It's People Who Drive Future, Not Just Technology

When thinking of the forces that drive future, people usually tend to name technology as the most potent or interesting one. Everyday conversations and media are full of examples and it is oh-so-common to hear these simplified interpretations of the history of the 20th century: “Everything changed when the [add your technology here] was introduced and the [add your other technology here] started a new era for the whole humankind." A recent progeny of this discourse, a headline in The Atlantic, read “Is Social Media Driving the Economy?”.

If only understanding the future opportunities would be as simple as determining the next big technological turn – but futures, as well as histories for that matter (note the pluralism), are formed and shaped by many factors and actors. The belief in technology and it’s ability to solve nearly all current and future problems, also known as belief in progress or technological determinism, has rooted itself deeply in modern mentalities. But whilst the allure of the term technology itself has slowly dimmed and become ubiquitous, new buzzwords, such as innovation and design, have filled the void. In current discussions it’s design and designers or innovation and innovators that now drive the future, can save the world or at least make it a better place (through the new technology they are developing).

As tempting as it is to put all our trust in these seemingly omnipotent drivers of future, we should take a step back and look at the bigger picture of change and all involved actors, such as people who don't just make, but also use, define and shape technologies and innovations within different socio-cultural contexts. They (we) are the ones who eventually determine whether particular technologies or innovations turn into success stories and whether they have the potential to change the world in profound ways.

So what is technology? The narrow definition of technology entails the obvious, including physical objects, actual products, tools, and also digital services that provide an ability to control and adapt environments. But when we place people and culture in the middle of that composure we get a very different definition of technology. Suddenly we are not talking about technologies per se (such as steam engine, Internet, social media, etc.) but we can see them as an integral part of a broader cultural fabric and better understand why and how existing and new technologies might or might not play a role in shaping our future.    

This approach can be loosely named as the social construction of technology and it puts emphasis on people as actors within a socio-cultural and temporal context, helping us to take a holistic view on any technology and always see it in relation to a more complex system (that someone could call life). Technologies or innovations can therefore be defined as enablers – products, services, or tools – that fully embody the social practices, behaviors, networks and processes that ultimately create the everyday meaning of the technologies.

To summarize, technologies and their meanings are not created in cultural vacuums, but always in a socio-cultural context. It is this context that fosters all innovation and sets the possibilities and boundaries for success. No matter how revolutionary and potent a new technology or innovation might seem through the (often thick) lenses of its creators, eventually the value and success is weighed in the everyday usage and application of the innovation or technology. This is why sometimes seemingly simple technologies can (re)generate radical impact, as people get incredibly creative when provided with right and open tools and can come up with totally unexpected ways to use both new and old technologies. For example, Ushahidi was born from a combination of basic mobile phone, SMS, location, and Web technologies that were applied into mapping local and national social issues, such as post-election violence in Kenya, or how iPad might provide a suitable platform for emergent forms of human-animal interaction that could eventually (who knows) change the ways we communicate with anyone with whom we don't have a shared language.

All in all, the eventual meaning and importance of any technology will most probably differ from the original idea and expectations of its creators. That is why it makes more sense to drive innovation through a holistic understanding of the big picture and pay close attention to the intriguing, non-linear, and even fuzzy socio-cultural processes that eventually shape the technologies and create the future.