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The process of technology design and innovation directly shapes society and who benefits or is burdened by said technology. This project is a descriptive and explanatory research undertaking aiming to understand innovation practices in specific tech sectors–space sector, robotics, and urban energy–in two North American metropolitan areas: Greater Boston and the Detroit Metro. This study analyzes co-creation facilities and living labs in these technical and geographic domains and aims to understand what innovation practices these organizations are using, why they are using these practices, what their standards of success are, and why. The role of cultural embeddedness, geographical embeddedness, and technological embeddedness is examined in this project as well as that of inclusive innovation as a concept and practice. In order to address these research aims, a mixed methods approach is used for data collection–including stakeholder interviews, site visits, and technical analysis. Data is analyzed using a systems architecture and enterprise architecture framework. This paper focuses on the space sector in Greater Boston, both in comparison to other previously analyzed sectors in the region—robotics, urban energy, and biotechnology, and in reference to other important space innovation hubs in the United States. In particular, we focus on a comparison of innovation objectives and stakeholders, and how this informs the types of innovation practices used in these regions.
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Innovation and legacy in energy knowledge infrastructures
We focus on how the concept of knowledge infrastructure can help interrogate both the novelties and continuities in energy transitions. In particular, we turn attention to research, innovation, and knowledge production ca- pacities in renewable energy transitions. We outline the subfield of knowledge infrastructures and introduce concepts relevant to energy research. We especially illustrate the ways that knowledge infrastructures may support or adapt to change, and also the ways that they display ‘legacy’ properties that inhibit, slow or outright prevent transitions. To ground our investigation, we briefly examine research in Scotland’s marine energy sector as the nation pursues a transition from an energy sector heavily reliant on oil and gas, to one based on renewable energy innovation and implementation. Via this case, we illustrate that a great deal of the ‘old’ knowledge in- frastructures for energy research, rather than being wholly swept away, instead persist across energy transitions. The concept of knowledge infrastructures provides a powerful addition to energy social science because they are fundamental to our ability to research and develop renewable energy technologies, and so play an important role in defining possible energy futures.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1826737
- PAR ID:
- 10289881
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Energy research social science
- Volume:
- 80
- ISSN:
- 2214-6326
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The process of technology design and innovation directly shapes society and who benefits or is burdened by said technology. This project is a descriptive and explanatory research undertaking aiming to understand innovation practices in specific tech sectors–space sector, robotics, and urban energy–in two North American metropolitan areas: Greater Boston and the Detroit Metro. This study analyzes co-creation facilities and living labs in these technical and geographic domains and aims to understand what innovation practices these organizations are using, why they are using these practices, what their standards of success are, and why. The role of cultural embeddedness, geographical embeddedness, and technological embeddedness is examined in this project as well as that of inclusive innovation as a concept and practice. In order to address these research aims, a mixed methods approach is used for data collection–including stakeholder interviews, site visits, and technical analysis. Data is analyzed using a systems architecture and enterprise architecture framework. This paper focuses on the space sector in Greater Boston, both in comparison to other previously analyzed sectors in the region—robotics, urban energy, and biotechnology, and in reference to other important space innovation hubs in the United States. In particular, we focus on a comparison of innovation objectives and stakeholders, and how this informs the types of innovation practices used in these regions.more » « less
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