生态系统情境下的整体性技术扩展适应

The exaptation of holistic technology in the context of innovation ecosystem

采用案例研究方法对整体性技术的扩展适应过程展开研究,为技术扩展适应发生并演变为突破性创新的过程机制提供更加完整的理论解释。提炼出技术扩展适应向突破性创新演化的过程模型,明确了创新生态系统架构的形成先于整体性技术扩展适应的事实,发现有目的的研究与机缘巧合共同构成了技术扩展适应的触发机制,并认为整体性技术的扩展适应需要政策、制度、科学等环境要素的投入,对促进整体性技术扩展适应具有政策价值。

Applied the exploratory case study method,this study has explored the exaptation process of the holistic technology,which theoretically explain the process mechanism about how the technology exaptation evolves into a radical innovation.Following the rules of purposive sampling and theoretical sampling,the sample of Thalidomide has been selected as a typical case.Thalidomide was originally developed as an antibacterial drug.Afterwards,Thalidomide was found to have the effects of sedation,hypnosis and inhibiting reaction of pregnancy,and has been gradually applied in other treatment fields.However,this exaptation process suffered many frustrations.During this period,it was even forced to withdraw from the market because of the“Thalidomide event”.Later,with the improvements of a series of elements such as the scientific mechanism,laws and regulations,and the medication rules,Thalidomide has been developed as the specific drug for the treatments of nodular erythema,multiple myeloma,mucosal ulcer,prostate cancer,renal cell carcinoma,the Kaposi’s sarcoma,and some other malignant diseases.The interactions between the technology exaptation activities and the innovation ecosystem developments in this process have been analyzed in the case study.According to the case analysis,this study builds up the three stage evolution process model of the holistic technology,including the sense making,the market adoption and the innovation cluster formation.It reveals that the sense-making activities about the technology potential value starts up the technology exaptation process.In the market adoption,the former technology enters the new fields obtaining complementary or supporting functions and resources from the innovation ecosystem,and jointly forms new products to meet the requirements and standards of these specific application fields.In the innovation cluster formation,the new innovation ecosystem grows continuously with more new functions defined and applied in new fields,and more complementary or supporting functions and resources entered from other innovation ecosystems,and some new products may diffuse into other ecosystems.In the discussion,this study first points out that the innovation ecosystem is formed before the exaptation of holistic technology,and the researches with purposes and the serendipity shape the triggering mechanism of technology exaptation together.It is clarified that the existence of the related innovation ecosystem is the prerequisite of the radical innovation from the technology exaptation.Then,the differences between the modular technology exaptation and the holistic technology exaptation have been analyzed.In terms of the supporting elements,the modular technology exaptation mainly needs to migrate the technology modules from other innovation ecosystems to form the new products and build a new niche structure.The holistic technology exaptation may not require a large amount of investments at the technical level,but requires more supporting elements from policies,systems,scientific research investment at the environmental level.Therefore,the holistic technology exaptation often requires high investments and long cycle,and needs the strong support from the policies,institution,science and other environmental elements.This study is of significances to promote the holistic technology exaptation in theory and practice.It reveals that the government should take the exaptation as an important source of the radical innovation,provide the supports for technology exaptation in industrial policy making,and guide the enterprises to implement innovation strategies based on the exaptation.