Amplified socio-technical problems in converging infrastructures: A novel topic for technology assessment?

Christian Büscher; Michael Ornetzeder; Bert Droste-Franke

doi:10.14512/tatup.29.2.11

Authors

Christian Büscher Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) (Deutschland) christian.buescher@kit.edu
Michael Ornetzeder Institute of Technology Assessment, Austrian Academy of Sciences (Österreich) michael.ornetzeder@oeaw.ac.at
Bert Droste-Franke IQIB - Institut für qualifizierende Innovationsforschung und -beratung (DE) bert.droste-franke@iqib.de

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.29.2.11

Keywords:

sector coupling and integration, energy and transport, complexity and control, change and stability, action under uncertainty

Abstract

Converging infrastructures illustrate the complexity of the processes involved in both operational sector coupling and socio-technical sector integration. What consequences of this development can technology impact research estimate today and what difficulties will arise in doing so? This article introduces the TATuP special topic as well as the individual contributions and also addresses socio-political aspects, beyond the usual questions of technical feasibility and efficiency: What strategies are developed to initiate and control comprehensive change? What are the mechanisms to maintain the ability to act despite great uncertainties for all those concerned with future converging infrastructures for energy, transport, and heating/cooling. The interdisciplinary approach to the topic focuses on three central “socio-technical problems” and gives a first insight into the conditions under which converging infrastructures emerge and what consequences these processes might have.

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