Shape it until you make it: A conceptual foundation for efforts to analyze and shape technological innovation
Doctoral thesis, 2020

These are times of accelerating climate change and mass extinction of species on planet Earth. We are in the midst of an ecological crisis that will have profound consequences for human society and its natural environment. While the conditions for life have changed abruptly in the past, the current situation is characterized by the increasing power of a single species. Human beings are not only to blame for the unsustainable practices that brought us here, but also capable of harnessing their combined ingenuity to develop technology that may reduce environmental impacts and provide additional benefits for society.

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

Vasa A, Vera Sandbergs Allé 8, Göteborg.
Opponent: Professor Lars Coenen, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway

Author

Johnn Andersson

Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Environmental Systems Analysis

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.

Online

Opponent: Professor Lars Coenen, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway

More information

Latest update

11/13/2023