor deviation in marks
3 4 4 distribution.
4 3 4
5 6 10
6 3 4
Total 30 40
SHORT NOTE ON TECHNOLOGY (8hours)

1.1 Definition
➢ The simplest form of technology is the development and use of basic tools. [1]
➢ The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry.
➢ Machinery and equipment developed from the application of scientific knowledge.
➢ The branch of knowledge dealing with engineering or applied sciences.
➢ The branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their
interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as
industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.
➢ A scientific or industrial process, invention, method, or the like.
➢ Technology refers to methods, systems, and devices which are the result of knowledge
being used for practical purposes (Collins Dictionary).

1.2.1 Impact of technology on environment

Positive impact:
(i) Fast work completion means at a short time huge construction can be done, for
example building technology, tunnelling technology.
(ii) Less effort means few labour and high quality of product, for example construction
equipment.
(iii) High production at low cost, for example transportation technology.
(iv) Bulk production, example brick, cement, aggregates, etc.
Negative impact:
(i) All construction machinery creates vibration which one is hazardous to all.
(ii) Consumes energy at high rate and emits several pollutants.
(iii) Environmental degradation.

1.2.2 Impact of technology on society

(i) Addiction to machinery items has become a threat to the lifestyles of children, and
they are driving their lives out of the real world they should experience.
(ii) Increasing technology gives a vast passage to communication.
(iii) Addiction on technology, for example mobile phones.
(iv) Poor eating habits, vision problems, even some unexplained disorders.
(v) Bring change in community life, work, health, communication.
(vi) We found impact of technology on different elements of society.

1.3 Benefits of technology due to new inventions

(i) Speed, efficiency, and agility (speed up workflow processes, giving your employees
the ultimate resource – more time – to focus on the important work.)
(ii) Storage and sharing of information for high efficiency and security.
(iii) Mobility and remote connectivity: work from anywhere.
 (iv) Automation (Tasks like data entry and analytics, bookkeeping, and contact
management can be partially or completely automated, which allows businesses to
work more efficiently without the risk of human error)
(v) Communication: Companies are constantly looking to improve and accelerate
communication, and new technology is built with that need in mind.

1.4 Conflict of technology, technology creates opportunity for society to change

There are three levels of conflict due to innovative technology:
Level 1: Interpersonal conflict
➢ This typically occur in the day to day operations
➢ Always between individual members
➢ Can be a small issue
Level 2: Intergroup conflict
➢ This is most likely to be seems in a team or department
➢ Sometimes can be multi-departmental
➢ Can be a small to large issue
Level 3: Interorganizational conflict
➢ This is mostly seen when two organizations go head to head
➢ This can be competition or just a rivalry
➢ Usually a rather large issue.
Conflict can be reduced by effective communication, problem resolving abilities and good
negotiation skill.

1.5 Appropriate technology

1.5.1 Definition:
➢ Appropriate technology has been used to cover a wide range of both technologies and
lifestyles including sustainable living, alternative fuels, and ethical technology transfer.
➢ A technology is considered appropriate if it solves a social problem without many
adverse negative effects on surroundings.
➢ A technology that is suitable to the social and economic conditions of the geographic
area in which it is to be applied, is environmentally sound, and promotes self-sufficiency
on the part of those using it.
➢ Technological choice and application that is small scale, decentralized, labor-intensive,
energy efficient, environmentally sound, and locally controlled.
➢ Technology that can be made with local materials by local people at an affordable price,
whilst benefitting individuals and communities, it will have a limited negative impact on
the environment.
➢ Well-known examples of appropriate technology applications include: bike- and
hand-powered water pumps & other self-powered equipment, the universal nut sheller,
self-contained solar-powered light bulbs and streetlights, and passive solar building
 designs. Corn sheller is connected with Guatemalan women who laboured many hours to hand
shell corn.

