Caroline Dagenais was invited as a guest speaker, on November 8th in order to discuss the importance of Information Technology in her field. She went through different subjects from how technology enabled the hospital to operate like a business company to her own career stream.
What I found particularly interesting and surprising is the way she was hired to be manager of a department she didn’t know anything about, and what is even more astonishing is that she was the youngest employee among all of them. After second thought, I realized that it actually made perfect sense given that at the time not many people knew that much about IT, and who else than the young people are ready to learn and master IT in a short time span? The answer is no one. And this emphasizes the fact that IT is highly influenced by young entrepreneurs and workers because there is no age restriction for success in Information Technology.
Also, when she went through the different jobs in each department of the Royal Victoria Hospital, I realized that mostly all of them, if not all, required a minimum mastery in information technology. Information Technology became so predominant that the cell phone usage is now allowed during work time in the hospital. Of course, it is quite of a risk, but can we really push things forward without taking risks? Once again the answer is no, and there is no better way to gain a sustainable competitive advantage than through technology. By all means these risks should be identified and managed correctly.
The Essay on Trade in Technology Information and U. S. Economic Growth
The new trend to manufacture components of computer outside the U. S. was thought to be bad for the U. S. Because it may weaken the economy of the country and experts concerned about the potential job losses but actually the exact opposite happened. Maybe some manufacturing jobs were indeed lost but it enables company to lower costs of production. As the result companies are able to push the price ...
According to me, the most important point she raised in her lecture, and which I completely agree with, is that anyone, even the most unaware on this matter, can get involved in it. A part of her job was to find ways to make people use IT at its full extent but what really makes it possible is that designers strive to make IT as much user friendly as possible. For example Caroline Dagenais has a first degree in education and ended up leading the Project Management and the Operational Development for Information Technology at Mcgill University Health Centre.
Unfortunately, the use of IT in the hospital like in any other field implies some issues. Beside the risks of using a cell phone device for example, the use of IT raises a much more sensitive concern which is the confidentiality and privacy as a whole (For example the confidentiality of patient records while people carry all these informations in their Ipad when they are going back home is exposed and might be in danger).
All in all, the main thing I captured from the lecture is that you can’t get rid of IT. People who don’t use Information Technology are considered as out-dated. Every point she raised during the presentation lead us to the importance of Information Technology in any fields.
