Technology innovation and sustainability: challenges and research needs

Excerpt

Global environmental problems, such as depletion of natural resources, various types of environmental pollution and health risks, climate change, and loss of biodiversity, have become increasingly evident. Societies are more aware of the challenges than ever, and understand more deeply that pursuing sustainability is essential to environmental protection, economic growth, and social stability. Among solution approaches, technology innovation is a key, as it can influence prosperity, consumption pattern, lifestyle, social relation and cultural development. Technology determines, to a great extent, the demand for raw materials and energy, the ways and efficiency of manufacturing, product performance, waste reduction and waste handling, health and safety, transportation and infrastructure, etc., thereby making significant impacts on the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of industrial development. It is more widely recognized that sustainability is a key driver of innovation, and only those companies that make sustainability as a goal will achieve competitive advantage (Nidumolu et al. 2009; Kiron et al. 2012). …