Your task is to prepare a technology briefing report for non-technical managers.
The target readers are managers who may not have a technical background but are keen to know how recent technologies may impact the industry and therefore their business.
You must: • Select an industry sector of your choice; • Select a technology or a family of technologies of your choice.
You should: • Focus on a technology (such as “data analytics” and “cloud computing”), a family of technologies (such as “artificial intelligence”) or technology-enabled concepts (such as “Industry 4.0” and “additive manufacturing”) rather than a collection of multiple unrelated technologies (such as “autonomous vehicles and 3D printing”); • Consider technologies that depend on IT in a broad sense, which may include bioinformatics but would exclude gene technology; • Specify in your title the technology and the industry sector, e.g., “AI in Accountancy”, “Data Analytics in Healthcare”, etc. • Demonstrate a critical appreciation of a wide range of sources that should include academic sources, and not rely on a single source.
Your report must start with a one-page Executive Summary (not included in the word count) followed by a well-structured report not exceeding 2500 words excluding the references. The Executive Summary page must have a minimum font size of 10, a minimum line spacing of 1.0 (single space), and at least 2.5cm margin on all sides.
The Executive Summary is expected to provide a succinct summary of the findings and recommendations details of which are elaborated in the report. It is expected to contain, but not limited to, the terms of reference of the report, a summary of findings, a list of recommendations, and limitations of the report.
The report should be structured with section numbers and headings. It should: • Start with a section titled “Introduction”, which contains the purpose of the report, motivation for selecting the topic, how the topic was approached, and how the rest of the report is structured; • Describe the technology and recent developments of the technology; here be reminded that the target audience are non-technical managers which should determine the appropriate level of technical details; • Critically assess the impact of the technology in the industry sector; here it is encouraged that a framework or theory is applied to guide your analysis which should support a systematic approach to the analysis and provide a focus; the analysis is expected to reveal both positive changes and potential issues that might arise; • Make recommendations as to what managers should do, consider, assess, etc., in the light of the analysis; • End with a section titled “Conclusion”, which summarises the key findings and key recommendations;
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• A word count should be provided after the “Conclusion” section • Provide a list of references cited in the report; the citation style should be “authoryear” (e.g., Harvard)
The report may have appendices which is outside the word count, but these may not be read and will not be part of the assessment. As such you must make sure that the report is complete and self-contained without relying on the appendices.
There is no need for table of contents.