➢ Other types of technology under the appropriate technology umbrella include:

Capital-saving technology Labor-intensive technology

Alternate technology Self-help technology
Village-level technology Community technology
Progressive technology Indigenous technology
People’s technology Light-engineering technology
Adaptive technology Light-capital technology
Soft technology
1.5.2 Characteristics of appropriate technology
1. are low in capital costs;
2. use local materials whenever possible;
3. create jobs, employing local skills and labor;
4. are small enough in scale to be affordable by a small group of farmers;
5. can be understood, controlled and maintained by villagers wherever possible, without high
level of western style education;
6. can be produced out of a small metal working shop, if not in a village itself;
7. suppose that people can and will work together to collectively bring improvements to their
communities, recognizing that in most of the world important decisions are made by
groups rather than by individuals;
8. involve decentralized renewable energy sources, such as wind power, solar energy, water
power, animal power and pedal power;
9. make technology understandable to the people who are using it and thus suggest ideas
that could be used in further innovations;
10. are flexible so that they can continue to be used or adapted to fit changing circumstances;
11. do not involve patents, royalties, consultant fees, import duties, shopping charges, or no
further payment is involved.
1.5.3 Recent worldwide talk tendency on Appropriate Technology (characteristic and criteria)
(a) Four characteristics of appropriate technology
• Small in scale to fit into small market situations
• Simple, to avoid sophisticated manufacturing skills, organization and finance
• Cheap, not capital-intensive to reduce cost per workplace
• Non-violent, means that the technology would be completely under human control,
that it would not have unintended side effects and would not cause social or
environment disruption.
(b) Six criteria of appropriate technology
(i) Meets the needs of the majority of a community;
(ii) Employs natural resources, capital and labor in proportion to their long-term
sustainable availability;
 (iii) Ownable, controllable, operable, maintainable within the community it serves;
(iv) Enhances skills and dignity of those employed by it;
(v) Non-violent to both the environment and people, and
(vi) Socially, economically and environmentally sustainable

1.5.4 Categories of appropriate technology

According to Diwan and Dennis (1979), there are two subcategories of appropriate
technology. 'They are:
(i) family-employing technology and
(ii) community-defined technology. These imply different economic, moral,
philosophical, political, social, and welfare conditions. Family-employing
technologies are consistent with societies, even if they lack communities.
Community-defined technologies on the other hand presume the existence and
preservation of communities.

1.6 Intermediate technology, labour based and labour-intensive technology

1.6.1 Intermediate technology: German-born British economist E. F. Schumacher first
conceived of the concept after a visit to Burma (now Myanmar) in 1955. He concluded that
poor countries might realize progress in productivity by adopting advanced technologies but
that those advances would do little to increase employment. What was needed, he
maintained, was an intermediate technology. It is that technology which combines
sophisticated ideas with cheap and readily available materials, especially for use in
developing countries. Example of intermediate technology is the treadle pump, which
enables farmers to provide a greater amount of water to their plants more easily compared
to watering by bucket, while requiring much less infrastructure than constructing irrigation
dams and pipes.
1.6.2 Labor based and labor-intensive technology: Industry or process where a larger
portion of total costs is due to labor as compared with the portion for costs incurred in
purchase, maintenance, and depreciation of capital equipment. Agriculture, construction,
coal-mining, restaurants and hotel industries are examples of labor-intensive industries. Few
years ago, roof or floor concrete casting was labor-based technology but now a days ready
mix concrete system replaced it, and we can say it is intermediate and labor-intensive
technology.
1.7 Shifts in employment due to technological advancement
Let us consider the functions of robots, production automation system, and artificial
intelligence. In all the above systems we use machines and equipment to reduce strain and
fatigue when doing heavy works, example lifting heavy objects. Technology changes the way we
work. Due to technological advancement labor remains stress and fatigue free and can continue
to work another one shift with the help of machines, equipment, tool and favorable environment.
Due to ergonomic advancement, now work place is comfortable, equipment and tools are light
and handy. This generates shift in employment. But concerns about which jobs are lost and which
are gained are important in consideration in the case of labor.
1.8 Role of technology to unmask old social problems, society’s control of technology

Let us pick up one of the latest technologies; internet technology and discuss its role on society.
Internet has allowed many people to access useful information but has also allowed easy access
to site such as cyber-crime, hacking, hate, violence in the society. Technology creates the
opportunity for society change unmasking social problems. In adverse, if the technology does not
match with the social requirement then it goes out. It means society controls the technology, for
example stone masonry, later brick masonry and now light block masonry. While we use new
technological advancement, we have to aware of the negative consequences of the technological
advancement.

