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Innovation and Emerging Technologies
Quick questions on Impact of innovation on Australian society and the environment: HSC Design and Technology Innovation and Emerging Technologies
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is four dimensions of impact?Show answer
The syllabus frames impact across four overlapping dimensions, and a thorough response addresses all four.
What is economic impact?Show answer
Innovations create and destroy economic value. Positive economic impacts include new industries, skilled jobs, export income and improved productivity. The CSIRO Wi Fi patent earned Australia hundreds of millions of dollars and supported a research sector. Negative economic impacts include the displacement of workers whose skills become obsolete, the decline of older industries, and the concentration of profit in a few firms.
What is environmental impact?Show answer
Environmental impact must be assessed across the whole life cycle: raw material extraction, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal. Innovations can reduce environmental harm or increase it, and often do both. The polymer banknote lasts far longer than paper, cutting the volume of notes produced and the associated waste, but introduced a plastic substrate with its own recycling challenges. Energy efficient technologies cut emissions in use but may require resource intensive manufacture.
What are vague environmental claims?Show answer
Assess the full life cycle rather than assuming new technology is automatically cleaner.
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