Technology helps

3 minute read

Technology has improved our lives in countless ways. From routine communication to medical advances, technology multiplies our ability to do.

In spite of these benefits, we often feel hostile towards technology for two reasons:

1. Technology is not human. It doesn’t work the same way humans do, making it feel alien. It can feel cold and distant.
2. In many respects the pervasiveness of technology is so complete that it feels invasive. It’s hard to find “time apart”.

For these reasons, it can be hard to find the motivation to leverage technology - but please press the “I believe” button for just a moment and let’s consider how technology can help our specific situation.

Benefit #1: Protect data

The most obvious benefit we derive from technology is data protection. Data must be protected in at least three ways:

1. Lost information costs significant time and money.

   Problem: It is far too easy to lose information. Written or printed information frequently has a single copy and is vulnerable to spills, fire, and the destructive force of children.

   Solution: Electronic copies of information are significantly more resilient - it’s trivial to make redundant copies of the data, and those copies can live anywhere, making them less vulnerable to spills, fire, and children. When files are stored in “the cloud”, the risk of losing data is nearly eliminated.

2. Overexposed information creates organizational risk.

   Problem: The majority of information in our personal and professional lives should remain private, available only to people who are explicitly designated to have access to that information. It is difficult to get information exposure exactly right, which often leads to oversharing.

   Solution: Modern collaboration tools are typically organized on the concept of groups, such as Board or All Staff. When the tool is built on the concept of a group from the ground up, it’s far easier to get information exposure right by default.

3. Untraceable information creates legal risk.

   Problem: When many people leverage the same login credentials for modifying information, it becomes impossible to know who made a change. This problem is known as traceability, and untraceable changes create legal risk. If the worst happens, how will the organization know who to hold responsible? If no person can be held responsible, will the organization be held responsible instead?

   Solution: It is critical to have unique login credentials for all members of the organization. Changes to information are tied to the login used, which gives us clear accountability for those changes.

Benefit #2: Equal participation

On a more positive note, technology makes it easier for everyone to participate on equal footing.

When meetings happen in a particular physical location, it makes participation difficult or impossible for people who can’t make it to that location at that time. There are times when we travel for work or play; technology gives us the ability to enable meeting participation even in those times.

Technology also puts everyone on an equal footing.

Other benefits

Information discovery Information availability Less physical burden

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