The Experts below are selected from a list of 3603 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Pierpaolo Andriani - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Exaptation and Beyond: Multilevel Function Evolution in Biology and Technology
The Frontiers Collection, 2020Co-Authors: Pierpaolo Andriani, Giuseppe Carignani, Christine Brun, Gino CattaniAbstract:Exaptation contributes significantly to evolution of entities ‘born and made’, but little has been written about differences and similarities in the way Exaptation takes place in the artificial and natural world. We succinctly describe how such processes take place in the natural and artificial world and focus in particular on the dynamic effect between functional shift of a module of an organism (or artifact) and the resulting change at the level where selection occurs. We show that when Exaptation is considered from a modular viewpoint, some of the differences that have plagued the analogy between natural and artificial evolution disappears.
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Exaptation, serendipity and aging.
Mechanisms of ageing and development, 2017Co-Authors: Pierpaolo AndrianiAbstract:The paper shows the importance of serendipity and Exaptation in selected key moments of ageing research and argue that rationalistic dominant models in scientific research have masked the importance of reverse models of discovery based on serendipity and Exaptation. I ask why this is the case and analyze three contributing factors: unprestatability of the functions of technologies, multidimensionality and astronomical complexity of the space over which biological reactions occurs and role of scientific paradigms in channeling research toward incrementalism. Empirical evidence of the limits of the rationalistic models are presented next. I close the paper by discussing the implications for aging research.
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Measuring Exaptation and Its Impact on Innovation, Search, and Problem Solving
Organization Science, 2017Co-Authors: Pierpaolo Andriani, Ayfer H. Ali, Mariano MastrogiorgioAbstract:Exaptation, the emergence of latent functionality in existing artifacts, is an underexplored mechanism of novelty generation in innovation. In this paper, we measure the frequency of Exaptation in the pharmaceutical industry. We find that about 42% of new functions derived from existing drugs have an exaptive nature. We think that this constitutes the first measure of Exaptation in any industry. We also link Exaptation with radical innovation and find that most radical innovations in our sample are exaptive. Also, nearly all radical innovations occur in market areas very distant from the drug’s original market. We propose that exaptive innovation constitutes a different search mechanism and problem-solving approach from deliberate innovation and discuss the role of context and serendipity in innovation.
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Exaptation as Source of Creativity, Innovation, and Diversity: Introduction to the Special Section
Industrial and Corporate Change, 2016Co-Authors: Pierpaolo Andriani, Gino CattaniAbstract:Exaptation is one of the most important and, yet, little studied evolutionary mechanisms in the history of species, ecosystems, and artifacts (e.g., technologies). Many, if not most, of all biological traits and human artifacts that were developed for particular functions started as something different: feathers were most likely selected for thermal insulation, bones originated as excess calcium repositories, microwave ovens started life as radar magnetrons. Exaptation thus describes a discontinuous evolutionary process resulting from a functional shift of an existing trait or artifact. Despite the importance of the concept, even the term Exaptation still remains largely unknown outside the field of evolutionary biology. The main purpose of this special section is to introduce the concept of Exaptation to a broader audience, discuss its significance, and expose its contribution to the (possible) solution of long-standing, yet unresolved, questions about the emergence of novelty, particularly radical innovation.
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"Exaptation, innovation and the problem of the emergence of new functions"
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2016Co-Authors: Pierpaolo Andriani, Ayfer H. Ali, Mariano MastrogiorgioAbstract:Exaptation, the co-option of technologies for unintended functions, is an important but neglected mechanism in the expansion of the technosphere. In this paper we measure the frequency of exaptatio...
Mariano Mastrogiorgio - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Measuring Exaptation and Its Impact on Innovation, Search, and Problem Solving
Organization Science, 2017Co-Authors: Pierpaolo Andriani, Ayfer H. Ali, Mariano MastrogiorgioAbstract:Exaptation, the emergence of latent functionality in existing artifacts, is an underexplored mechanism of novelty generation in innovation. In this paper, we measure the frequency of Exaptation in the pharmaceutical industry. We find that about 42% of new functions derived from existing drugs have an exaptive nature. We think that this constitutes the first measure of Exaptation in any industry. We also link Exaptation with radical innovation and find that most radical innovations in our sample are exaptive. Also, nearly all radical innovations occur in market areas very distant from the drug’s original market. We propose that exaptive innovation constitutes a different search mechanism and problem-solving approach from deliberate innovation and discuss the role of context and serendipity in innovation.
