Technology Support Net

Technology Support Net (TSN) can be defined as the required and necessary physical, energy, information, legal and cultural structures that support the development of technology core. In order to function effectively, the technology core (hardware, software and brainware) needs to be embedded in its support structure (TSN). Changes in the core then trigger requisite changes in TSN. Any core and its TSN co-evolve in a symbiotic way of mutual strengthening. At certain stage, TSN starts dictating acceptable changes in the core and ultimately becomes an effective barrier to further innovation. At such point, a time for new, disruptive technology emerges.

Disruptive Technology was put forward by Harvard Professor Clayton M. Christensen and was introduced in his 1995 article Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave. Based on Clayton’s research on manufacturing industry during the past 30 years, he argues that leading companies failed to stay at the top of their industries when technologies or markets change. Technological Disruption hurts once successful, well managed companies that invest aggressively in technologies necessary to retain their current customers but then fail to make certain other technological investments that customers of the future will demand.

In 2005, Milan Zeleny described the high technology as disruptive technology and raised the question what is being disrupted during this process. The answer, according to Zeleny is the support network of high technology. For example, introducing electric car disrupts the support network for gasoline car (network of gas and service stations). Such disruption is fully expected and therefore effectively resisted by support net owners. In the long run, high (disruptive) technology either bypasses, upgrades or replaces the outdated support network.