The difference between the technical revolution (hereinafter referred to as T.R.) and technological change is not clearly defined. Technological change can be seen as the introduction of one single new technology, while the technological revolution is a period when almost all new innovations are adopted almost simultaneously.
The bottom line is
The technological revolution improves productivity and efficiency. This may be due to material or ideological changes caused by the introduction of a device or system. Some examples of its potential impact are business management, education, social interactions, financial and research methodology. It is not limited only to technical aspects. The technical revolution rewrites the material conditions of human existence and can change culture. It can play the role of a trigger in a chain of various and unpredictable changes.
Key Features
Everything that distinguishes a technological revolution from an accidental collection of technological systems and justifies its conceptualization precisely as a revolution (and not an ordinary change) can be safely placed in two points:
- Strong interconnection and interdependence of participating systems in technologies and markets.
- The ability to deeply transform the rest of the economy (and ultimately society).
Effects
The consequences of the social and technological revolution are not necessarily positive. For example, some innovations, such as using coal as an energy source, can have a negative impact on the environment and even cause unemployment in certain sectors of the economy. The concept discussed in the article is based on the idea that technological progress is not linear, but rather a cyclical phenomenon.
Kinds
A technical revolution could be:
- Sectoral, affecting changes in one sector.
- Universal, implying radical changes in more sectors. It is, first of all, a complex of several parallel industry revolutions. For example, the Second Industrial Revolution and the Renaissance technological revolution.
The concept of universal technological revolutions is a key factor in the neo-Schumpeter theory of long economic waves / cycles.
History
The most famous examples of this phenomenon were the industrial revolution in the 19th century, the scientific and technological revolution (scientific and technological progress) of 1950-1960, the Neolithic revolution, the digital revolution, etc. The term “technological revolution” is often abused, so it is not easy to determine which events that occurred throughout world history really belonged to this phenomenon, having a universal impact on humanity. One universal technological revolution should consist of several industry ones (in science, industry, transport, etc.).
We can distinguish several universal technological revolutions that have occurred in the modern era in Western culture:
- The financial and agricultural revolution (1600-1740).
- The Industrial Revolution (1780-1840).
- The second industrial revolution (1870-1920).
- Scientific and technological revolution (1940-1970).
- The revolution in information and telecommunications (from 1975 to the present).
Attempts to find comparable periods of well-defined technological changes in the pre-revolutionary era are highly speculative. Probably one of the most systematic attempts to propose a time frame for technological revolutions in premature Europe was made by Daniel Schmichula:
- Indo-European technological revolution (1900-1100 years. BC. E.).
- Celtic and Greek technological revolution (700-200 BC).
- German-Slavic technological revolution (300-700 years. BC. E.).
- Medieval technological revolution (930-1200 years. BC. E.).
- The technological revolution of the Renaissance (1340-1470 years. BC. E.).
After 2000, there was a popular idea that the sequence of such revolutions is not over yet, and in the near future we will witness the emergence of a new universal T. R. Main innovations should develop in the areas of nanotechnology, alternative fuel and energy systems, biotechnology, genetic engineering and etc.
Sometimes the term “technological revolution” is used for the Second Industrial Revolution, which began around 1900. When the concept of technical revolution is used in a more general sense, it is almost identical to scientific and technological progress. Such a revolution, if it is an industry revolution, may be limited by changes in management, organization, and the so-called intangible technologies (for example, progress in mathematics or accounting).
More general classification
There is also a more general, broad and universal classification of T. R.:
- Upper Paleolithic revolution: the emergence of “high culture”, new technologies and regional cultures (50,000–40,000 years ago).
- The Neolithic revolution (perhaps 13,000 years ago), which formed the basis for the development of human civilization.
- The technological revolution of the Renaissance: many inventions in the Renaissance, from about the 14th to the 16th century.
- Commercial revolution: the period of European economic expansion, colonialism and mercantilism, which lasted from about the 16th to the beginning of the 18th century.
