Introducing a New Technology: Invention, Innovation and Diffusion (Invited Speech)

16 May 2017
13:30

Introducing a New Technology: Invention, Innovation and Diffusion (Invited Speech)

There exist three stages in the process of introducing a new technology: invention, innovation, and diffusion. The first development of a new scientific or a technical product or process is called the invention stage. If the new product or process is commercialized, then we talk about the next stage, the innovation stage. The third stage of the life cycle of many innovations is the diffusion, by which an innovation is communicated through a number of different channels with individuals, groups, or local or global communities as a whole. Individual or community responses to invention, innovation and diffusion reveal themselves as use, adaptation, and resistance. Without a market, no matter how innovative a technical change is, the product or process developed has no commercial value. This Invited Lecture provides an overview of the current challenges and opportunities in innovation and commercialization, as well as a number of initiatives from research to commercialization.