Innofusion

From his research in the robotics industry that revealed close collaboration between supplier and user companies, James Fleck coined the concept of ‘innofusion’ - a conflation of innovation and diffusion. Fleck posed an alternative to the traditional linear model of technological development where invention, innovation and diffusion are shown as distinct stages that feed back within a loop.

Fleck’s alternative model is interactive and recognises implementation as a site for innovation, with the development process being spiral rather than linear. It highlights the contribution of ‘users’ to innovation.

… the possibility of the development of technologies which are at the outset intrinsically constituted in terms of user needs and requirements - that is, in terms of the characteristics of demand. This is achieved, not through some esoteric, arbitrarily plastic, “black box” of technology which responds to market signals conveying information about demand, but through determinate processes of technological design, trial and exploration, in which user needs and requirements are discovered and incorporated in the course of the struggle get the technology to work in useful ways, at the point of application Fleck, J. (1988). Innofusion or diffusation? The nature of technological developments in robotics. Edinburgh PICT Working Paper.

The interactive model reveals a complex social activity whose context includes a range of actors and institutions. This model provides a counterpoint to the ahistorical view inscribed in disruptive innovation.

See Social Shaping for a broad discussion of alternative models for guiding technological innovation.