Slow Tech and ICT by Norberto Patrignani & Diane Whitehouse

Author:Norberto Patrignani & Diane Whitehouse
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

6.4 Innovation

Historically, innovation is one of the landmarks of human society. It is not an option, rather in the words of Heraclitus, ‘everything changes and nothing stands still’ (Diogenes Laertius 1925; Johnson 2010).

Research can change society through innovation. A huge idea generation engine acts as the trigger for innovation, and the best research centres and innovation communities nurture the free flow of ideas. Through innovation, a new way of doing things can be brought about, and new products and services can be made available to everybody. But where do innovations and new ideas come from?

There are two common ways of innovating. The first approach is the classical problem-solving approach; the second is more visionary. First, with problem-solving, there is a perceived social or environmental challenge that needs a solution. This situation can be termed, as in the common parlance of the English proverb, ‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’. This is also a typical engineering approach. Yet today’s novelty is that, since both the problem and the solution are social constructions, they should also be considered as socially desirable. Second, some needs or problems can be identified as belonging to a next future. A future condition can be intercepted by the creation of an appropriate solution. This approach can be called ‘The Future Exists’ (Gold 1998). More precisely, if people are able to intercept the particular problem at the right moment in the future, then the resulting solution, product, or service will provide social and economic benefits. This approach produces a challenge for human beings in terms of their capabilities to foresee the future. As suggested by the Long Now Foundation, humans need to include the planet’s limits and the capacity for a larger view of humanity into the far distant future (TLNF 2015).

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