GEO Technological Change

Lecture 3 | Technological Change

Technological ChangeAtlas shrugged, Ygdrasil shook, Joey tweeted what he hadfor luncheverything changed


Technology and Industrial Geography

What is Technology?o Physical objects, artifacts, activities, or processes and the applied

knowledge or know-how that creates value

What is Technological Determinism?o Technological change is inevitable and the sole influence on economic

organization, often considered linear

Another View of Technologyo Technological change is inevitable and the sole influence on economic

organization, often considered linear

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Technology and Industrial Geography

Technology is?o A form of learning, and a socially and institutionally embedded processo Not its own master

Technology in a Market System?o Influenced by the drive for profit, capital accumulation, investment,

increased market shareo Others???

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Technology and Industrial GeographyIncremental Innovationo Small scale, progressive modification of existing products and processes

Radical Innovationo Discontinuous events and drastic change within an industryo Transistors and semi-conductors

Changes in Technology Systemso Wide changes in technology the impact several parts of the economyo Bundles of innovation

Changes in Techno-Economic Paradigmso Revolutionary changes that touch all of society

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Lecture 3 | Comparative Advantage 4


Fifth Wave: Information Technology

Information Technologyo Tools and techniques to collect, generate, and record data

Old Information Technologyo Simple pictorial representation and written language evolving into printing

New Information Technologyo Mechanical, electromechanical, and early electronic technologies

Convergent Information Technologyo Computers and telecommunicationso Create a single system of information processing and exchange

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Technologys and Distance

Transportation Technologieso Planes, trains, and automobiles

Communication Technologieso Phones and fiber optics

Time-Space Convergenceo Impacts are not uniform in space or timeo Some places are more connected than others

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Geographies of Innovation

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Product and Process Innovation

Product Innovationo Development and introduction to the market a new or redesigned good or

service

Process Innovationo Changes to the methods of production that increase the efficiency of

production

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Types of Knowledge

Codified Knowledgeo Knowledge expressible through documentationo An instruction manual

Tacit Knowledgeo Knowledge possessed by individuals that is very difficult to express through

formal documentationo Know-How

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Spatial Networks of Innovation

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National Innovation Systems

What are National Innovation Systems (NIS)o Network of institutions in the public and private sector whose activities and

interactions imitate, import, modify and diffuse technologieso A systematic variation in social, cultural, legal, educational, political institutions

along national boundarieso Stress the interactive nature of innovation and its positive impact on economic

development

Factors Defining NISo Education Systems, Science and Technology Capabilities, Industrial Structure

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National Innovation Systems (NIS)Triple-Helix

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The US National Innovation Systemo Universities are incubators of innovation and receive government support

on multiple scales

o Private venture capital for small firm development

o US procurement and property right laws

o R&D is often government financed but industry run

o R&D often spans several organizations, and is organized through joint-ventures and research agreements

o Increasing internationalization

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NIS in an Era of GlobalizationIs globalization the end of NIS?

o Global firms try to exploit the advantages from NIS in international marketso Innovation occurs across borders through international collaboration

A Response to the death of NISo If globalization has different impact in different regions then national policy

has an important role to play in restarting innovationo Innovation remains embedded

Maybe we should also consider different scales of innovation

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Regional Innovation Systems

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Elements of an RISo Firms, institutions, knowledge infrastructure, innovation policy

Internal Mechanisms of an RISo Interactive Learning, knowledge production, proximity, social

embeddedness


Regional Innovation SystemsAgglomeration Economies

o Localization Economies: o Urbanization Economies: o Proximity Capital: Infrastructure relevant to innovation that exist within a

region

The regional focus was born in the clustero Regionally concentrated networks of SMEo Increasing the productivity of companies in the areao Driving the direction and pace of innovation o Stimulating the formation of new businesses within the cluster.

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Regional Innovation Systems (RIS)What is a region?

o Geographically defined administratively supported arrangement of interacting innovative networks and institutions

o A area homogenous in a set criteria distinguishable from others with its own internal cohesion

What are the boundaries of an RIS?o Interaction between systems is important because it brings novel information

and knowledge to a system

What are institutions and how do they impact RIS?o Social relations that frame activities of production, consumption, and exchange o Institutions are persistent and influential on multiple scales

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Comparing NIS and RIS

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Approach Knowledge Links

Facilitating Knowledge Transfer

Systemic Boundaries

Classic Analytical framework

NIS Triple-helix interactions

Common language

Social, cultural codes of communication

Nation-bounded

Company R&D for importing technology; education and training

institutions; R&D institutions; role of public sectors; production and marketing

systems; financial sector; allocation of R&D activity, sources of its funding;

roles of universities; government policy; characteristics of firms.

RIS

Tacit knowledge sharing

Social networks

Geographical proximity

Co-location learning

Tacit knowledge spillover

Region-bounded

Informal information exchange; human resource; inter-firm networks; financial

capacity; institutional learning; productive culture.


RIS1

RIS3

RIS2RIS5RIS4

NIS2

NIS1

SpatialInnovationSystems(SIS)


Spatial Innovation Systems (SIS)

Genuine Innovators: new to the world innovations

Adapters: Specializing in steady improvement and incremental innovations

Adopters: Imitator systems, no significant improvements but often important in production

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Regional Characteristics Sectoral Diversity Sectoral Specialization

Genuine Innovators (Best Practice Places)

StarsSilicon Valley

Shooting StarsDetroit

Adapters(High levels of diverse competencies)

Living Room LampsTaiwan

SpotlightsBangalore, India

Adopters(Production oriented competencies)

ChandeliersBangkok, Thailand

CandlesDongguan China


Spatial Innovation Systems (SIS)Technologies:

o Industry, time, and space specific way of doing thingso You can only be developing in a place specific way in one place at a time

Technological Systems: o Sets of technologies in use in specific interlinked industries

Technological Paths: o Development trajectories of different innovationso Not locked-in, but are constrained by prevailing paradigmso A process of continual adjustment

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Spatial Innovation Systems (SIS)Development of Technological Paths

o Several RIS develop a technology simultaneously but differently within their given contexts

o These differently developing technologies intermingle to create technological development and new technological systems

o Regions may be temprorarily critical in development of a technology path

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GEO Technological Change