From large technical systems to technological complexes

Abstract

The paper locate telecommunications in what has emerged as the new paradigmatic technology of the third industrial revolution, the technological complexes. Modern telecommunications has a long history in its own right - evolving from the telegraph to contemporary multimedia services. A parallel process has been the integration of telecommunications with other infrastructures. Today, as part of the ICT-cluster, telecom is tightly integrated with other critical infrastructures. These systems of systems are best conceptualized as technological complexes.