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innovation through Exaptation and its determinants the role of technological complexity analogy making patent scope
Research Policy, 2016Co-Authors: Mariano Mastrogiorgio, Victor GilsingAbstract:The concept of Exaptation has been recently introduced in innovation studies. Previous empirical studies have only focused on the organization-level conditions of Exaptation. This paper fills the gaps by focusing on invention and inventor-level conditions such as technological complexity, inventors’ analogical ability, and patent scope. To test our hypotheses, we analyse a large sample of U.S. patents obtained from the USPTO and NBER databases. Based on our findings, we discuss a number of implications of Exaptation for the management of innovation as well as for policy makers.
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"Exaptation, innovation and the problem of the emergence of new functions"
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2016Co-Authors: Pierpaolo Andriani, Ayfer H. Ali, Mariano MastrogiorgioAbstract:Exaptation, the co-option of technologies for unintended functions, is an important but neglected mechanism in the expansion of the technosphere. In this paper we measure the frequency of exaptatio...
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Innovation through Exaptation and its determinants: The role of technological complexity, analogy making & patent scope
Research Policy, 2016Co-Authors: Mariano Mastrogiorgio, Victor GilsingAbstract:The concept of Exaptation has been recently introduced in innovation studies. Previous empirical studies have only focused on the organization-level conditions of Exaptation. This paper fills the gaps by focusing on invention and inventor-level conditions such as technological complexity, inventors’ analogical ability, and patent scope. To test our hypotheses, we analyse a large sample of U.S. patents obtained from the USPTO and NBER databases. Based on our findings, we discuss a number of implications of Exaptation for the management of innovation as well as for policy makers.
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The Determinants of Technological Exaptation
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2015Co-Authors: Mariano Mastrogiorgio, Victor GilsingAbstract:The concept of Exaptation was originally introduced in evolutionary biology. In innovation studies, an Exaptation refers to a technology co-opted for its current function thanks to technological features selected for old functions, or that had no function at all. Previous empirical studies have focused on the organizational- level conditions of Exaptation. This paper focuses on invention-level conditions such as technological complexity, inventors’ analogical ability, and patent scope. To test our hypotheses, we analyse a large sample of U.S. patents obtained from the USPTO and NBER databases.
Stuart A. Kauffman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A quantum model of Exaptation: Incorporating potentiality into evolutionary theory
Progress in Biophysics & Molecular Biology, 2013Co-Authors: Liane Gabora, Eric O. Scott, Stuart A. KauffmanAbstract:The phenomenon of preadaptation, or Exaptation (wherein a trait that originally evolved to solve one problem is co-opted to solve a new problem) presents a formidable challenge to efforts to describe biological phenomena using a classical (Kolmogorovian) mathematical framework. We develop a quantum framework for Exaptation with examples from both biological and cultural evolution. The state of a trait is written as a linear superposition of a set of basis states, or possible forms the trait could evolve into, in a complex Hilbert space. These basis states are represented by mutually orthogonal unit vectors, each weighted by an amplitude term. The choice of possible forms (basis states) depends on the adaptive function of interest (e.g., ability to metabolize lactose or thermoregulate), which plays the role of the observable. Observables are represented by self-adjoint operators on the Hilbert space. The possible forms (basis states) corresponding to this adaptive function (observable) are called eigenstates. The framework incorporates key features of Exaptation: potentiality, contextuality, nonseparability, and emergence of new features. However, since it requires that one enumerate all possible contexts, its predictive value is limited, consistent with the assertion that there exists no biological equivalent to “laws of motion” by which we can predict the evolution of the biosphere.
Victor Gilsing - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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innovation through Exaptation and its determinants the role of technological complexity analogy making patent scope
Research Policy, 2016Co-Authors: Mariano Mastrogiorgio, Victor GilsingAbstract:The concept of Exaptation has been recently introduced in innovation studies. Previous empirical studies have only focused on the organization-level conditions of Exaptation. This paper fills the gaps by focusing on invention and inventor-level conditions such as technological complexity, inventors’ analogical ability, and patent scope. To test our hypotheses, we analyse a large sample of U.S. patents obtained from the USPTO and NBER databases. Based on our findings, we discuss a number of implications of Exaptation for the management of innovation as well as for policy makers.
