Technology is taking on an increasingly central and determining role in
so- ciety, and can provide contradictory results: wealth on the one
hand, but also unemployment, environmental imbalances and other social
problems on the other. Manufacturing techniques and production
organization are chosen in every country based mainly on the specific
needs of the companies, while the real needs of each population are
often quite different. Already, in order to prevent all forms of
technology from becoming in- creasingly "invasive", towards both the
natural supply of resources and the specific - though highly
differentiated - needs of humanity, technological paths must be
identified and followed which are capable of making the vari- ous needs
compatible, from the standpoint of sustainable development, the
conservation and increase in value of natural resources, and the quality
of development. This will become increasingly important in the future.
This goal is undoubtedly ambitious and difficult to achieve; however,
evi- dence of the problems caused by generalized, uncontrolled use of
technolo- gy, all over the world, leads us to believe that intense
efforts must be made to achieve this aim. If not, humankind runs the
risk of an irreversible degra- dation of the most important aspects of
economic development and its quali- ty. Within this framework, those
companies that produce goods and services obviously occupy a central,
active role, which they must play with a view both to competitiveness
and overall qualification and to contributing to the objectives of
sustainable development.