- Price revolution: a series of economic events from the second half of the 15th century to the first half of the 17th. The price revolution, first of all, refers to the high inflation rates that characterize the period in Western Europe.
- The scientific revolution: a fundamental transformation in scientific ideas in the 16th century.
- The British Agricultural Revolution (18th century), which spurred urbanization and therefore helped start the industrial revolution.
- Industrial Revolution: A major shift in technological, socio-economic and cultural conditions at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, which began in Britain and spread throughout the world.
- Market revolution: a dramatic change in the manual labor system taking place in the south of the United States (and soon shifted to the north), and then spreading to the whole world (around 1800-1900).
- The second industrial revolution (1871-1914).
- The Green Revolution (1945-1975): the use of industrial fertilizers and new crops has significantly increased agricultural production in the world.
- Digital Revolution: The Radical Changes Caused by Computing and Communication Technologies, Starting in 1950, with the Creation of the First Universal Electronic Computers.
- Information revolution: massive economic, social and technological changes caused by the digital revolution (after 1960).
Link to Progress
Technological change (TI), technological development, technological advances or technological progress is a common process of inventions, innovations and the diffusion of technologies or processes. In fact, technological changes encompass the invention of technologies (including processes) and their commercialization or serial production through research and development (creation of new technologies), continuous improvement of technologies (during which they often become cheaper and more affordable) and their diffusion the entire industry or across society (sometimes associated with convergence). In short, technological changes are based both on more efficient and higher technologies, which is the main feature of any scientific, industrial and scientific-technical revolution.
Modeling Technological Change
In its early days, technological change was illustrated by the “Linear Model of Innovation,” which is now largely rejected by the scientific community, being replaced by a model of technological change that includes innovation at all stages of research, development, distribution, and use. Speaking of “modeling technological changes”, they often mean the process of creating and introducing innovations. This continuous improvement process is often modeled as a curve depicting cost savings over time (for example, a fuel cell that has become cheaper every year). TI is also often modeled using a learning curve, for example: Ct = C0 * Xt ^ -b
Technical changes themselves are often incorporated into other models (for example, climate change models) and are perceived as an exogenous factor. Today, TIs are most often implied as an endogenous factor. This means that they are perceived as something that you can influence. Today, there are sectors that support a policy of such targeted influence and thus can influence the speed and direction of technological changes. For example, proponents of the hypothesis of induced technological change argue that politicians can control the direction of technological advances by influencing relative prices and various factors - an example of this statement is how climate protection policies pursued by many Western countries affect the use of fuel energy, in particular, its more expensive. There is still no empirical evidence on the existence of politically determined innovation effects, and this may be due to a number of reasons beyond the sparseness of models (for example, the uncertainty of long-term policies and exogenous factors in the direction of innovation).
Invention
The creation of something new, the invention of “breakthrough” technology, is what launches the process of the industrial and technological revolution. The invention often refers to the process of product development, and it is very dependent on research carried out in this particular field. The best example is the invention of spreadsheet software. Recently invented technologies are traditionally patented. This tradition was enshrined during the technical revolution of the 20th century.
Diffusion
Diffusion implies the diffusion of technology through society or a particular industry. Diffusion in technology theory usually follows the S-curve, as early versions of technology are pretty bad. It is followed by a period of successful innovations with a high level of their implementation and, finally, a drop in demand for this new technology, since it reaches its maximum potential in the market. The history of technological revolutions perfectly reflects this trend. In the case of the invention of a personal computer, for example, one new technology went beyond the scope of a conventional working tool, which it should have been from the very beginning, spreading to all spheres of human life.
Inventions and diffusion are the two main stages of technological revolutions. After them, usually recession and stagnation preceded the next new T.R.
Social aspect
The development of the scientific and technological revolution always affects social processes. Confirmation of the idea of technological change as a social process is a general agreement on the importance of social context and communication. According to this model, technological change is seen as a social process with the participation of manufacturers, inventors, managers and everyone else (for example, the government standing above all three), which are deeply influenced by cultural conditions, political institutions and market conditions. The industrial and technological revolution is always a huge shock to society.