November 8, 2019 Apartment of Danny Yong, Singapore “Welcome home, Danny.” A lady spoke from an electronic screen beside the lift. Two years ago, the Housing Development Board had upgraded the lift to do away with the buttons. In place was a face recognition panel which was a safety feature for the residents. As Danny waited for the lift, he fiddled the wrist-controller to program the scene to greet him when he enters his apartment. “Lavender”, he thought to himself. “There you are, 6th floor. Have a nice day.” The lift opened and Danny pressed a button on his wrist-controller as he walked towards his apartment – with two beeps, the gate and door opened in front of him. The breathtaking view of Hokkaido’s purple lavender fields under the clear blue sky uplifted his spirits immediately, all thanks to the nanoelectronics built in the walls of his apartment. He stood at the door and took in a deep breath as the scent of lavender permeated the living room. Meanwhile, music from his favourite Jay Chou’s tune started softly from his nanospeakers. It was raining heavily outside but Danny was happy to be dry. His jacket, a product of nanofabrics, promised to be resistant to bacteria, smell and water. He removed his jacket and sat down to enjoy his first meal of the day. His only meal of the day. The food that his mother had prepared for him before she set off for work had been scientifically modified in its making to provide five times the energy derived from the natural food. The cost of the modified food was higher but it saved the hassle of eating three meals a day. To people like Danny whose metabolism rate was higher than average, he never had to worry about working on an empty stomach again. Satisfied with his tasty meal, he took a sip of the apple juice which would keep him hydrated for the next 24 hours. Danny plonked himself on the sofa and recalled the events of the day. For most of it, he had been typing endlessly on his high performance computer as the deadline for his course proposal was due the day after. Physically tired, Danny wished he had Vitabots in his blood. The latest development in the nanohealth realm, each Vitabot is a mini capsule of a cocktail of vitamins and minerals with the ability to sense the needs of the body and release suitable prescriptions to recharge the body without the harmful effects of traditional stimulants. However, the possibility of having a shot of Vitabots in Singapore was low, at least for the time being. Currently the Vitabots are only available for the NanoGiants, a group of nanotechnologically advanced countries. Special licenses have to be purchased for its usage for non-member countries. It would definitely be another few years before Vitabots would reach the shores of Singapore. The use of Nanotechnology is becoming increasingly evident to the average person in Singapore. What do you, as the FPS team assigned to the Office of the Prime Minister, see as the biggest challenge facing the nanotechnology in 2020 and beyond? Analyse the situation and use the Future Problem Solving process to devise an action plan to address the major problem that you have identified.
“Welcome home, Danny.” A lady spoke from an electronic screen beside the lift. Two years ago, the Housing Development Board had upgraded the lift to do away with the buttons. In place was a face recognition panel which was a safety feature for the residents. As Danny waited for the lift, he fiddled the wrist-controller to program the scene to greet him when he enters his apartment. “Lavender”, he thought to himself.
“There you are, 6th floor. Have a nice day.” The lift opened and Danny pressed a button on his wrist-controller as he walked towards his apartment – with two beeps, the gate and door opened in front of him. The breathtaking view of Hokkaido’s purple lavender fields under the clear blue sky uplifted his spirits immediately, all thanks to the nanoelectronics built in the walls of his apartment. He stood at the door and took in a deep breath as the scent of lavender permeated the living room. Meanwhile, music from his favourite Jay Chou’s tune started softly from his nanospeakers.
It was raining heavily outside but Danny was happy to be dry. His jacket, a product of nanofabrics, promised to be resistant to bacteria, smell and water. He removed his jacket and sat down to enjoy his first meal of the day. His only meal of the day. The food that his mother had prepared for him before she set off for work had been scientifically modified in its making to provide five times the energy derived from the natural food. The cost of the modified food was higher but it saved the hassle of eating three meals a day. To people like Danny whose metabolism rate was higher than average, he never had to worry about working on an empty stomach again. Satisfied with his tasty meal, he took a sip of the apple juice which would keep him hydrated for the next 24 hours.
Danny plonked himself on the sofa and recalled the events of the day. For most of it, he had been typing endlessly on his high performance computer as the deadline for his course proposal was due the day after. Physically tired, Danny wished he had Vitabots in his blood. The latest development in the nanohealth realm, each Vitabot is a mini capsule of a cocktail of vitamins and minerals with the ability to sense the needs of the body and release suitable prescriptions to recharge the body without the harmful effects of traditional stimulants. However, the possibility of having a shot of Vitabots in Singapore was low, at least for the time being. Currently the Vitabots are only available for the NanoGiants, a group of nanotechnologically advanced countries. Special licenses have to be purchased for its usage for non-member countries. It would definitely be another few years before Vitabots would reach the shores of Singapore.
The use of Nanotechnology is becoming increasingly evident to the average person in Singapore. What do you, as the FPS team assigned to the Office of the Prime Minister, see as the biggest challenge facing the nanotechnology in 2020 and beyond? Analyse the situation and use the Future Problem Solving process to devise an action plan to address the major problem that you have identified.