Diffusion of innovations

About: Diffusion of innovations is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2139 publications have been published within this topic receiving 191397 citations. The topic is also known as: diffusion of innovation & diffusion of innovations theory.

Internet usage in a Malaysian sub-urban community: A study of diffusion of ICT innovation

Abstract: This article is about the diffusion of the Internet, an ICT innovation, in a sub-urban community in Malaysia. Introduced as a university service and then expanded by the Prime Minister’s department, the internet was chosen to show how an ICT innovation diffused in a sub-urban community, in a country where the government plays a major role in promoting the use of the internet through various initiatives. Malaysia’s internet development may spur other third world countries’ ICT development as Malaysia is seen among them as a model. The study uses Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory (2003) to verify whether the innovation was adopted by the people and to what extent. Data for the study were collected through a survey involving 357 internet users, comprising public and private sector employees, college and university students. Results of the study show that the internet is now part of the respondents’ lifestyle, and that the internet is second after the newspaper as a major source of information. Results also show that the respondents do a lot of information searching, pay their bills and conduct other online transactions through the internet. People in the sub-urban community generally accept the innovation. This study supports the diffusion of innovation theory, which says that an innovation perceived to have an added advantage, better than existing technology, would be adopted. The outcome of the study implies acceptance of public sector initiatives by the people.

Evolving Greenhouses: An Agent-Based Model of Universal Darwinism in Greenhouse Horticulture

Abstract: To explore the space between the theories of the Diffusion of Innovations and Universal Darwinism, we first examine a case study of the history of the greenhouse horticulture sector of the Netherlands, comparing and contrasting the narrow focus of Diffusion of Innovations and the wider focus of Universal Darwinism. We then build an agent-based model using elements of both in order to test how well the Diffusion of Innovations theory holds up when some of its simplifications are removed. Results show that the single, simple pattern prominent in Diffusions of Innovations theory does emerge, but that it is only one of several patterns and that it does not behave precisely as expected. Results also show agent properties, such as stubbornness or innovativeness, can be surprisingly complex, as when stubbornness shows an advantage in the long term, while innovativeness was beneficial to the network but not to the innovator. While the Diffusion of Innovations theory is simple and can easily guide policy decisions, this paper shows that adding complexity to place diffusions inside a larger evolutionary context results in more realistic analysis and can help policy-makers to achieve challenging goals amidst modern economic and political challenges.

Skills and the Diffusion of Innovations from Britain in the Eighteenth Century

Abstract: This paper stems from an initial interest in the relationships between science and technology in the eighteenth century. Hence its concern lies principally with the nature of technical innovation and the sources of technical change during the Industrial Revolution. Exploring the ways in which new technology is diffused can shed light on the nature of technical change itself, which is a complex amalgam of influences governing invention, innovation (the bringing of inventions into productive use) and the diffusion of new techniques. Taking as a topic the diffusion of technology, particularly in machine-making and engineering, between Britain and Europe in the late eighteenth century is thus not meant to be a peg on which to hang wide-ranging animadversions on the differing economic fortunes and pace of advance of Britain and Europe, or a discussion of why industrialization came first and fastest to Britain and lagged elsewhere: it is a much narrower enquiry into seeing what light the processes and difficulties of diffusing new technology cast upon technical change itself at this time.

Perceptions toward Artificial Intelligence among Academic Library Employees and Alignment with the Diffusion of Innovations’ Adopter Categories

Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a topic of interest among information technology innovators As AI is refined, practical uses of the technology to improve the transfer of information are increasingly investigated, developed, and adopted in a variety of public environments, including in libraries Given the relatively recent emergence of AI in this respect, it presents an opportunity to investigate the emergence of public perceptions toward the innovation and the relationship this holds with the adoption of emerging technologies, as envisioned in Roger’s Diffusion of Innovations model This study describes the results of a survey of practicing librarians regarding the adopter category (innovator, early adopter, early majority, late majority, laggard) with which they identify and the relationship of this identification with perceived knowledge and perceptions of AI technology within and outside the library environment The findings of this survey have both theoretical implications for the Diffusion model within the library technology context as well as practical implications for supporting the process of diffusion of emerging technologies among academic library employees