Prologue: innovation and sociological theory

ABSTRACTThis short essay aims at presenting a theoretical framework for the systemic approach to innovation studies. Namely, the work will highlight the complex and multidisciplinary aspects of each innovation process: as a matter of fact, when innovation takes place, it involves diverse category of actors: scientists, engineers, political authorities, entrepreneurs, and public opinion. Second, the work will focus on the uncertainty that each innovation process entails, especially in terms of intersection between technological and cognitive dimensions. The conclusions will assess that systemics are the best epistemic approach for dealing with those issues.