Part two of the 2020 Sign of the Times survey by Behaviour & Attitudes is published by The Irish Times. The annual snapshot of Irish life combines quantitative and digital qualitative techniques with B&A published data on the economy, health, technology and shopping. The research was conducted in January and February 2020. Today's findings are on the subject of technology. Part three will appear next week.
Since 2012, Behaviour & Attitudes has been tracking the use of and attitudes towards technology in Ireland. Looking back to that first year of the survey, the specific aspects of technology measured seem almost quaint, when we marvelled at the fact that more than a third of all adults owned a smartphone, and that one in 10 of us had an e-reader or Kindle.
Since then, the digital juggernaut has gained an unstoppable momentum, with the pace of adoption of new technology increasing exponentially as each year goes by.
The first aspect of technology we look at from this year’s report is remote working, and the extent to which we were prepared to access the office from home before the Covid-19 crisis hit.
You could say that the worldwide workforce has spent the past 10 years gently easing itself into home working, with most of us doing so only sporadically up until now. Fast-forward to just a few weeks ago, and vast swathes of the Irish workforce have been consigned to work from their bedrooms, kitchens and spare rooms for the foreseeable future.
The evidence from this year’s Sign of the Times survey is that Ireland was, in fact, reasonably well enabled with the technology required to do so, in advance of the pandemic striking.
For example, seven in 10 adults were already regularly using a laptop from home by January of this year. Smartphone ownership had risen to more than 3 million, with practically all of the 25-49 year-old working age cohort owning such a device.
In the qualitative focus groups conducted as part of the research, people spoke of the accepted necessity of maintaining access to the likes of work emails, digital calendars/diaries, etc, at all times, if only to display to their employer how committed they are to work.
There has, of course, been a downside to this “always on” work ethic. For example, over a third of the population report checking their work emails while on holiday, as they feel it is expected of them. More than half check emails last thing at night or first thing in the morning, with a quarter of us admitting that we find it hard to switch off from work in the evenings or at weekends.
Our qualitative research module provided us with clear evidence of a move among some workers towards re-establishing a clear delineation between work and home life by way of turning off push notifications while at home, removing work emails from their phones, etc. No doubt there has been a scramble to reverse many of these corrective measures in recent weeks as people faced into a prolonged period of e-working.
Two-thirds of those surveyed tell us that they believe the art of conversation is increasingly being lost
Over the past number of years our research has consistently pointed up concerns about the growing rift between both people and communities, as they drift away from human interaction towards an increased immersion in virtual realities. It is for this reason that two-thirds of those surveyed tell us that they believe the art of conversation is increasingly being lost, and that a third of the population defer to their phone when in an awkward situation, rather than engage in real human discourse.
People tend to identify technology as the villain that has led to this unravelling of human connectivity. Within this paradigm, it was interesting to observe some of our research participants using terminology more commonly associated with addiction, in discussing technology and its hold over them.
For many, the route towards breaking free from this dependency is via a return to a simpler way of living, for example, incorporating mindfulness and meditation into their day, tech-free date nights with their partner, and so on.
To facilitate these aspirations, respondents described a range of steps they have already taken to help wean themselves off technology, such as deleting particularly addictive apps, leaving the phone at home on certain days of the week, or simply removing phones from the dinner table to foster family bonding.
Against this backdrop, it will be interesting to see whether the social isolation measures imposed upon us over the course of the current crisis will have resulted in an even greater sense of human and community disconnect, or whether it will draw us closer through the shared experience of pulling together to defeat the enemy.
Arguably, the most profound theme emerging from our research relates to the extent to which technology has permeated through to all aspects of our everyday lives. Thus far, these roots of technology have extended most pervasively among generation Z (roughly those born between 1997 and 2004), and the millennials (born between 1981 and 1996).
A majority of us will be wearing a personal tracking device of some sort within two to three years
The behaviours displayed by these generations have by now become the norm, with those behind them likely to incorporate future technologies to their daily lives even more enthusiastically, in ways that we have yet to imagine.
To illustrate this point, we only have to look at the use of personal digital devices, which has grown from just 7 per cent of adults in 2018, to 29 per cent this year.
At this rate, a majority of us will be wearing a personal tracking device of some sort within two to three years. Currently, these accessories are being utilised as a relatively simple means of providing us with checks and balances on our physical exercise regime.
Within the not-too-distant future however, the experts tell us that advances in bio-technology could lead to personal technology generating full medical reports on our health and wellbeing, diagnosing medical conditions, and prescribing treatment programmes.
Imagine a world where the entire population could be tested for coronavirus through digital devices or implants, problem clusters immediately identified by the health authorities, and preventative action taken to stamp the disease out before it takes hold across the country.
Perhaps in five years’ time, the B&A Sign of the Times survey will be reporting on a shift from technology as lifestyle enabler to life saver.
Ian Mc Shane is executive chairman of Behaviour & Attitudes
