Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences

Technology, Innovation & Society

We research innovation and socio-technical transitions towards a more sustainable society.

Inventions are great, but an invention is not yet an innovation, and not all innovations have a positive impact on society.

Technological innovations offer many opportunities to address key societal challenges in areas like sustainable energy, mobility, Europeanization and Globalization. However, change is not only about the mere availability of such innovative technologies (like renewable energy technologies or cleaner cars), but rather requires a transformation of existing socio-technical systems: a transition. This includes changes in firm strategies, consumer behavior, social practices, institutions and regulations, etc. Different aspects of such transition processes cannot be studied in isolation, but require a broader, systems-oriented perspective. In our view, society shapes technological progress, but technological progress also shapes our society. Technologies intertwine with radical transformations in work, travel, communication, and private life.

The Technology, Innovation & Society (TIS) group at TU/e is unique in combining questions on innovation and long-term transitions, and aspire to be a leading group in this field worldwide. We have a strong embedding in relevant social science and humanities disciplines such as innovation studies, economics of innovation, Science- and Technology Studies (STS) TS, sustainability transition studies, and history of technology. We study sustainable innovation and transitions in systemic, transdisciplinary, and transnational perspective.

TIS news

February 6, 2023
Prophets of Computing
Visions of Society Transformed by Computing
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Floor Alkemade
December 29, 2022
Floor Alkemade is researching how the energy transition can be sped up
In part three of our end-of-year series, we talk with Floor Alkemade about the importance of social processes and human behavior in the energy transition.
Read more
More news
Climate adaptation and mitigation can, and must, reinforce each other as much as possible
December 20, 2022
Matthew Bruno (photo: Bart van Overbeeke)
Cyclists are the solution, not the problem
November 25, 2022
Why some PhD students may decide to leave academia
November 10, 2022
Olivetti M20 personal computer from 1982. Source: Wikimedia (CC BY 3.0)
How fear was used to pave the way for the computer
November 8, 2022

OUR RESEARCH THEMES

Research theme

History Lab

The TU/e History Lab is a global center for the historical study of interacting technological, social and environmental changes.

Sustainability transitions

Our mission is to provide the knowledge that is needed to accelerate the sustainability transitions in energy and mobility

Research theme

Energy Transitions in the Global South

Our mission is to provide the knowledge that is needed to realize fair and inclusive energy transitions in the global south.

Research topic

Innovation by standardization and intellectual property

Our mission is to provide knowledge on how standardization and intellectual property can contribute the development and use of knowledge, to…

Some of our researchers

Assistant Professor

Mila Davids

Assistant Professor

Arjan Kirkels

Assistant Professor

Emilio Raiteri

Assistant Professor

Jonas Colen Ladeia Torrens

Full Professor

Rudi Bekkers

Assistant Professor

Elena Mas Tur

Associate Professor

Anna Wieczorek

Full Professor

Floor Alkemade

Associate Professor

Frauke Behrendt

Full Professor

Ruth Oldenziel

Full Professor

Heleen De Coninck

Associate Professor

Henny Romijn

Assistant Professor

Frank Veraart

Full Professor

Erik van der Vleuten

Assistant Professor

Georgios Papachristos

Recent Publications

Our most recent peer reviewed publications

Some of our Research Projects

Research project

Smart Cycling Futures

How can smart cycling innovations contribute to more resilient and live-able Dutch urban regions.

Research project

Historical Roots of the Dutch Sustainability Challenge

The Impact of the Utilization of Material Resources on the Modernization of Dutch Society, 1850-2010

Research project

From automobility to smart mobility

The transition to smart mobility researched from a socio-technical perspective

Research project

THE BRIDGES Project

TVET and Higher Education for Boosting Road Infrastructure Development and Growth of Energy Services in Somalia and Somaliland

Energy Ethics

In the Fair Energy Transition Center, Utrecht University and TU/e work on a Fair, Just, and Inclusive Energy Transition

Research project

Developing and Implementing Smart Grids in India

How to develop and implement smart grids in rural India

Research project

Multi Utilities Smart Energy GRIDS

Promoting energy communities and testing smart energy systems in Europe and India to maximize local energy independency

Research project

Community-based Virtual Power Plant

A novel model of radical decarbonisation based on empowerment of low-carbon community driven energy initiatives

Research project

URBANE

Developing a sustainable business model for agro-ecological farming in West-Africa

Research project

The Cleantech Innovation Capacity of Countries

Objective: to explain the emergence and uneven rate of cleantech innovation across countries

Research project

evRoaming4EU

The ultimate goal is to allow any EV driver to charge at any charging station in the EU.

Research project

New Energy Outlook for the Netherlands

Lighting the way to zero emission energy and mobility

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