“Techno-globalism, techno-nationalism and technological systems: organizing the evidence”

This paper deals with the globalization process, and with the tension between national, super-national and sub-national forces it entails in the field of technology. The concept of technological system (TS) is proposed as a useful starting point to analyze the consequences that globalization has for a variety of different technological aspects. A taxonomy is then put forward to distinguish its implications for those elements of a TS which are more related to the state from those which are closer to the idea of nation. Interesting results are obtained by allocating the contributions of a growing, but not yet conclusive, body of literature to more specific technological aspects, such as: ‘techno-territoriality’, pertaining to physical distances and spaces, ‘techno-sovereignty’, related to governance structures and policy making, ‘techno-citizenship’, about strategic behaviors and accountability, and ‘techno-nationality’, concerning socio-cultural sharing phenomena. The application of this taxonomy shows that globalization has reduced the relevance of national (and more local) technological aspects much less than is generally maintained. This is particularly true for techno-nationality. Indeed, a certain communality of language and culture within a country, along with its historically formed institutional setting, is an important enabler of the innovative process and induces different technological styles and performances. ‘Techno-national systems of innovation’ therefore still matter