Classification of Innovation Considering Technological Interaction

Abstract

This study here categorizes innovations considering the taxonomic characteristics of interaction between technologies in complex systems. The proposed classification, in a broad analogy with the ecology, includes four categories of technology considering the typology of their interaction: 1) technological parasitism is a relationship between two technologies A and B in which A benefits from the interaction with B, whereas B has a negative side from interaction with A; 2) technological commensalism is a relationship between technologies where technology A benefits from B without affecting it; 3) technological mutualism is a relationship in which technologies A and B benefit from the activity of the other; finally, 4) technological symbiosis is a long-term interaction between A and B technologies that generates coevolution in complex systems. This classification can predict evolutionary pathways of technologies. This study here begins the process of clarifying typologies of interactive technologies that explain the long-run evolution of technology. The theoretical framework can be a ground work for development of more sophisticated theories to clarify technological change.