Innovation niche or obduracy niche? Analysis of innovation and obduracy in a smart grid trial on Bruny Island, Australia

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse findings from a smart grid trial which revealed a complex mix of obduracy as well as innovation. We apply concepts of sociotechnical transition, including the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), to understand changes brought about by the trial. Based on our findings, we characterise the trial as an ‘obduracy niche’ as well as an ‘innovation niche’. Innovation niche is a concept from the MLP which describes pockets of radical innovation, which are protected in order to allow innovations to flourish. Innovation niches are not typically conceptualised as also having obduracies, and this finding is a key contribution of our paper. In revealing the obduracies within a niche, we challenge the dominant notion of obduracy being present only within sociotechnical regime and landscape levels. We employ a mix of concepts and theories about obduracy developed within science and technology studies to conceptualise and better understand the multi-level obduracies we found in our case study, including Hommel’s three models of obduracy comprising framing, embeddedness, and persistent traditions.