Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- topics:technology [2026/03/14 12:34] – ↷ Page moved from technology to topics:technology admin
+++ topics:technology [2026/04/06 20:05] (current) – vso_vso
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+<WRAP catbadge purple>Governance, Innovation & Change
+</WRAP>
 ====== Technology ======
-Technology refers both to physical artifacts as well as to social practices that specify how these artifacts can be used. Thus, technological systems can be decomposed in the physical components as well as the social components, including institutions.
-[Source: Kwakkel, Jan H, and Erik Pruyt. ‘Exploratory Modeling and Analysis, an Approach for Model-Based Foresight under Deep Uncertainty’. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 80, no. 3 (2013): 419–31.]
+<WRAP meta>
+lead-authors: Klaus Kubeczko
+contributors: [Names]
+reviewers: [Names]
+version: 0.3
+updated: 25 March 2026
+sensitivity: low
+status: draft
+ai-use: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) was used for editorial revision, reference verification, and formatting; reviewed by Vitaliy Soloviy, 17.03.2026
+</WRAP>
+<WRAP intro>
+This topic is part of the ISGAN Wiki and is currently being developed. You can contribute directly by clicking the edit button, or use the [[about:newtopic|Topic Builder]] for guided input. A confirmed wiki account is required. Register and allow up to three days for admin confirmation. Before contributing, read the [[about:guidelines|ISGAN Wiki Editorial Guidelines]].
+</WRAP>
+<WRAP insight>
+Technology refers to physical objects, social practices, knowledge, and other artifacts people create, commonly to achieve specific goals.
+</WRAP>
+===== Why this matters =====
+<WRAP callout>
+[To be drafted]
+</WRAP>
+===== Shared definitions =====
+Technology refers both to physical artefacts and to the social practices that specify how those artefacts can be used. Technological systems can therefore be decomposed into physical components and social components, including institutions.((Kwakkel, J. H., & Pruyt, E. (2013). Exploratory modeling and analysis, an approach for model-based foresight under deep uncertainty. //Technological Forecasting and Social Change//, 80(3), 419–431.))
+Arthur (2009) distinguishes three senses of the word. The most basic is technology as a means to fulfil a human purpose — a method, process, or device, whether material or non-material, always directed toward human ends. The second is technology as an assemblage of practices and components: collections or toolboxes of individual technologies and practices, which Arthur calls bodies of technology or domains. The third is technology as the entire collection of devices and engineering practices available to a culture.((Arthur, W. B. (2009). //The nature of technology: What it is and how it evolves//. Simon and Schuster.))
+A further conceptual distinction exists between technology and technique. In French, German, and Slavic languages, //technique// covers all activities associated with things technical, while //technologie// is more specialised, referring to more advanced stages of technique. English has no real equivalent of //technique// and uses "technology" to cover what on the Continent would be both technique and technologie.((Salomon, J.-J. (1984). What is technology? The issue of its origins and definitions. //History and Technology//, 1(2), 113–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/07341518408581618))
+===== Perspectives =====
-===== Three Definitions by Brian Arthur (2009)=====
+<WRAP perspectives>
-"The **first** and most **basic** one is that a **technology is a means to fulfill a human purpose**. For some technologies—oil reefining—the purpose is explicit. For others—the computer—the purpose may be hazy, multiple, and changing. As a means, a technology may be a method or process or device: a particular speech recognition algorithm, or a filtration process in chemical engineering, or a diesel engine. It may be simple: a roller bearing. Or it may be complicated: a wavelength division multiplexer. It may be material: an electrical generator. Or it may be nonmaterial: a digital compression algorithm. Whichever it is, it is always a means to carry out a human purpose.
+==== Actors and stakeholders ====
-The **second** definition ... is a **plural** one: **technology as an assemblage of practices and components**. This covers technologies such as electronics or biotechnology that are **collections or toolboxes of individual technologies and practices**. Strictly speaking, we should call these **bodies of technology** [or "domain"]. ...
+==== Technologies and infrastructure ====
-... a **third** meaning. This is **technology as the entire collection of devices and engineering practices available to a culture**."
+==== Institutional structures ====
-[Source: Arthur, W Brian. The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves. Simon and Schuster, 2009.]
+</WRAP>
-===== TECHNIQUE and TECHNOLOGY =====
+===== Distinctions and overlaps =====
-"... technology is a word which is taken for granted in English — all the more since "technique" usually refers to thing quite different, or methods. On the Continent, in French,
-German or the Slavic languages, la technologie seems redundant beside la **technique** which **covers all activities associated with things
-technical**; technologie is much more specialised and refers to more advanced stages of technique. **English** has no real equivalent of
-technique and uses **"technology"** to **cover** what on the Continent would be both **technique and technologie**."
-[Source: Salomon, Jean‐Jacques. ‘What Is Technology? The Issue of Its Origins and Definitions∗’. History and Technology 1, no. 2 (January 1984): 113–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/07341518408581618.]
+===== Related topics =====
+[[topics:innovation|Innovation]] · [[topics:digitalisation|Digitalisation]] · [[topics:transitions|Transitions]] · [[topics:systems|Systems]] · [[topics:readiness|Readiness]]
+===== Topic notes =====
-~~DISCUSSION|Discussion Section - PAGE OWNER: Klaus Kubeczko~~