Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates the different roles and functions of three types of socio-technical futures in the innovation process – futures projected in narratives and scenarios (1), futures projected in computer simulations (2), and futures projected in prototypes (3).

Paper long abstract:

In recent years a growing number of articles in the fields of technology assessment (TA) and science and technology studies (STS) has pointed out the significance of socio-technical futures in the innovation process. However, most of these studies have been mainly concerned with socio-technical futures projected in promises, discourses, and scenarios, whereas there have been relatively few studies focusing on futures projected in digital computer simulations as well as in physical and digital prototypes. Therefore, this analytical paper addresses this research gap by proposing a typology of three different kinds of socio-technical futures and investigates their specific roles and functions in the innovation process: narratives and scenarios articulated in language (1), computed simulations embodied in digital materiality (2), and prototypes embodied in digital as well as in physical materiality (3). This paper lays out the position, that each of these types of socio-technical futures has its own performativity. That means each type provides specific constraints and affordances, translates ideas into action in its own way, and accordingly, shapes the future presents differently. Furthermore, this paper assumes that because of its respective idiosyncrasy, each of these different types of socio-technical futures has different significance for different actors in different fields, and therefore fulfills specific functions in the innovation process.