1.9 Impact of technology on culture, tradition and social values

Over the last few years, technology has put a great impact on work culture and social values.
The rapid increase in emerging technologies suggests that they are having a substantial impact on
the workforce. [2] In the modern day era, the technology works as a catalyst in the all sectors of
business and corporate world. Let us discuss further how technology impacts positively and
negatively our society.
1. Technology made communication easy. Communication is like water to life. We cannot
develop and sustain without communication (phones, internet, email).
2. Improves construction or production strategies. Due availability of construction materials,
civil construction became qualitative at affordable cost.
3. Assist people with disabilities
4. Expanding the area of promotion
5. Technology amplifies business: High technology devices work much faster than old devices
and this leads to increase in the income generation of the business.
6. Technology drops business cost: Most of the entrepreneurs make use of technology in
order to drop the cost of their business. Technology makes the work in offices simpler than
ever.
7. Accuracy: Technology makes everything computerized, example, 3d printing. This left no
chances of any kind of mistake. All the data is accurately observed and accurate statistics
are obtained using advanced technology.
8. Encourages innovation and creativity by doing work away with paper in large part,
saving the forests from being cut down.
9. Easy access to information: It has become very easy to get access to relevant
information at anytime from anywhere.
10. Technology increases overall efficiency.
 11. Convenience of travelling and transporting. Modern transportation technology makes it
very easy to travel long distances at short time. Transport is a very important both in our
lives and in the construction business.
12. Improved housing and lifestyle. This is another great impact of technology how modern
life has simplified, if you compare the type of housing, we used to have in 1900 and the
architecture of houses today. The difference is very big.
13. Improved entertainment in work place. Modern technology has played a big role in
changing the entertainment style of people.
14. Convenience in education due efficient technology. Easier time learning things
(information, web, search)
15. Social networking. Modern technology has made it simple to discover our old friends and
also discover new people.
16. Better quality of life, longer lives due to modern medicine and technology, etc.
17. Increased safety. Better police response times, GPS, surveillance/cameras, etc.
18. Decreased emissions and a greener environment keeping the Earth, and people, healthier
by predicting air quality in cities within minutes

1.9.1 Some Negative impacts:

1. Decreasing use of our own memory (less able to remember phone numbers for
example)
2. Decreased use of simple math calculations by hand (less able to do quick simple
calculations without a phone/calculator app).
3. More reliance on GPS to navigate. Less direction senses. I already notice this among
my own kids versus myself when I was their age.
4. Laziness. Gaining weight due to inactivity.
5. Kids, and adults, addicted to screens, social media, games, etc.
6. Decreased attention spans due to the massive amount of information today.
7. Increased loneliness. Social isolation is on the increase, people are spending more
time playing video games, learning how to use new modern technologies, using
social networks and they neglect their real life.
8. Job loss. Modern technology has replaced many humans; robots are doing of the
jobs which used to be done by humans.
9. Competency. Increased dependency on modern tools like calculators has reduced on
our creativity.
10. World destruction weapon. Modern technology has been the main aid in the
increasing and endless wars.
 11. Less value in human workers. The technological advances decrease the workers
value.
12. Dependency: the more advanced society becomes technologically; the more people
begin to depend on computers and other forms of technology for every day exercise.
Technology makes life lazy, and at the same time more complex.

