Shape it until you make it: A conceptual foundation for efforts to analyze and shape technological innovation
Doctoral thesis, 2020
At the same time, the answer to the ecological crisis and other grand challenges is not found in the blind expansion of new technologies. Our success in accomplishing social and environmental objectives rather depends on how, where and when innovation influences patterns of production and consumption. This calls into question the focus of academics and policymakers on stimulating technological innovation. And it highlights the need for analytical tools that can be used to explore how policymakers and other actors may shape the direction of change.
The research presented in this thesis therefore aims to develop a conceptual foundation for analyzing and shaping technological innovation. This effort draws on three qualitative case studies that investigate emerging renewable energy technologies from a Swedish perspective. The thesis is situated in the sustainability transitions research community and takes the literature on technological innovation systems as a theoretical point of departure. However, the research adopts a critical perspective and gradually departs from the core concepts used in this literature, over the course of a learning process that unfolds in five appended research papers.
In the end, the thesis proposes the technological systems framework as a set of concepts that offers a multidimensional perspective on the dynamics and outcomes of technological innovation. It also presents empirical findings that demonstrate different development trajectories, reveal some of their underlying dynamics and highlight policy implications. This will hopefully contribute to an ongoing shift in academia and politics – from stimulating the expansion of new technologies, to shaping the direction of change.
Sustainable innovation
Innovation policy
Technological innovation systems
Sociotechnical change
Technological systems
Sociotechnical systems
Technology Assessment
Technological innovation
Sustainability Transitions
Author
Johnn Andersson
Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Environmental Systems Analysis
The critical role of informed political direction for advancing technology: The case of Swedish marine energy
Energy Policy,;Vol. 101(2017)p. 52-64
Journal article
Shaping factors in the emergence of technological innovations: The case of tidal kite technology
Technological Forecasting and Social Change,;Vol. 132(2018)p. 191-298
Journal article
Photovoltaics in Sweden – Success or failure?
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,;Vol. 143(2021)
Journal article
Andersson, J., Hojckova, K., Sandén, B.A., 2020. Clarifying the focus and improving the rigour of sustainability transitions research on emerging technologies
The outcomes of directionality: Towards a morphology of sociotechnical systems
Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions,;Vol. 40(2021)p. 108-131
Journal article
National challenges for industrialising energy technology in global innovation systems
Swedish Energy Agency (39885-1), 2015-09-01 -- 2016-12-31.
Swedish Energy Agency (39885-1), 2015-02-01 -- 2018-12-31.
Driving Forces
Sustainable development
Innovation and entrepreneurship
Subject Categories
Other Engineering and Technologies
Environmental Engineering
Economics and Business
Other Social Sciences
Business Administration
Political Science
Areas of Advance
Energy
ISBN
978-91-7905-371-0
Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers tekniska högskola. Ny serie: 4838
Publisher
Chalmers
Vasa A, Vera Sandbergs Allé 8, Göteborg.
Opponent: Professor Lars Coenen, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway