What is a Technology Project?
Technology over the years has become an ingrained part of our life. In fact, technology's impact in our lives is increasing day by day. By technology, I am referring to the commonly accepted meaning of technology - typically a segment of technology that is relatively new in nature. Internet is a good example - its influence can be felt in almost every aspect of life. Technology is not only reining in our personal lives it is also making big strides in our work-lives. Technology is redefining the way we work and the way we do projects. Thus, technology cannot be ignored even in the world of projects. And in the world of projects, technology is not only used to get the projects done, technology is very often created by means of the project. And then there are cases when a technology may be changed by means of a project.
If at any point in time a project is initiated to create a technology, make a change to an existing technology or if technology plays a significant part in delivering the project, the project may be referred to as a Technology Project.
There may be various types of technology projects. For instance - information technology project, construction technology project, manufacturing technology project etc.
Examples of Technology Project
Here are a few examples of technology projects:
Setup of a new Data Centre
Building a new Mobile App (let’s say a game)
Development of a new IOT Device (let’s say a smart weighing machine)
Development and launching of a new Cryptocurrency
Development of a new Aircraft (let’s say Bombardier CS100)
Development of Sophia (the Human-like robot by Hanson Robotics)
Development of a new solar farm
All of the examples above are of cutting edge new technologies being built by means of projects (except perhaps the mobile app and the data centre - but those are as well very new technologies). Some may not even refer to these as projects. I agree that they may not be conventional projects, but nevertheless the processes that resulted in these cool products are indeed projects. However, technology projects don’t always need to produce cool things. Technology projects may also result in smaller and perhaps less revolutionary changes. And if you are looking for a job in the world of technology, this is where you are most-likely to land. In today’s day and age, Information Technology provides a vast array of opportunities, and thus you’re more likely to see projects playing out there.
Let’s look at some more examples:
Redesigning of an existing ECommerce site (for instance Walmart.com)
Redesigning the braking system of a car (let’s say for a new version of Nissan’s Altima brand)
Installing Microsoft Skype for an Enterprise
Incorporating an Agile tool for your team (eg. Atlassian’s JIRA)
Upgrading the version of your organization’s ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning software (for instance SAP)
As you can see, a technology project don’t need to be cutting-edge (depending on your perspective), but they’d nevertheless be something relatively new. Such is the nature of technology. Older technology is constantly being killed off by newer technology. Thus, even in the context of projects, you’re more likely to see newer technologies.