Pitch
With climate change, Singapore faces hotter and more extreme weather which will be the new norm. We need new habits to adapt, not just tech.
Description
Make life easier/more difficult for Singapore?
More difficult
Describe the change
Singapore's climate will only be more unpredictable and harder for us to adapt to. As a result, technology has been touted as the solution to mitigate our climate issues.
One example is the trend of big data and data mining to interpret the former. This trend allows us to predict changing weather patterns due to climate change. Another is the emergence of smart sensors to automate current household systems.
However, there are issues with overly relying on technology. Firstly, the energy resources needed to keep such systems and operations running might require more energy by 2030, to maintain optimal temperatures or efficiency. Another issue to consider in smart technology (e.g. Internet of Things) is cybersecurity, a potential trade-off for convenience.
Hence, the issues and energy consumption of technology used to tackle climate change might negate its initial benefits.
How will this change impact Smart Nation Singapore in 2030?
Smart Nation 2030 is beyond just technology- which is still important in running digital systems and optimize energy efficiency. More importantly, we need to be very selective in choosing the technology we want to develop further. Some technology may be redundant, or too resource-intensive, to do R&D in.
Some factors to consider in furthering smart technology is to ask if it is climate-friendly (useful in the long term fundamentals beyond short-term trends), or if it's just for superficial convenience, when good habits suffice (e.g. energy usage habits instead of developing smart sensors to measure it).
Singapore is poised to become a hub for sustainable technology in the Southeast Asian region, in areas such as water technology and green buildings. But it might need more conscious effort to alter the culture of convenience and apathy for the environment, beyond regarding technology as the ultimate solution to climate and environmental issues.
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