Giving Compass' Take:

· Causeartist talks with Ashwin Gopi to learn more about technology innovation frameworks and how they can be used by organizations with their social responsibility initiatives.

· What are technology innovation frameworks and how can organization use them for social impact? How is technology changing the way organizations work?

· Check out this article about cultivating your innovative ecosystem.

In recent years, more and more entrepreneurs have launched businesses or initiatives designed to make a positive social impact as customers demand that brands better align with their values. The new interdisciplinary New Technology for Social Impact Certificate, offered by Open Campus at The New School, equips these emerging leaders with the skills they need to use the power of technology to develop sustainable solutions to social and environmental problems.

Below is a conversation with Ashwin Gopi, instructor of the Technology Innovation Frameworks course in this online certificate, to delve more about what technology innovation frameworks are, why they matter, and how they can be used in social responsibility initiatives in new and existing organizations.

What is a technology innovation framework?
It’s a way of looking at how we change what we do.

Wait, back up. It’s what? Break it down.
Well, I think that technology is just what we do, encoded either in our behavior, or by changing the world around us.

So my smartphone is… 
Human behavior encoded into our environment

But it’s not just that, right? Us changing our environment?
No it’s not, because technology changes us, too. And we change each other using it, and then we change it again. It’s all iterative and on-going.

What about the physical nature of technology then? It’s not just behavior?
Oh yeah, technology totally has a material nature, just like how it has a social nature. That’s why it’s very important to study technology as it is used, because what we do with technology is more important than how we feel and how we think about technology. It is equally important to explore the material design and choices made by people in creating technology, and the assumptions and shared meanings that go into its use.

Read the full article about technology innovation frameworks at Causeartist.