Transitions to New Technologies

The strategic goal of the Transition to New Technologies (TNT) Program is to further the understanding of the patterns, drivers, constraints and impacts of technological change, particularly in the areas that are key for framing global sustainability conditions (such as climate change) and to disseminate policy-relevant research findings through high-level global forums and participation in major international scientific assessments.

In terms of systems hierarchy, technological change arises from the spatial and temporal diffusion of individual innovations all the way up to the emergence of new technological combinations that could fundamentally redefine products, services and even entire industries and markets. TNT’s strategic research goal consequently focuses on the systemic aspects of technological change and draws on empirical case studies, novel modeling approaches, as well as scenario studies and robustness analysis to inform technology policy choices from a systemic perspective. A key unifying strategic question addressed by TNT research is to answer what determines the rates of change of individual technologies as well as of entire technology systems in response to the interplay of endogenous (e.g., innovation and market uncertainties) as well as policy (e.g., innovation push and demand pull) variables.

Learn more about TNT's activities:

Recent and upcoming news & events.
Projects, models, and data.
Publications and other resources, references, and educational materials.
- TNT's research is framed using a rich and thorough conceptual framework for “technology.” See “What is Technology?” to learn more.

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Last edited: 07 September 2020