How expensive it could be to impart or distribute knowledge for free!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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How expensive it could be to impart or distribute knowledge for free! A commercial arrangement can always be worked out for same.

Education could be paid or subsidised or free, but basic and fundamental educational resources can always be made universally accessible, open source and available for free.

Further basic and advanced education and educational resources can also be made free with commercial mechanisms like advertisement or other in both digital and print form.

There may be arguments of commerce shaping vulnerable minds, imposing brand loyalty at early age and shaping collective consciousness, but that is only secondary issue (and can be dealt with); secondary for the reason when millions in world are not having access to basic and timely education, higher education, tailored vocational education, access to uninterrupted communication channels and right tools and gadgets to keep them motivated to learn whatever, whenever, wherever. Commerce can easily fill the last mile gap.

It should also be alright to insert few commercials, advertisements in presentation slides, educational podcast and textbook pages in university, college and high school, if it is for a noble cause or if it is funding that very education itself for those in need!

Author: Anoop Jha

Why to make smart cities?

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Thinking other way round, do we have choice not to make smart cities?

Thinking of all the inexhaustible technological breakthrough that is happening, the unimaginable pace of it and the ever-disruptive potential of technology; do we have purpose, choice or even capabilities to stop that?

Thinking of intellectual quest of minds, uncompromising force of commerce and vested business interests, that drives and support technological innovations, do we have intention, choice or even capacity to stop that?

Are there prolific examples in history, where forces of technological progress and commerce were challenged, disrupted or tamed, or weren’t they possibly the very latent or obvious force which throughout shaped the world in general and cities in specific?

So, as, innovations, backed by powerful businesses and capable investors are anyway going to exponentially continue, irrespective; then the question remains is that, where will they apply such novel concepts and emerging technology; the obvious prime choice in this case remains “cities”; cities of specific minimum threshold size, with optimum density and known economic stability, cities that provide ultimate testing ground for smart technology, a vast “living laboratory”!

Acknowledging the inevitability of proliferation of smart interventions in cities, even if in bits and pieces, even if in uncoordinated and scattered manners, that too without choice; it is apt and thoughtful to increasingly align our aptitude, our values and institutions to embrace such unstoppable changes, so that at least those technological efforts could be coordinated and channelised in a desired direction in any given urban environment, may be collectively labelling it "smart city".

If we already labelled them as smart city, that only shows awareness, proactiveness and receptiveness to this idea that smart city may not be a mere choice! 

Author: Anoop Jha

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