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Innovation through Exaptation and its determinants: The role of technological complexity, analogy making & patent scope
Research Policy, 2016Co-Authors: Mariano Mastrogiorgio, Victor GilsingAbstract:The concept of Exaptation has been recently introduced in innovation studies. Previous empirical studies have only focused on the organization-level conditions of Exaptation. This paper fills the gaps by focusing on invention and inventor-level conditions such as technological complexity, inventors’ analogical ability, and patent scope. To test our hypotheses, we analyse a large sample of U.S. patents obtained from the USPTO and NBER databases. Based on our findings, we discuss a number of implications of Exaptation for the management of innovation as well as for policy makers.
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The Determinants of Technological Exaptation
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2015Co-Authors: Mariano Mastrogiorgio, Victor GilsingAbstract:The concept of Exaptation was originally introduced in evolutionary biology. In innovation studies, an Exaptation refers to a technology co-opted for its current function thanks to technological features selected for old functions, or that had no function at all. Previous empirical studies have focused on the organizational- level conditions of Exaptation. This paper focuses on invention-level conditions such as technological complexity, inventors’ analogical ability, and patent scope. To test our hypotheses, we analyse a large sample of U.S. patents obtained from the USPTO and NBER databases.
Luciano Pilotti - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Mapping Exaptation as Source of Smart Specialization in European Regional Policy Between Tacitness and Codification
The Frontiers Collection, 2020Co-Authors: Ivan De Noni, Andrea Ganzaroli, Luciano PilottiAbstract:In this paper, we investigate the role of Exaptation as source of smart specialization in European Regional Policy. Technological Exaptation is the cooption of an existing technology to a new and unanticipated domain of application. Therefore, the novelty is not in the technology, but where this technology is applied. For this reason, Exaptation might be a significant source of smart specialization and regional competitiveness as it does not require covering a technological gap but finding new areas of redeployment for an existing specialization in interindustry and multi-specialization perspectives. Despite the key role Exaptation may have played as a source of smart specialization, it has not been included in the EU smart strategy toolkit. Therefore, with this paper, we highlight the key role Exaptation may play in shaping the competitiveness of EU regions and draft a policy to leverage Exaptation in EU regions starting from new matching between tacitness and codification.
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The role of social entrepreneurship in leveraging Exaptation in locked-in industrial districts : the case of Idrogenet in the industrial district of Lumezzane
Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 2014Co-Authors: Andrea Ganzaroli, Ivan De Noni, Luciano PilottiAbstract:The objective of this paper is to investigate the role of social entrepreneurship as driver of Exaptation. Exaptation is defined as the redeployment of an existing body of knowledge into a new and previously unrelated domain of application and as major source of disruptive innovation and firms' dynamic capabilities. Exaptation takes place in two phases. In the first phase, the accumulation of knowledge takes place without any anticipation of its future use. In the second phase, the knowledge accumulated is explicitly and consciously leveraged and exploited to build up and take advantage of the opportunity in an emerging market niche. We contribute to extant literature by showing how social entrepreneurship may help firms to discover new potential and innovative field of application for their existing know-how and exploiting it into such a field. Our results are based on a case study of Exaptation led by social entrepreneurship in the industrial district of Lumezzane.
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Exaptation as source of creativity and innovation
2011Co-Authors: Andrea Ganzaroli, Luciano PilottiAbstract:In this paper we investigate Exaptation as source of creativity and innovation. This term addresses natural features that enhance fitness, but were not built up by natural selection for this purpose. In the management literature this term has been used to address the exploitation of an existing body of knowledge to enter an emerging technological trajectory and gain a competitive advantage in a relative industry. So far, however, little attention has been devoted to the evolutionary dynamics underling and generated by this process. Therefore, in this paper we deepen our understanding of those aspects. Our main contribution is to highlight the discontinuous nature of those changes. Exaptation, differently from adaptations, are not selected for their contribution to the optimization of an existing function, but for their availability to perform an emerging function. Therefore, Exaptations are not selected, but select and contribute to build up the environment valorising their potential.
