Invention and innovation: Chronology and lags

 gives an abridged chronology of the development of railways, a particularly important technological innovation of the 19th century. The chronology is a good example of a long evolutionary line of developments with important precursor technologies and infrastructures. For example, the innovation represented by Stevenson’s steam locomotive plant and the first 20 km Stockton & Darlington railway line in 1825 cannot be understood independent of earlier important developments in stationary steam engines and mine railways. Robotics Process Automation (RPA) Company in Sydeny

Table 2.1 also illustrates the considerable time lags that can take place in technological developments. For example, 55 years passed between invention and innovation dates of railways. Although the timing of particular historical events is indeed important, most dimensions of technological development are continuous rather than discrete.  Intelligent Dashboards Company in Sydeny

  They are either rooted in precursor technologies or rely on a confluence of various streams of developments, like the marriage of a new mobile power source (the steam locomotive) to an entirely new infrastructure system (rails). It is particularly the confluence, complementarity, and synergy between various streams of developments that characterize technological evolution. As a simple illustration consider a new product for which applications need to be found, production processes need to be established, materials must be chosen, and so forth. These activities require time and effort, and unless all aspects are addressed successfully, the new innovation may never appear on the market. Table 2.2 shows a similar chronology for Neoprene, a synthetic rubber used, for example, in diving suits. In this case, more than two decades elapsed between invention and innovation. Figure 2.1 indicates that, in general, decades are indeed the appropriate unit for measuring invention– innovation lags.