"Technological innovations" follow up group
Project status: | Current | |
Project period: | 12/2007 to 2/2010 | |
Project type: |
Description
More than almost any other concept, innovation has become the hallmark of modern service- and industry-oriented societies. Innovations carry the promise of a better future. Commitment to innovation not only shapes the market but also influences public communication in the media, in advertising and in politics.
In cooperation with the "Brandenburger Tor" foundation, acatech held three workshops in 2006 and 2007 that were dedicated to the so-called soft drivers behind technological innovation – aspects such as creativity and expertise, trust and ethics. The objective of the "Technological innovations" follow-up group is to examine more closely questions relating to how the innovation process is received.
The results will be compiled in a volume that illuminates the importance of innovations in society, their structure and their acceptance. The project group will revisit the drivers and basic concepts that underlie the innovation process and have an impact on how innovation is received. It will try to form a synthesis between pertinent work by engineers and scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
The acatech publication, which is scheduled to appear in early 2010, will aim to fulfil the following tasks: Firstly, the authors plan to scrutinize the implicit meaning and universality of the concept of innovation by seeking answers to the following questions: Why are we attracted to things new? Can we understand the innovation process in all of its facets? Can we plan it? And if it can be steered: Where should future technology and organisation be taken?
Secondly, the project group will identify the legitimate interests of those involved in the innovation process, including later customers and users of innovations. Finally, an epilogue will pursue the question of whether these findings result in a special responsibility for those involved in technology, industry and society – not only for technicians and engineers but also for society as a whole as the beneficiary of innovation.