1.9.2 Culture and Technology

In the XXI century it’s safe to say, that technology affects culture and culture affects technology
like never before. Holograms, mixed realities, AI, autonomous cars are the examples. Using social
media can make you feel more connected to the world. A recent study looked at the social media
use of more than 1,700 people between the ages of 19 and 32. The researchers found that those
with high social media use felt more socially isolated than those who spent less time on social
media. The researchers said that there might be an association between problematic internet use
and depression, substance use, and aggressive behavior. They also noted that high school boys,
who, according to the researchers, tend to be heavier users of the internet, may be less aware of
these problems. The evidence suggests that social network use correlates with mental illness and
well-being. The findings of a 2014 study suggest that even after factoring out junk food and
exercise, technology appears to affect the health of children and teens (Media and technology use
predicts ill-being among children, preteens and teenagers independent of the negative health
impacts of exercise and eating habits by L.D. Rosen,* A.F. Lim, J. Felt, L.M. Carrier, N.A.
Cheever, J.M. Lara-Ruiz, J.S. Mendoza, and J. Rokkum; 2014).

Fig. 1: Drawing of a horse-powered thresher (Courtesy a French dictionary, published in 1881).

1.10 Technology is irreversible

The ongoing advancement of technology delivers numerous benefits, with enhanced functionality,
more capable devices, and new online services all being made available to users on continual
basis.[2] Each new advancement of technology has potential aspects than the earlier one.
Technology also becomes old and obsolesces with new ideas and innovative equipment, for
example sickle was used to harvest crop in American continent now there are variety of reapers
and combine harvesters.
Irreversible means a change that cannot go back. [3] Consider rock salt which is a mixture of small
rocks and salt, it is often used on roads when it is icy to provide grip and to melt the ice. Hughes [4]
explained that how technology and society interact. Society itself is modified by the introduction
of a new technology in an irreversible and irreparable way. For example, the introduction
of readymade concrete mixture (RMC) has influenced the construction process of road and
buildings. All most all technologies in civil engineering are irreversible, the examples are RMC
preparation technology, brick and tile production technology etc. It is difficult to reverse
ingredient materials as new products have been made. Before applying any technology, a civil
engineer has deeply analyze its irreversible impact on environment and society.

1.11 Agricultural age, industrial age and information age

1 How we live and work has changed a lot over time. These changes are marked within periods of time
known as 'Ages'. Agriculture is also called farming or husbandry.

2 Agriculture is the cultivation of plants animals, fungi, and other life forms for food, fiber and
other products used to sustain human life.

3 The history of agriculture goes back thousands of years when transition from a
hunting-and-gathering society to one based on stationary farming came (10,000 to 8000 B.C.)
and its development has been driven and defined by different climates, cultures, and
technologies.

4 The vast majority of the human population labored in Agriculture, until the industrial
Revolution or industrial Age.

5 In the Agricultural Age most people became merchants, craftspeople, farmers,

or farm workers. In this age land was main property.
6 During the 18th century, big Agricultural Revolution the period from about 1760 to sometime
between 1820 and 1840 took place when European agriculture shifted from the techniques of
the past. The Agricultural Age gradually evolved into the Industrial Age.
7 Agricultural revolution, gradual transformation of the traditional agricultural system into
modern that began in Britain in the 18th century. Aspects of this complex transformation,
which was not completed until the 19th century, included the reallocation of land ownership
to make farms more compact and an increased investment in technical improvements, such as
new machinery, better drainage, scientific methods of breeding, and experimentation with
new crops and systems of crop rotation.
8

9
10

1.12 Characteristics of information society

1.12.1 Basic Information

What is information society? An “Information Society” is a society where the creation,
distribution, use, integration and manipulation of information is a significant economic,
political & cultural activity. The concept of Information society was originally born in Japan in
1960’s and then spread around the world. Japanese economist Fritz Machlup was one of the
first few people who developed this concept. [5] The aim of the “Information Society” is to gain
competitive advantage internationally, through using Information Technology in a creative and
productive way. Some people called this as “Post-Industrial Society”, because Industrial
Society also affected the growth of the Information Society. Let us observe the following
information given in the table 1.
Table 1: Difference between the industrial and information societies

