Control and systems concepts in the innovation process

Abstract

The article states that industrial innovation is the study, analysis and design of interacting dynamical processes and that control system methods can be employed to understand and facilitate innovation at three levels. These three levels are the forms of knowledge required to fully master all the aspects of economic needs, science and technology needs, and management and organization needs. These are: knowledge of the social and economic conditions for innovation, knowledge of the organization and facilitation processes in innovating teams, and knowledge of the scientific content of a technical development program. Viewed in this light, control is a true systems technology that has utility far beyond the conventional framework of linear feedback control. The article promotes control systems as a mathematically based overarching systems technology in the hope of repositioning control in a new and rich area of technology. The author recommends the enhancement of the control R&D profession starting with the revision of school curricula, demanding a broader research vision on the part of control professors, and goes further in challenging the practicing control professional.