Technology, Sustainable Development and Human Resources: Historical and Contemporary Perspective
Pramod B. SHRESTHA*
Prof.
Colombo Plan Staff College
Abstract:
Technology is a social process of applying the ensemble of technical means and knowledge to serve to social ends. Because it is a social process involving actors organized within structures and having roles, goals and values, technology becomes amenable to sociological analysis. In its broadest definition, technology is the totality of technical means employed by a culture for the production and control of material and non-material goods and services.
Sustainable development has an essentially normative character, which makes it difficult to operationalize. It implies a close relationship between environmental sensitivity and economic growth. Human Resource Development (HRD), in the context of sustainable development, and management and transfer of technology, has special meaning. The bottom line is learning, i.e., a process whereby people fulfill their needs through the internalization of information and externalization of reactions to environmental conditions. The contexts of such involvement in development include political, socio-cultural, economic and technical-scientific activities.
In my presentation, I will try to examine the complex interconnections between technology, sustainable development and human resources, where the latter hold the key to adaptation and technological progress.
Key Words: Technology Transfer, Social Process, Sustainable Development, Technological Adaptation
*Faculty Consultant, Colombo Plan Staff College, P.O.Box 7500, 1300 Metro Manila, Philippines.
E-mail: pramodshrestha@yahoo.com
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