Technological innovation for sustainable growth: An ontological perspective

Abstract

Technological innovations are seen as means to optimize the efficient and clean use of vital resources in social-biological-economic systems. However, partial theoretical perspectives and experiences of their effects can lead to significant oversight of their potential and limitations. There is a need to manage technological innovations for sustainable growth from a holistic perspective, systemically and systematically. To do so, we present and validate an ontological framework, map the current body of knowledge, and identify the emphases and gaps in the domain. The ontological framework is constructed from the common terminology of the domain. The analysis is based on a map of 375 research papers published in the most prestigious journals relevant to the domain. The results show significant gaps in the research to fulfil the potential. Future research can be directed to fill these gaps.