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Technology roles and paths of influence in an ecosystem model of technology evolution

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Abstract

We propose a new conceptual model for understanding technology evolution that highlights dynamic and highly interdependent relationships among multiple technologies. We argue that, instead of considering technologies in isolation, technology evolution is best viewed as a dynamic system or ecosystem that includes a variety of interrelated technologies. By considering the interdependent nature of technology evolution, we identify three roles that technologies play within a technology ecosystem. These roles are components, products and applications, and support and infrastructure. Technologies within an ecosystem interact through these roles and impact each others’ evolution. We also classify types of interactions between technology roles, which we term paths of influence. We demonstrate the use of our proposed model through examples of wireless networking (Wi-Fi) technologies and a business mini-case on the digital music industry.

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Notes

  1. The population perspective is the opposite of the typological perspective often used in the biological sciences, which states that a given species can be adequately represented by the properties of the average or representative individual within the species.

  2. As mentioned earlier, we focus on analyzing the relationships between technology classes. For simplicity, we will use the general term technology instead of technology class.

  3. For a brief history of the IEEE Wi-Fi 802.11 standard, see the Intel case study “Intel and 802.11” at www.intel.com/standards/case/case_802_11.htm.

  4. AAC, WMA, and other digital audio formats are not all considered MP3 formats, but for the purposes of this discussion we use MP3 generally to represent all downloadable compressed digital music files.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Andrew Odlyzko and Michael Olesen with the Digital Technology Center, as well as Dennis Ahlburg (dean at the University of Colorado, but previously with the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota) for providing joint financial support of this research. We also thank the MIS Research Center, which provided funding and access to firms involved in forecasting RFID technology innovations, through its ongoing RFID Research Project. We further acknowledge the co-chairs of the 2004 INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology, Hemant Bhargava, Chris Forman and D. J. Wu, for the opportunity to present an early version of this article, and Ritu Agarwal, Frank Bass, Portia Isaacson Bass and the CIST 2004 participants for their helpful comments. Finally, we wish to recognize the helpful advice of the anonymous reviewers and AE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Information and Decision Sciences, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Gediminas Adomavicius, Jesse C. Bockstedt, Alok Gupta & Robert J. Kauffman

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  1. Gediminas Adomavicius
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  2. Jesse C. Bockstedt
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Correspondence to Gediminas Adomavicius.

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Adomavicius, G., Bockstedt, J.C., Gupta, A. et al. Technology roles and paths of influence in an ecosystem model of technology evolution. Inf Technol Manage 8, 185–202 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10799-007-0012-z

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