BEX5413 Technology and innovation for start-ups

Technology, increasingly impacts upon life in both measurable and immeasurable ways. Without it, life as we know would be a very different and most probably, rather stark experience. Innovation is often explicitly and implicitly bound with technology as knowledge and the way we use knowledge drives rapid advances that can both add to our lives but also at times result in unforeseen implications. This unit examines technology and innovation from a human-centred perspective providing a broad overview of the technology landscape and how this drives innovation that impacts on human lives and by consequence, all life. Technological advances can enable economic growth and diversity and this course, in a practical manner, will highlight how technology can be leveraged in transforming nascent concepts into commercial realities. The unit adopts a design-driven innovation perspective and demonstrates how a human-centred lens is applied when developing new products, services and technologies. Philosophically, nascent innovators will be challenged in this unit to test and validate (in an applied sense), appropriate technology for different types of innovations that may either underpin a start-up or facilitate more optimal and efficient operations of one. This unit will also focus on the architecture that supports technology and how this relates to the start-up journey and achieving profitability. You will be exposed to the most current emerging deep technologies including AI, IoT, machine learning and bots but also not overlook less ‘glamorous’ tech where scope still exists for considerable innovation. This will allow students to more comprehensively explore the interplay between innovation, technology, and delivery to market.