| Unit name | Technology, Innovation, Business, and Society (TIBS) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EMATM0049 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Dave Cliff |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Engineering |
This unit aims to give students a broad grounding in the wider commercial, economic, and social contexts and effects of technology innovation, with a focus on the digital, data-centric, and software-intensive technologies. The course will cover responsible innovation and open innovation: combining ideas from internal and external stakeholders to advance the useful development of new technology. Students on this unit will also develop a grounding in the legal, managerial and financial aspects of technology innovation for knowledge transfer and wealth creation. It will consider, in particular, the legal, ethical and technical issues involved in the use of personal data, with reference to frameworks such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and organisations such as the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. For balance, students on this unit also engage with literature that is questioning or critical of the social and societal effects of new technologies in general, and digital/data-centric technologies in particular (such as artificial intelligence, advanced automation, and citizen surveillance).
On completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Explain a range of views on responsibility and ethics in the development and application of innovative technology.
2. Give accounts of development of and failures in the use of innovative technology.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of legal issues and provisions concerning technology innovations.
4. Evaluate digital business models, technologies, and strategies, with reference both to commercial viability and to societal impact.
 
Delivery will primarily be through lectures, discussion-seminars, and directed reading via independent study
Coursework: written essay-style assignment of approximately 2,000 words (100%).
The assignment will test students’ knowledge and understanding of key arguments in the literature, and their ability to analyse and evaluate competing claims, drawing on relevant literature to develop conclusions. The assignment have a target document-length, stated either as a maximum word-count or maximum page-count, and penalties will be applied if the length of a coursework submission is significantly over or under the stated target length. The exact details may vary from year to year, but in each year the length of the assignment and structure of the penalties will be made clear at the time the coursework assignment is announced. (ILO 1, 2, 3, 4).
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EMATM0049).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
