The Future of Innovation

Innovation is one of the most commonly mentioned concepts in social science, but unintended and undesirable consequences of innovation are rarely studied. Innovation research seems to assume that ‘innovation is good’ regardless of its effects. This is known as the ‘pro-innovation bias’. The bias limits the ability of decision makers and change agents to anticipate unintended and undesirable consequences.

The research project comprises some 20 scholars from a large number of countries and different disciplines, who share an interest in and concern about undesirable consequences of innovation.
The aim is to challenge contemporary innovation research by problematizing its underlying assumptions and promoting a more nuanced way of considering the consequences of innovation.