COMPLEX TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNITY - IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND SOCIAL-SCIENCE

A new technological imperative which punishes individualism and confli ct and rewards community and cooperation is impacting the world. Lack of a conceptual framework which allows understanding of that imperativ e is a barrier to technology-based economic policy in the US. A key co mponent of the needed conceptual framework will be the role of communi ty in the continuous innovation of complex technologies. Three charact eristics of complex innovation are integral to the conceptual framewor k needed to inform technologically based economic policy: complexity, networks, and collaboration. These characteristics both require and co ntribute to community.