Governance, Innovation & Change ====== Technology ====== 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 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]]. Technology refers to physical objects, social practices, knowledge, and other artifacts people create, commonly to achieve specific goals. ===== Why this matters ===== [To be drafted] ===== 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 ===== ==== Actors and stakeholders ==== ==== Technologies and infrastructure ==== ==== Institutional structures ==== ===== Distinctions and overlaps ===== ===== Related topics ===== [[topics:innovation|Innovation]] · [[topics:digitalisation|Digitalisation]] · [[topics:transitions|Transitions]] · [[topics:systems|Systems]] · [[topics:readiness|Readiness]] ===== Topic notes =====