How do new and emerging technologies change industry, society and the wider world?
New and emerging technologies and their impact on industry and enterprise, sustainability, people, culture, society, the environment and production techniques and systems.
A focused answer to AQA GCSE Design and Technology core principle on new and emerging technologies, covering their impact on industry, enterprise, sustainability, people, society, the environment and production systems.
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What this dot point is asking
This is AQA section 3.1.1, which opens the core technical principles. AQA wants you to understand how new and emerging technologies affect the way products are designed, made and used. You need to explain their impact on industry and enterprise, on people, culture and society, on the environment and sustainability, and on production techniques and systems such as automation. In Paper 1 this is examined through Explain, Discuss and Evaluate questions that reward a balanced view rather than a list.
Industry and enterprise
Industry has changed from hand production to large-scale, technology-driven manufacture.
New technologies make it cheaper for individuals and small companies to compete. Examples include 3D printing for low-cost prototypes and short runs, online retail and social-media marketing that reach a global market without a shop, virtual marketing and crowdfunding platforms that test demand before mass production. AQA expects you to discuss how this shifts power from large manufacturers toward small enterprises and the circular economy, where products are designed to be reused or remade.
People, culture and society
Technology shapes how people live and what they value. You should consider:
- Changing job patterns: automation and robotics replace some manual and dangerous roles but create skilled jobs in programming, maintenance and quality control, often requiring retraining.
- Inclusive design: products should work for users of different ages, sizes, cultures and abilities, so they do not exclude groups; for example, large clear controls help older and visually impaired users.
- Ethical and cultural acceptability: designs should not offend cultural or religious groups, and should respect local customs in colour, symbol and form.
- Fashion, taste and trends: changing tastes, cultural identity and the speed of fashion influence demand and can drive throwaway consumption.
Sustainability and the environment
Cleaner energy, recyclable materials, efficient manufacture and lighter products all reduce environmental impact. Against this, new technologies can create electronic waste that is hard to recycle, depend on finite and rare-earth resources mined at social and environmental cost, and shorten product life through fast fashion and built-in obsolescence. The exam rewards a balanced judgement, not a one-sided story.
Production techniques and systems
- Automation: machines carry out tasks with little human input, giving consistent quality, high output and round-the-clock running, at the cost of high set-up capital and reduced flexibility.
- CAD and CAM: computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacture link the design directly to the machine, reducing transcription errors, speeding up changes and letting one design make many identical parts.
- Robotics: robots perform repetitive, heavy or dangerous tasks accurately and safely around the clock, improving worker safety but reducing low-skilled jobs.
- Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) and lean manufacturing: reconfigurable machines and just-in-time stock cut waste and respond quickly to changing demand.
These systems raise efficiency and quality but require high set-up costs and reduce the number of low-skilled jobs, the classic trade-off the exam wants you to weigh.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 20226 marksDiscuss the impact of automation in manufacturing on industry, the workforce and product quality.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark Discuss is a higher-tariff Paper 1 question. Markers band it by balance and the use of correct terms, and reward points across more than one of the three named areas.
For industry: automation gives high output, consistent quality and round-the-clock running, lowering the cost per item once the high set-up cost is recovered, which helps a firm compete. It also raises capital cost and makes a line less flexible if the product changes.
For the workforce: repetitive, dangerous or heavy manual jobs are reduced, which can cause job losses and demand retraining, but new skilled roles appear in programming, maintenance and quality control.
For product quality: machines repeat a task with very low variation, so parts are more consistent and within tolerance than hand work, reducing faults and waste, though a programming error can spoil a whole batch.
A strong answer weighs benefits against drawbacks and reaches a judgement. Markers reward balance, correct terminology (automation, tolerance, consistency, capital cost) and coverage of at least two named areas. A one-sided list of benefits caps the mark.
AQA 20193 marksExplain how crowdfunding can help an individual designer bring a new product to market.Show worked answer →
A 3-mark Explain wants developed reasoning, not a definition alone.
Crowdfunding raises small amounts of money from many backers online, so a designer can fund tooling and a first production run without a bank loan or a large investor. Because backers pledge before manufacture, the campaign also tests real demand, so the designer avoids making stock that will not sell. Reaching a funding target proves the idea to suppliers and retailers, easing later orders.
Markers reward (1) raising capital from many small backers, (2) testing demand before committing to production, (3) reducing financial risk for the individual. Defining crowdfunding without linking it to bringing the product to market limits the marks.
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Sources & how we know this
- AQA GCSE Design and Technology (8552) specification — AQA (2017)