Techno Economic Networks

This paper discusses the literature on 'techno-economic networks' TENs and 'techno-economic paradigms' TEPs. The object of study in both literatures is some form of combination of the 'technical' and the 'socio-economic'; the phrase 'techno-economic' thus points to the need to see that the widest variety of 'actors' may be of significance for particular innovations. The literature on TENs has focused mainly on describing the emergence and stabilisation of specific innovations; the literature on TEPs has focused more on the issues and problems arising from the diffusion of highly 'pervasive' generic technologies. The two perspectives thus constitute different ends of a spectrum regarding the formulation of research and policy issues. The central concern of this paper is to illustrate that, by maintaining a focus on innovation and by shifting theoretical registers between the TEN and TEP perspectives, a number of issues emerge around what we call the 'meso-leÕel techno-economic': at the level of the nation, of national governments, of specific firms and organisations of particular scientific and technological disciplines, or of particular market arrangements and patterns of consumption. The paper explores some of the applications of the approaches to technological development in relation to the environment and Ž. constructive technology assessment CTA ; it concludes by presenting a possible framework for analysis of the meso-level.

A number of key concepts are frequently used in the context of research on technological change, but often with significantly different connotations. Meanings differ among disciplinary contexts, and also among different authors. The following brief discussion of such key terms aims to provide a foundation for the study on CHP and to avoid misunderstandings with regard to the various disciplines from which inputs will be used. At the end of Section 2.1, a general typology of models of theoretical approaches to technological change will be suggested. The discussion of different disciplinary ways of theorising about technological change will be discussed along the lines of this typology in the sections 2.2 to 2.5. 2.1.1 Technology and related definitions The term technology is often used without questioning its precise meaning. Analytically, it can be characterised by at least two dimensions: 15 • Artefact dimension: technologies are composed of physical hardware, • Knowledge dimension: in order to make a technology work, different forms of knowledge are needed, both for its production and operation. 15 In English and German, the meanings of apparently similar terms differ. While the German Technik mainly refers to the hardware dimension of realised artefacts, and Technologie is understood as the knowledge or science of realising such artefacts, the British notions of technology and technique/technical are different. 'Technology' encompasses both the artefact and the knowledge dimension, and technique is closely associated to a procedure or process for realising artefacts. In this study, the English notation will prevail unless specified differently.

This paper discusses the literature on 'techno-economic networks' TENs and 'techno-economic paradigms' TEPs. The object of study in both literatures is some form of combination of the 'technical' and the 'socio-economic'; the phrase 'techno-economic' thus points to the need to see that the widest variety of 'actors' may be of significance for particular innovations. The literature on TENs has focused mainly on describing the emergence and stabilisation of specific innovations; the literature on TEPs has focused more on the issues and problems arising from the diffusion of highly 'pervasive' generic technologies. The two perspectives thus constitute different ends of a spectrum regarding the formulation of research and policy issues. The central concern of this paper is to illustrate that, by maintaining a focus on innovation and by shifting theoretical registers between the TEN and TEP perspectives, a number of issues emerge around what we call the 'meso-leÕel techno-economic': at the level of the nation, of national governments, of specific firms and organisations of particular scientific and technological disciplines, or of particular market arrangements and patterns of consumption. The paper explores some of the applications of the approaches to technological development in relation to the environment and Ž. constructive technology assessment CTA ; it concludes by presenting a possible framework for analysis of the meso-level.

Technological innovations are embedded in complex sets of other technologies; hence knowledge created within innovation processes is an outcome of an accumulation of existing knowledge. For this reason, new technologies and their production trajectories involve various actors and relations among those actors; all making up a complex and an uncertain environment. In such an environment, our current understanding of the patterns of technological change and economic growth suggests that a new set of technological systems, information and communication technologies (ICTs), has gradually come together being capable of guiding the diffusion of technological innovations (Perez 2004). However, this whole process has raised certain social, cultural and ethical questions as the escalating power of ICTs has changed the societal, market and industrial structures immensely since the 1980s due to a cluster of innovations . This presentation centres on the inquiry about understanding ethical issues associated with generic technologies, particularly ICTs, from an innovation systems perspective.

This paper explores the problems in developing an analysis of technology that gives attention to both the complex detail of technological activity and broader social and economic influences.  Micro-sociologists analyse technological development in terms of the action and interaction between technological communities and other individuals and groups directly involved.  This can be criticised for extrapolating from micro-level activities to analyse phenomena at a broader societal level.  Case-studies of energy technology and the regulation of industrial hazards highlight the need for developed theories of broad social processes including the role of the state, class and other social interests.

Amongst the increasing variety of approaches to the relationships between the three broad areas of academic science & technology, industrial R&D, and government policies and actions, there is one set of perspectives that have their roots within the extensive research conducted on innovation over the last 30 years (see, for example, Freeman & Soete, 1997, Part Two).  Those ‘innovation studies’ included work on science & technology policy, but also a wide variety of economic and sociological studies of the emergence and effects of scientific and technological change, as well as studies of the management of innovation and technical change.  In this work there are two broad categories of analysis - macro and micro - which focus on ‘the techno-economic’, those groups of linkages between technological, economic and social change .  This paper discusses each of these categories of analysis from the perspective of a central concern with both analysis and intervention - a concern that forms of analysis be policy-relevant, and that policy recommendations are intellectually valid.  In other words, although the paper builds towards a number of practically-oriented suggestions, we contend that it is necessary to first examine the sociological and economic validity of the foundations for such suggestions.