UNCERTAINTY AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

Technological innovation is universally recognised as a major generator of economic progress, producing mild—and sometimes major—changes, in existing technologies, attitudes, methods of operation, and patterns of demand, which in turn can engender resistance from those parties chiefly affected. At the same time, the incursions into foreign technological territory usually involved can be severely hampered by formidable technical obstacles which can act to frustrate the ultimate success of the venture. Imponderables such as these are widely acknowledged as the sources of the uncertainty traditionally associated with radical innovative projects.