Co-evolution in technological development. The role of friction

The article debates the main forces driving change in the processes of technological development through resource combination. It discusses the role of resource interfaces and particular attention is given to the concept, borrowed from physics, of friction as a relational, time dependent and transforming concept. Friction is used metaphorically and its meaning is: How an alteration force applied to one resource is transferred to resources it interacts with and how this friction can act both as a stabilizer and a de-stabilizer of existing resource interfaces. Friction is thus analysed both as a negative and as a positive force that influences technological development processes.

Full PDF