Scaling Up or Deep Scaling? Problematizing the Scalability Imperative in Technological Innovation

This paper problematizes the obsession with “scaling up” that is visible in numerous technological domains. Using the case of hydrogen mobility projects in France, we identify a tension between a discourse of rapid scaling for nationwide deployment, and projects undertaken by local authorities and private companies who make small-scale experiments with hydrogen cars and charging stations more dense, by adding uses, actors, and technical functionalities. We use the term “deep scaling” to characterize the latter approach. By examining projects focusing on “ecosystems” of hydrogen mobility, we discuss the consequences of deep scaling for the geographic and economic extension. In this configuration, technologies are not expected to expand to vast territories by remaining the same at a bigger scale. Instead, they are attached to local sites and develop alongside them, which raises the issue of the connections between those sites. The analysis of deep scaling allows us to identify potential alternatives to ready-made discourses of scalability and contribute to the analysis of the politics and practices of scaling.