Technology Innovation Management Review (May 2022)
The Diffusion of Blockchain as a General Purpose Technology Driving Digital Transformation
Abstract
Digital transformation as a process is integrally linked to the creation and diffusion of a set of general purpose technologies (GPTs) that provide both the motive force, as well as the means, for the transformation of existing industries and the creation of entirely new ones. This article takes as its subject the diffusion of one such technology - blockchain - and explores the relationship between the Schumpeterian innovation at the core of its diffusion and digital transformation as a macro process. Theoretically, I work from Rogers' definition of diffusion as a locally heterogeneous process in which variation in a new technology’s use and adaptation are driven by the decisions of entrepreneurs working in specific contexts, as well as Schumpeter's concept of innovation as a form of recombination. I explore variation in these processes of innovation and recombination across three broad clusters of implementations: Digital Economies, Extra-Institutional Trust, and Digital Finance. I find that each of these clusters is marked by a distinct form of innovation defined by differing patterns of recombination with other digital GPTs, and by the role that institutions and institutional actors play in this variation.
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