Policy Sci DOI 10.1007/s11077-011-9137-3
Science, technology and innovation in a 21st century context
John H. Marburger III
Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2011
This editorial essay was prepared by John H. ‘‘Jack’’ Marburger for a workshop on the ‘‘science of science and innovation policy’’ held in 2009 that was the basis for this special issue. It is published posthumously. Linking the words ‘‘science,’’ ‘‘technology,’’ and ‘‘innovation,’’ may suggest that we know more about how these activities are related than we really do. This very common linkage implicitly conveys a linear progression from scientific research to technology creation to innovative products. More nuanced pictures of these complex activities break them down
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Some of the largest and most profitable industries in the developed world—entertainment, automobiles, clothing and fashion accessories, health products, children’s toys, grownups’ toys!—depend on perceptions of need that go far beyond the utilitarian and are notoriously difficult to predict. And yet these industries clearly depend on sophisticated and rapidly advancing technologies to compete in the marketplace. Of course, they do not depend only upon technology. Technologies are part of the environment for innovation, or in a popular and very appropriate metaphor—part of the innovation ecology. This complexity of innovation and its ecology is conveyed in Chapter One of a currently popular best-seller in the United States called Innovation Nation by the American innovation guru, Kao (2007), formerly on the faculty of the Harvard Business School: ‘‘I define it [innovation],’’ writes Kao, ‘‘as the ability of individuals, companies, and entire nations to continuously create their desired future. Innovation depends on harvesting knowledge from a range of disciplines besides science and technology, among them design, social science, and the arts. And it is exemplified by more than just products; services, experiences, and processes can be innovative as well. The work of entrepreneurs, scientists, and software geeks alike contributes to innovation. It is also about
Leo Marx, once a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Harvard graduate, wrote an article titled “Technology The Emergence of a Hazardous Concept”. In this article, the author explores the modern day definition of the word technology and argues that technology offers too broad of a definition and is ill fitting to describe all technical advancements and their creators. Technology can be defined as the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science (dictionary.com). On the other hand, it can
The words science and technology can and regularly are utilized reciprocally. In any case, the objective of science is the quest for learning for its own purpose while the objective of technology is to make items that tackle issues and enhance human life. Technology is the down to earth use of science. Science from the Latin scientia (knowledge) is a system of acquiring knowledge based on the scientific method, as well as the organized body of knowledge gained through such research (Science vs Technology, 2017). Technology is a broad concept that deals with a species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment (Science vs Technology, 2017). Today, the essential importance of science is mostly constrained to observational investigation including utilization of the logical strategy. Technology can be connected either largely or to particular territories: examples incorporate development Technology, therapeutic Technology, or cutting edge Technology.
Alongside the entrepreneur spirit, Innovation is the process of taking new ideas and implementing them into the market. Key word being “new”, an innovation can be sometimes viewed as the application to better solutions that meet new demand-requirements, inarticulated needs or existing market needs. Innovative ideas range from: goods, services, products, processes, services, technologies or ideas that create value for which customers will pay for. For an idea to be an innovation, it must be replicable at an economical cost and must satisfy a specific need. This means is that one must be ready and willing put their new idea to the test. On the other hand, there is recognition that “innovation is also critical to cultural, environmental, social, and artistic progress as well” (Bullinger, 2006). With this stated, high-tech innovation is ultimately the reason why we can be thankful for the many new conveniences of the 21st century. Although we might see the forefront of innovation being very prominent in today’s world, innovation is truly nothing new. From the start of modern man times, innovative ideas have paved the way for civilization to advance and develop into what we are today and at the same time, we have barely begin to chip away at the tip of the iceberg of our true human potential. Some scholars believe that innovation is a
Under constant reminders to improve the quality of our very own education within a rapidly improving technological world. Technology is often seen as a way to increase learning and collaboration on students on college campuses. The current generation of college students has basically grown up with technology in their lives always, and these students are among the earliest of creations of new advances in technology. With this students are encouraged to explore new ways of learning as well as connecting to their campus community, collaborate with peers, learn new information, and demonstrate what they have learned through technology which is essential for college campuses seeking to meet the necessities of present day college students. In order to effectively use technology to improve education, we must investigate how students are currently using technology, what they want from their colleges in the use of technology, how technology impacts educational outcomes, and how these factors differ for different student populations.
Media culture and technologies influence on curriculum in the classroom over the last 20 years has been astronomical. The increase in the use of multimedia and technology in our everyday lives has become a major influencer on the way students and teachers navigate within their classrooms. This has created a sense of urgency to incorporate this new tech culture into the classroom. With so many advancements and ideas for the facilitation of technology in the classroom, there are a number of seemingly outlying factors that contribute to technologies successful incorporation and use. When technology is seen as a valuable collaborative tool in the eyes of the students and educators it can aid in student learning, understanding, and lesson facilitation. When technology is not seen as a valuable collaborative tool its implementation and use is stagnant. The perception and attitudes of teachers play a major role in the success or failure of the introduction and implementation of technology in classroom.
Invention is the result of a long study, research, and experimentation (Innovation, n.d.); Innovation is “the discovery and the execution of pioneering ideas that create value” (Greco, 2011), in other words, new application of known concepts. A practical example of invention is the alkaline battery that provided a light-weight, small, and portable power source; innovation applied this concept to anything possible from communication devises, mecanich and construction tools, and even toys. Technical workstream leaders understand that innovators are today’s competitors reducing times, and maximazing profits with new techniques; but inventors have the potential to reshape the landscape of today’s markets leaving dominant companies out of bussiness. Who remembers door-to-door salesmen or “dear John”
Bijker, W. (2001). Understanding Technological Culture through a Constructivist View of Science, Technology, and Society. Counterpoints in Science, Technology, and Society Studies. New York: SUNY.
