MCE/MCE+1 – Blog Post Prompt – Wednesday July 23, 2019 – Assistive Technologies
Your Name: Connor Damon
The Market for Assistive Technologies and Commercial Development: The attached article on the market for assistive technologies has some bold predictions about commercial opportunities. Given your interest in business (i.e. finance, accounting, marketing, global management, etc.), what commercial opportunity in assistive technologies stands out for you?
One of the things I find interesting about these assistive technologies is that in many cases, they can be beneficial to both people who are disabled as well as people who are not disabled. From a business standpoint, this smart technology is usable by and helpful for anyone that purchases it, making it a fantastic market to invest in. Since the market encompasses all types of people, a company who produces a product within this market can capitalize on the amount on people in the market and keep the price relatively lower and still make a huge profit. However, I think that the most interesting opportunity in this field is the technology that allows people without movement in their arms to control devices using a series of head moves and other gestures.
The Market for Assistive Technologies and Social Impact: The article also offers us a glimpse of some of the social impacts that are possible through an attention to the development of this market. What specific positive social impact is likely/possible if the market continues to develop?
The social impact of these assistive devices will be extremely beneficial for the integration of people with disabilities into the modern society. The benefits of integrating people with disabilities into society include the unification of the ideas of people with and without disabilities in the business world. This will allow for innovation in the business world because people who have not been able to participate in the business world before will now be able to participate and incorporate their ideas and inventions into the expanding market.
Other Examples Like This?: Based on our review of the market for assistive technologies as an area of opportunities for commercial development and opportunities for social impact, what other types of markets (likely in areas related to people, planet and profit) offer opportunities for commercial development and social impact?
I think that there is a huge opportunity for companies to invest in making their companies more ecologically sustainable, especially in terms of infrastructure and production. The idea of creating “green roofs” or rain gardens on the roof of buildings not only helps lower the carbon footprint of a company by taking carbon dioxide out of the air and helps to save the company money on the heating and cooling of a building. The social benefit to sustainability is that it allows companies to paint a more positive picture of their company. The commercial benefit of sustainability is that it brings in more money due to the positive picture of the company, while also allowing the company to save on select costs in order to pay for the costs of being sustainable.