Technology

Krings, Bettina-Johanna, António B. Moniz, and Philipp Frey. "Technology as enabler of the automation of work? Current societal challenges for a future perspective of work." Revista Brasileira de Sociologia 9 (2021): 206-229. Abstract806-1705-1-pb_revbrassociologia.pdfWebsite

Due to the innovative possibilities of digital technologies, the issue of increasing automation is once again on the agenda – and not only in the industry, but also in other branches and sectors of contemporary societies. Although public and scientific discussions about automation seem to raise relevant questions of the “old” debate, such as the replacement of human labor by introducing new technologies, the authors focus here on the new contextual quality of these questions. The debate should rethink the relationship between technology and work with regard to quantitative and qualitative changes in work. In this article, our example will be the introduction of automation in industry, which has been reflected in the widely recognized study by Frey and Osborne in 2013. They estimated the expected impacts of future computerization on US labor market outcomes as very high, specifically regarding the number of jobs at risk. Surprisingly, this study was the starting point of an intensive international debate on the impact of technologies on the future of work and the role of technological change in working environments. Thus, according to the authors, “old” questions remain important, but they should be reinterpreted for “new” societal demands and expectations of future models of work.

Sustainable Human Resource Management in the Context of Emerging Technologies, ISM Lithuania

March 5, 2018

Emerging technologies (ET) in the context of Industry 4.0, such as Robotics, Cyber Physical Systems, etc. will provide tremendous shifts with regard to working processes, e.g. increasing human-robot-interactions and similar technological advancements. However, in the debate about the possibilities of ET, their technical norms and standards, one of the most central aspects – the effects on employees, organizations, and work structures – has been often neglected. We still lack knowledge about the deeper implications of the ET: How ET will change work design in organizations?

Dynamics of Virtual Work (COST action, EC)

January 5, 2018

The changing geography of virtual work and the emergence of new value-generating virtual activities have major implications for economic development, skills and innovation policies. However these are poorly understood because they have been studied in a highly fragmentary way by isolated researchers.

SynErgie – Ausrichtung von Industrieprozessen auf fluktuierende Energieversorgung (BMBF)

January 5, 2018

The SynErgie projects aims to provide, within the next ten years and in line with all legal and social aspects, all the technical and market-related preconditions to synchronize the energy demand of the German industry to a significant extent with the volatile energy supply. In this way, SynErgie contributes to the socially accepted and cost-efficient realization of the energy transition based on renewable energies. The knowledge obtained also allows Germany to evolve into an international lead provider of flexible industry processes and technologies.

Work and technology (KIT)

January 5, 2018

Since industrialization, the relationship between technical change and labor structures has been highly complex, and is still being discussed and interpreted today. The works of Karl Marx and other economists who have studied the conditions of industrial labor under the influence of mechanical engineering still have a great influence on the debate about the effects of technology on work structures.