‘Technophobia’ is the irrational fear of technology and its effects on individuals, society, and the environment. It is something that has been understood by the World Health Organisation (it is not classed as an official mental illness) but is common in the older generation and organisations using legacy technology.
Many believe that this first appeared after the 1980s with the birth of the Personal Computer (PC). At a broader level, one of the greatest fears of humans is the fear of the unknown; combined with being fearful of expanding our comfort zones with new ideas, products, or services.
Even in ancient times, Socrates from ancient Greece claimed that writing, when first introduced, would cause ‘forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories’. Further stating that they will be ‘hearing of many things and learning nothing’. Writing is now so fundamental to society that the opposite is the case, whereby writing is critical to help humans to remember key facts of information.
Taking this to the world of technology, we are now in the fifth generation of technology that is leveraged in organisations. The latest iteration being the adaptive use of smart tech; coupled active monitoring; combined with the mining of massive amounts of data; to deliver insights at a truly personal level.
It has even been stated by Elon Musk that solutions such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), which he himself contributed to the development of; has caused him to be concerned at the rate it is growing and its potential impact on society and humans themselves.
Despite knowing the future of technology organisations are still facing challenges on how to rapidly adapt and change to meet the new business challenges – speed to market; competition from disruptors; the rise of consumer led demand into the enterprise; are just a few.
Here at MDB, we have extensive experience supporting organisations through this change – whether it is technology led; people led; or business led. We have enabled this across finance, transport, insurance, banking, and retail organisations. Rather than be a technophobe, let us help you be a technophile.
Interested? Give us a call.