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The technological landscape

How can we visualize technological progress as it occurs across the entire technological landscape?

The macro-framework that is most convenient for this purpose is the functionality grid. It groups technologies in terms of their functionality – i.e., their ability to transform physical reality. Nine functionalities are differentiated. These are depicted below.

functionality-grid-empty

The functionality grid offers theorists a most convenient format for analyzing technological progress:

  • It offers a way of classifying trends in FPMs
  • It can be used to trace historical trends in technological progress
  • It provides a format for structuring a technology outlook

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 4:21 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “The technological landscape”

  1. MusLopil says:
    June 3, 2009 at 2:38 am

    What interesting article, but where took information?

  2. admin says:
    June 13, 2009 at 11:52 am

    This material is part of a field called Management of Technology (MOT). It is defined as: “A specialized professional practice that harnesses technology-based innovation opportunities. It guides technological progress, assesses the potential of individual technologies, and uses this potential to the benefit of business, society and the environment”.

    A key discipline in MOT is strategic technology analysis (STA). A short introductory text is: Van Wyk, R.J.: Technology – A Unifying Code, SMG, Cape Town, 2004. Available from Amazon.com