The arguments and findings of the reports can be cross-linked to a number of important concepts in the theory behind science and technology policy. The main concepts that will be used to analyze the finding of the report are the linearity model versus the innovation space and the push-pull concept between R&D and businesses. The linear model of innovation describes as a chain of supply and demand starting with science and ending with economic growth. The science acts a suppler for the demand of technology, and technology supplies the demand of businesses in order to be innovative. The end result of an innovative business is perceived as a contributor to the increase in productivity and as a result economic growth. On the other hand, the concept of innovation space or the innovation ecosystem as referred to in the report regards innovation as the output of an integrated
The use of technology by people from all ages is inevitable in today’s society. The world depends on technology anywhere from the stock market to nuclear launch codes. Families use technology to enjoy a movie or a game, even to look up recipes for dinner and dessert. Presently, infant children are spending large portions of their days using technology. Today, television shows and games are easily accessed by children through computers and portable age-integrated devices. Introducing technology to a child as early as infancy produces a reliance that has to be maintained for the rest of their lives. The most common and current use of technology in today’s society is social media. Millions of people visit their social media accounts multiple times a day during work hours, school hours, and even while exercising. This constant craving offers a question: Does technology make it hard to concentrate? Some would argue yes it does, because technology has such a vast range of information it is very easy to get distracted when trying to look up something on the computer. A great example of this would be, looking up a song on YouTube, then thirty minutes later finding yourself watching a cat video with no awareness as to how you got there. Technology, with its vast amount of accessibility, has caused humans to lose concentration to an individual’s own detriment, in addition to making them less socially interactive.
With the continued growth in science and technology it is easy to say that we will achieve planetary travel I the next twenty years or so. Many scientist and ordinary people think of the day when we will colonize another planet. To do this we would need to send hundreds, if not thousands, of people to that planet so that they may be self-sufficient. But first we would need to overcome one major problem, food. If we send thousands of people to another planet we need to have a way of growing food in an extraterrestrial environment. The reason why food is a problem is because of the distance between planets. It is impractical to suggest an idea where a shuttle would resupply the inhabitance of the planet, the costs would be astronomical. The way to solve this problem is by growing food on the planets or other parts of space that we travel too. But is this even possible? If so, how would we do it? How much would it cost and how long would it take? What effects would an alien environment have on Earth based agriculture? What technologies have been and still need to be developed before this becomes a realistic plan? And what are the possible benefits to growing massive amounts of plants somewhere other than Earth?
The world has basically been taken over by technology. Its everywhere and easily accessible nowadays. There is an emerged advancement of the internet with its different platforms of communication. With all the technology available to use, a question is raised of whether it improves or destroys our minds.
The effect of the creation of the internet on individuals is hard to quantify. While it has led to many positive changes for society, many would argue it has only complicated our lives, but the increased access to learning and cultural resources and information is difficult to ignore as a source of self-improvement. In the essay “Project Classroom Makeover” Cathy Davidson discusses how students born in the information age interact differently with learning because of their experiences on the internet. Thomas Lethem also posits that changes in our environment, like the creation of the internet, change the art that we create in his essay “The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism.” Even with these great resources, human nature does not always tend towards the self-improvement made possible by the internet and humans often self-organize to avoid it. In the essay “The Myth of the Ant Queen” Steven Johnson discusses how humans tend to group themselves up in ways that keep different types of people separate and aim to minimize personal growth and improvement. Fighting against this human tendency towards complacency, the internet has created incredible opportunity for individuals to improve themselves by learning and expanding their minds through access to global culture, free information, and instant social interaction without borders. Despite this, many people have ended up in internet communities where they do not see global culture, are given false information, and have interactions with only a very ideologically limited set of people. This can lead people to become more misinformed and hostile to ideas other than their own, so to fully take the opportunity granted by the internet, individuals must push themselves to not settle into any such narrowly defined community and to use the resources given to them. To understand why this self-motivation is so important, it is important to first understand how much opportunity the internet and technology provide.
In the past decade, the world and the markets alike have experienced rapid change and this change continues at an ever increasing pace. New products emerge in every field resulting in the creation of needs; people have never been aware or thought of. According to Hamel (2000 p18), “the latitude of innovation has never been broader –if only our minds can stretch to it”.
Innovation: How do we apply sociology to slow or halt the disruption we are causing to our planet
The world of scientific research and technology has been advancing at an incredible pace. As we keep delving deeper into the world of biology and neurology, many issues and topics have surfaced. One such topic is the use of Stem Cells. First of all, Stem cells are cells that have the ability to divide indefinitely and have the potential to become another, more specialized, type of cell other than a stem cell. The question on how these stem cells can be used for future development in technology and research has become a very hot topic and an issue in the biological world of scientific research. Another topic that is also being discussed is both of Neuroethics and Smart drugs. Neuroethics, like bioethics, concerns the ethicality, legality and the social impact of neuroscience. This includes the way that neurotechnology can be used to analyze and change human behavior and how we are using our understanding of brain function for society. Smart Drug on the other hand has become a controversial issue in neuroethics for they are drugs that can enhance cognition and memory learning, thus in totality making you “smarter”. These drugs have recently been becoming increasingly popular for their ability to do those two things, and now is the question of what are the possible side effects and if there are any danger to using them. With topics such as these an important question must be asked and that is if scientists should be allowed to take samples from patients without permission and