Technology Overview - Concepedia

Principles

Definition

Technology is the interdisciplinary field concerned with the creation, application, and impact of human-made tools, systems, and knowledge. It investigates the relationship between innovation, technical artifacts, and societal transformation.

Ontological type

Core Domains

Pedagogical Approaches

Societal Impact

Key developments

Key Figures

Design and Diffusion Institutionalization era

Zvi Griliches [1] of the University of Chicago [3] emerged as a central figure in the design science and diffusion analysis of the era. His influential 1957 work, Hybrid Corn: An Exploration in the Economics of Technological Change [5], helped establish econometric approaches to the economics of technological change and diffusion, underpinning policy and firm adoption strategies of the era. Lewis Mumford [2] of Southern Illinois University Carbondale [4] offered a sweeping, humanist counterpoint through Technics and Civilization [6], shaping how designers and policymakers thought about technology's social and cultural dimensions. Together, these contributions connected formal diffusion modeling to broader technics critique, helping to institutionalize design science, systems thinking, and diffusion-aware policy in the era.

Adoption and Open Innovation era

Viswanath Venkatesh [1] is associated with the University of Minnesota [3] and the University of Maryland, College Park [4] during this era. His key contribution lies in extending the Technology Acceptance Model through four longitudinal field studies, as showcased in the paper A Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model: Four Longitudinal Field Studies [7], which advanced measurement and longitudinal testing and clarified determinants of technology adoption. Paul Romer [2] has affiliations with Stanford University [5] and the University of California, San Diego [6] in this era. His contribution, articulated in Endogenous Technological Change [8] (1990), formalizes endogenous growth by emphasizing knowledge creation and the role of external ideas and absorptive capacity in driving technological progress, a foundation for later open-innovation thinking.

Networked Secure Industry 4.0 era

Kostya S. Novoselov[1] is associated with the Henry Royce Institute[3] and the Université Joseph Fourier[4] during this era. His key contributions in this era include the rise of graphene[7], which highlighted graphene as a transformative two-dimensional material enabling ultrathin, high-strength devices and spurring subsequent research on nanoscale sensing and secure, edge-enabled applications, underscoring its importance for distributed sensing and data governance in Industry 4.0. Rajkumar Buyya[2] is affiliated with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology[5] and Cornell University[6] during this era. His key contributions in this era include the IoT vision, architectural elements, and future directions described in Internet of Things (IoT): A vision, architectural elements, and future directions[8], which provided a structured blueprint for interoperable, scalable, and secure IoT deployments across industries in Industry 4.0.