S. No. Evaluation base Industrial Society Information Society

1 Core Engines, Machines Computer, Server

2 Basic function Physical labor Mental labor

3 Productive power Material productive power Information productive power

4 Products Useful goods and services Information technology

5 Production center Factories with equipment Information utilities with networks

1.12.2 Characteristics of Information Society

1. Information Empowerment: A management practice of sharing information, rewards,
and power with employees is information empowerment. It stablishes good relations
between buyer and supplier so that they can take initiative and make decisions to
solve problems and improve service and performance. Empowerment is based on the
idea that giving employees skills, resources, authority, opportunity, motivation, as
well holding them responsible and accountable for outcomes of their actions, will
contribute to their competence and satisfaction.
2. Information Consciousness: Consciousness is everything you experience here, there
and everywhere

3. Use of information as economic resource: Nearly all western countries have relied
more on the use of information in the creation of wealth than on their
natural resource endowments. Initially, increased wealth came about through world
exploration, the industrial revolution, trade and colonialism. All this feed
information into the country's economic hub is key management of development.
There are many examples in the modern world where information has been a key
ingredient in the creation of wealth and jobs. [6]
4. Development of an Information sector & emergence of Information Industry: Public
and private initiatives push towards integrating heterogeneous information and communication
systems. At present the Internet and the computer networks have made the whole
world a family. No need to meet the buyer and seller in the business activities. Mental
power is more important than the physical power. Organizations make predictions
without making any huge effort.
5. Rise of the service sector
6. Decline of agricultural-based economy
 7. Predominance of “information-based” work because knowledge is now key factor in
the economy and trade.
8. In the pre-industrial society life is a game against nature where one works with raw
muscle power but now it is useless.
9. The new IT infrastructure shall cover a wider geographical area and support a variety
of access methods and diverse protocols for communication. Local Area Networks
(LANs), Wider Area Networks (WANs) and the Internet shall be integral parts of IT
infrastructures of reasonably moderate sized companies.
10. IT infrastructure shall focus on global operations and resources. It shall have to be
supported by a well-established communication plan. Such a plan shall cover whole
gamut of users, in and outside the organization, and shall have multi-level access
controls and security features.
11. The new IT infrastructure have facilities to accept data in unstructured form and shall
be acceptable for integration.
12. Quick adaptability to the changes in operating environment shall be an important
feature of new systems. Ability of the systems to cope up with changes in product
lines, packing sizes/ trading lets, clubbing of related products and services shall have
to be very quick and quite natural to the systems.

1.13 Information as power and wealth

Knowledge and wealth is regulated by information. Example, in 2015, Vladmir
Putin set himself up to be the next president of Russia by producing a sex video tape of
a prosecutor who was in the process of prosecuting Boris Yelsin. He became the most
powerful person in Russia to this day simply because he had information that could
discredit a prosecutor. [7] This is one evidence of utilization of information as power!
Many people say that money is the ultimate motivator, that money will drive anyone to
do anything for the right price. However, who is to say that there isn't a power greater
than that? Information, which is interchangeable with knowledge, is the true driving force
behind almost all of the events that happen in the world, both fictional and real. [8]
 References

1. Anonymous, 2010. Technology and Society. Article accessed on 22nd August 2020 from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_and_society
2. Darrell M. West, 2017. Technological Progress and Potential Future Risks. Article from the
book the next step: exponential Life. (Accessed from www.bbvaopenmind.com on August 22,
2020)
3. Furnell, S. M., 2009. The irreversible march of technology. Information Security Technical
Report, 14(4): 176-180.
4. Thomas Parke Hughes, Technological momentum, in Albert Teich, ed., Technology and the
Future, 8th edn., 2000. (Accessed from Wikipedia on 8/21/2020).
5. Shifan Mihilar, 2013. Accessed on 22nd August 2020 from
https://www.slideshare.net/shifanmihilar/information-society-2
6. William Umbima, 2005. Information as an Economic Resource How the Kenyan Economy could
Benefit from Experiences of the Eastern and Western Worlds. Wajibu: A Journal of Social and
Religious Concern. Issue 22, 16 February 2005.
7. Anonymous, 2015. https://www.quora.com/Why-do-people-say-information-is-power.
Accessed on 22/08/2020.
8. Anonymous, Essay about Information Is Power, Accessed from
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Information-Is-Power-P3CGDVRSTC on 22/08/2020.