The triangle of technology, innovation, and society is one of the central spheres of modern activities. Successful innovation frequently is not only the result of scientific-technical progress. Non-technical aspects, such as political and economic framework conditions, acceptance by the population, or ethical questions also play an important role in the decision whether and which technologies contribute to the solution of societal problems.
The interdisciplinary research programme “Technology, Innovation, and Society” was established to study such aspects by systems analysis and socio-scientific approaches, mostly in close cooperation with the technical institutes at KIT. The programme is aimed at contributing to target-oriented and responsible innovation processes and at making available research results for decision processes in science, economy, politics, and society.
It is focused on analyzing application potentials of key technologies and developing ways towards a sustainable energy supply. Systemic relations and cross references between research in engineering and sciences and its social environment are studied, with the impacts of technical innovation, such as chances, innovation potentials, and risks, playing an important role.
Research concentrates on the following topics:
- Sustainable Development
- Knowledge Society
- Innovation Processes and Impacts of Technology
- Renewable Energy Carriers
- Efficient Energy Conversion and Use
