Sharing Economy

Throughout the past ten years, many companies have developed a business model surrounding the use of a sharing economy. According to Wikipedia, the sharing economy "is a mode of consumption whereby goods and services are not owned by a single user, but rather only temporarily accessed by members of a network and underutilized assets are shared, either for free or for a fee."  Companies like Yelp, Air BnB, and Lyft have created an entire business model that runs solely from their users and has little interaction with actual employees from the business itself.  

Heres a quick video that explains how millennials are adopting the sharing economy at a much faster rate than generations:

The main thing that separates normal businesses from ones that depend on a sharing economy is that the interactions are more focused on peer to peer, rather than business to consumer. When this model was first adapted by businesses it was very different, because rather than trusting a business you are trusting someone that has no relation to the business itself. This creates a sense of trust in the sharing economy that users must trust each other that they'll get to their destination safe, the house they are staying at actually exists, or the users review is accurate and not misleading.

Advantages:
There are many advantages that come along with the use of a sharing economy, which benefit both the person using and consuming. People now have the opportunity to be their boss and create a work schedule that works best for them giving them flexibility that could not be offered at a normal job. Also, within a sharing economy prices are often cheaper than they would be when using a regular business model. People can now negotiate on their prices when using Air Bnb, and not have to deal with the middle man booking agent that can boost up the prices.

Disadvantages:
While there are many advantages to the sharing economy, there are also disadvantages that come along with it. One being the fact that consumers must put all their trust in the person that they are connecting with. For example, Taxis must be licensed by the state and undergo a fair amount of testing before they are able to drive compared to a Lyft driver that can sign up and start driving people the next day. The overall lack of control that businesses have over their employees or users is one thing that may draw consumers away from using services that are focused around a sharing economy.

Overall, I believe that a sharing economy creates a more efficient and effective means of communicating with consumers and providing services to them. By allowing them to reduce the need for a middle man and directly connect with the person providing the service, services are often cheaper and can be done much faster than normal.

Questions:

1. Why do you believe millennials are adopting the sharing economy at a much faster rate as compared to generations before it?

2. Do you believe that a sharing economy is a sustainable business model?   Why or why not?

3. How have you interacted or benefited from the use of a sharing economy? Or have you have a bad experience that you would like to share?

Sources:

• Sharing Economy Breakdown
• Pioneers of the Sharing Economy
• Pros and Cons of Sharing Economy

Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology in the Classroom

By: Jennica Larson, Lauren Radin, and Maddi O'Neil

It is predicted that there will be four devices for every human on Earth by the year 2020. With the prevalence of technology increasing in our lives each day, it has inevitably made its way into classrooms and learning environments. While there are many advantages that come with utilizing technology in the classroom, there are also many disadvantages, both of which will be described below.
 

Advantages: 
It is reported that boredom was the number one reason students resort to using their devices for something other than taking notes on a lecture in the classroom. With all the different uses of technology, professors and lecturers have the opportunity to experiment with new practices to engage students in the classroom. Technology in the classroom is not always bad as technology can be utilized to encourage students to “interact” with the lecture topics as a way to keep them interested, and thus keep them from using their devices in a distracting way. As highlighted in the Technology and Student Distraction article, some specific ways technology can be successfully utilized in classrooms: students can now respond instantaneously to online polls, collaborate in real time on written work, and engage with a range of media more flexibly than ever before.
 

Disadvantages: 
Device usage can hurt students’ performance in class, it is reported that students who text frequently during lectures take superior notes, retain less information given in lecture, and performed worse on tests than students who do not text during class. Using devices in class is not only distracting to the student using the device, but to people around them. A study actually revealed that students who sat in the vicinity of someone who texted during class, performed worse on tests than students who did not. The Digital Distraction article highlights the fact that students understand that the use of devices in class is a distraction as it causes them to not pay attention, miss instruction, their grades suffer, and there is a possibility of them being called out by their professors, yet they use the devices anyway.


Questions for Consideration:


1. What are some possible ways that professors and lecturers can use technology to benefit a student's learning experience?

2. Do you think students learn more in environments where technology is not prevalent or utilized?

3. Why do you think students continue to use their devices during class even though they know it is a distraction and hindering their learning experience?


References:


Technology and Student Distraction

Digital Distraction in Class is on the Rise

Social Media and Our Data

Many of us have probably noticed how our browser history is creepily being monitored and pops up on our social media apps like Facebook and Instagram. What many of us might not know, is how much data Facebook is collecting from us and leveraging it for their own advertising benefit. In 2016 alone, Facebook made over $6 Billion just from advertising and they are growing rapidly.

As consumers and Facebook users, we have always been curious as to HOW these applications know what we are looking at (i.e. websites and products) and frankly how annoying it is to constantly have to be reminded of things that we are thinking about purchasing. When you think about it, they are using our history to convince us to make these purchases subconsciously.

Furthermore, not only are they collecting data on our browser history to persuade our purchasing habits, but they are also using this data to create predictive algorithms from our interests. This is called a complete consumer profile. This essentially means that they can monitor our search trends to predict products and services that we might be interested in, and sell this access to companies.

This short video gives a summary of how Facebook ads are created and used to target users:

Many engineers agree, isn’t this extremely invasive? According the Washington Post:

“But while both the dashboard and the dropdown will rid you of ads you don’t like, neither actually lets users opt out completely of any of Facebook’s four tracking methods. The preferences manager, for instance, lets users tell Facebook they don’t have certain interests that the site has associated with them or their behavior, but there’s no way to tell Facebook that you don’t want it to track your interests, at all.”

