Managing Industrial Assets and Complex Technologies in the Digital Era: Human and Organizational Integration

Over a very long period of time, in fact from very early stages of human evolution, technology has played a major role in shaping life on earth. The Cambridge Dictionaries of American English (2007) defines the term technology as " the methods for using scientific discoveries for practical purposes, " implying that it is the fusion between science and practice that brings technologies into a meaningful and sensible context. Simple and rudimentary technologies used by ancient civilizations have come a long way, making both the nature and usage more complex and at the same time interesting. Apart from the impact of technology on the creation of and growth of techno-societies of modern civilizations, its influence on the industrial development and wealth generation has never been so obvious. Socioeconomic , industrial, and societal development, today, relies so much on hardcore technologies and complex technological solutions, even advancing to the extent of challenging the basic principles of nature and evolution. The impact of technology is seen today in all areas of daily living; societies and industries are so strongly dependent on high-tech gadgets and advanced applications for existence and survival. Notably, the technological determinism, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, imposed on the modern era has contributed much to enhancing interac-tivity and connectedness among different societal and/or commercial agents, making the present environments not only interestingly dynamic, but also exposed. As the social and industrial structures crave for novel and innovative solutions to reach high levels of sophistication and excellence, there appears to be a clear growth of inherent complexities with technologies and technical environments as well. The very early drivers for technological development and exploitations in principal appeared to be pragmatic demands and user needs, which in a way can be described as a process of technology pull. In modern techno-societies and high-tech industrial environments, the technology push also appears to be a specific attribute where technocrats attempt to marvel a targeted group, carving a need and inducing a desire for use. Mass effects of both push and pull cultures have contributed much to the fascinating technological environment that societies and industries experience today, and help shape an ever growing demand for new technologies. While modern societies seem to have some flexibility in determining their own course for development and use of technologies, the industrial environment is more or less compelled to adapt certain technological solutions in order to stay competitive and commercially …