Technological Gaps
Entrepreneurs make things happen. They are individuals who take a concept (product, policy, or institution) and convert it into a reality. They become the champions of a new process, and they are engines of change.
Entrepreneurs need a keen eye to understand economic, social, and scientific realities and the capacity to understand evolutionary processes in the future. They need to understand how institutions work, and individuals react in order to introduce activities and products that serve peoples’ need and that are sustainable economically and politically.
This chart is a measurement tool used to demonstrate technological enhancements over time. Recognizing that no new inventions exist only innovations, this will encourage the 21st entrepreneurial generation to continually seek innovation.
Innovations are new ways to achieve tasks and the entrepreneur is the key. Types of innovations include mechanical (cars, computers), chemical (pesticides), biological (seed varieties), managerial, and institutional (patents, banks, stock market, conservation districts)
An innovation starts as a concept that is refined and developed before application. Innovations may be inspired by reality. The innovation process, which leads to useful technology, requires research, development, production, marketing, and use.
The establishment of an innovative capability starts with a buildup of capacity to support and adopt innovations and new technologies. In the past most innovations were introduced by practitioners. Even now practitioners are important innovators. They identify a way to meet needs. The scientific discoveries of the late 19th century gave rise to science-based innovations (Edison, Bell, Marconi). Major companies (IBM, Sony, Bell, Kodak, GM) built their own research labs. Public sector labs made important agricultural and environmental discoveries. Universities and start-up companies are becoming major sources of new innovations. The ownership of a technology and leadership in its applications move between organizations over time. (Zilberman, David. Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. University of California, Berkeley. Web. 30 Apr. 2011.)