Not only is it extremely invasive but ultimately anyone who wants to advertise with Facebook can have access to your information. Facebook makes an average of $18.68 on cost per action across all industries. This social media platform is the largest in the world and companies know that. It makes them the perfect advertising tool. It is reported that 57% of consumers say social media influences their shopping, leading by Facebook at 44%. Is it ethical that Facebook is partnering with companies to use our own data against us?

With a technology-centric society, we urge you to really think about and educate yourselves on how much data we are giving to companies like Facebook.

Questions:
1.  Is it even possible to get a company like Facebook to stop collecting our information if we don’t want them to?

2.  What can be some unforeseeable risks in the future of Facebook having this data on us?

3. Do you feel that using your browser history to influence purchases is ethical?

References:

98 Personal Data Points that Facebook Uses to Target Ads to You

This is How Facebook Uses Your Data for Ad Targeting

Facebook, Google and Others are Tracking You. Here's How to Stop Targeted Ads

Facebook Statistics for 2018

Autonomous Military Vehicles

With the War Against Terror not coming to an end in the foreseeable future, The Department of Defense (DOD) has decided to move towards autonomous vehicles to help save US lives. The DOD has decided that the men and women who have the daunting task of traveling in a vehicle in a combat zone is becoming too risky.

With the increased use of guerrilla-like tactics and roadside bombs becoming harder to defeat, the Pentagon and DOD decided to help this situation with the addition of automated vehicles.

Although some troops travel in tanks, it does not necessarily make them safe. Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) can be designed to take out foot troops and vehicles as large as tanks! The tactics used in war have been some that the US has never encountered, so it makes it hard to determine when, where, and who will be attacking US convoys.

Popular Science says that, “Vehicles would be in a leader-follower system. It involves two humans manning a lead vehicle, and then up to seven other following vehicles are driverless, with autonomous systems guiding them to follow their humans in the lead.” The autonomous vehicles will be armed and able to fire upon enemy contact remotely. They are extremely sophisticated and allow the safe passage of troops or supplies through enemy territory.

This would eliminate a minimum of 14 US troops on the road! The automated vehicles could be the vehicles most targeted such as the resupply trucks, the trucks carrying bulk fuel or even a recovery vehicle. Having the possibility of lowering casualties while maintaining superiority on the battlefield is key and is another asset the US will add to its arsenal.

Questions:

1.  Do you think the money required to make autonomous military vehicles is worth the benefit?

2.  How would implementing the autonomous vehicles shape military incursions?

3.  Some people have said that making these vehicles autonomous makes war too much like playing a video game, do you agree? Why or why not?

Benefits of Smart Buildings

There have been smart phones and smart cars, but the most recent “smart” technological trend has been smart buildings. Smart buildings are defined by a recent article from Gemalto as buildings that:

 “leverage pervasive wireless connectivity, sensors and IoT technologies to communicate and analyze data that is used to control and optimize building management systems.” 

The idea is that everything in the building is monitored from security cameras and light sensors to even air and water quality. Through IoT technology the data is captured and compiled into one comprehensive system.

These buildings have gained popularity due to their many benefits including but not limited to being environmentally friendly, reduced energy costs, predictive maintenance, and the improved productivity from the building occupants.

The video below gives a brief overview of how IoT technology can be used to benefit the building owners, occupants, and the environment.

Because this is a time when being environmentally conscious is so important, smart buildings are optimizing on this trend. On the roofs of many smart buildings are solar panels that provide energy to supplement the daily operations of the building. In some cases, the roof is even used to collect water that is then filtered and used in some facilities.

Smart buildings are able to reduce energy costs in a number of ways. One main smart building quality that saves energy is the use of motion sensors to activate lights. By using this, lights will shut off to conserve energy when occupants are not in the area.

Another way that smart buildings reduce costs are through predictive maintenance. Sensors can be attached to pipes and put into HVAC systems that will find points of deterioration or malfunction and alert the system prior something actually going wrong or breaking. Another quality of smart buildings is that they use sensors to provide early leak detection. Through this, the system is notified immediately when there is a leak so that it can be fixed right away. Without this technology, leaks can go unnoticed for days or weeks.

As mentioned before, these buildings also have sensors that monitor air and water quality that will alert the system if any contaminants are found. These measures ensure that all occupants are inhaling clean air and drinking clean water, promoting their overall health. It has been shown that contaminated air can lead to slight fatigue and lower the overall productivity of employees in a building, especially employees that already have existing conditions such as asthma.

Historically creating a smart building has been extremely costly, even taking into consideration the cost savings these buildings provide. As technology becomes increasingly cheaper, smart buildings become much more feasible. If a company can afford to make the initial transition of changing a regular building into a smart building, they will experience many benefits and cost savings that will surely make the change worth it.

Articles Referenced: 

5 Key Benefits of Smart Buildings

The Fundamentals of Smart Buildings

Questions: 

1. Are there any more benefits to smart buildings that I have not discussed?

2. What could be some potential downsides to smart buildings?

3. Before reading this article were you aware of smart buildings? Have you had experience working with or working in a smart building?

4. There have been smart phones, homes, buildings, and many other smart things. Where do you see "smart" IoT technology going in the future? There have been talk about smart cities, do you think that is possible?