General-purpose technologies (GPTs) are a product, process or organisational system that can affect an economy at a national or global level. These technologies have the potential to drastically alter societies through their impact on pre-existing economic and social structures. Examples of GPTs include the airplane, automobile, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, bronze, computer, domestication, electricity, factory system, internal combustion engine, Internet, iron, mass production, money, nanotechnology, printing press, railways, steamboat, steam engine and the wheel.

In economics, it is theorized that initial adoption of a new GPT within an economy may, before improving productivity, actually decrease it due to time required for development of new infrastructure, learning costs and, obsolescence of old technologies and skills. This can lead to a "productivity J-curve" as unmeasured intangible assets are built up and then harvested. The impending timeframe to utilize the latent benefits of the new technology is deemed a trade-off. Spin-out firms/inventors from organizations that had developed GPTs play an important role in developing applications. However, it has been observed that the level of cumulative innovation in GPTs diminishes as more spin-outs into application development occur.

Historical GPT Economists Richard Lipsey and Kenneth Carlaw classified 24 technologies in history as true GPTs. They define a transforming GPT according to the four criteria listed below: is a single, recognisable generic technology initially has much scope for improvement but comes to be widely used across the economy has many different uses creates many spillover effects Since their book, more GPTs have been added for the 21st century.

Foundational

The earliest technologies mentioned by Lipsey and Carlaw occur before the Neolithic period and have not been cast as GPTs, however, they are innovations that the other 24 rely upon. ClassificationDateSpoken languageprocessPre-10,000 BCClothingproductPre-10,000 BCMastery of fireprocessPre-10,000 BCCoil potteryproductPre-10,000 BCWeapons (sharp-edged tools)productPre-10,000 BC

Expanded list of 26 technologies

GPT Spillover Effects Date Classification Domestication of plants Neolithic agricultural revolution 9000-8000 BC process Domestication of animals Neolithic agricultural revolution, working animals 8500-7500 BC process Smelting of ore early metal tools 8000-7000 BC process Money trade, record keeping 9000–6000 BC process Wheel mechanization, potter's wheel 4000–3000 BC product Writing trade, record keeping, poetry 3400-3200 BC process Bronze tools and weapons 2800 BC product Iron tools and weapons 1200 BC product Water wheel inanimate power, mechanical systems Early Middle Ages product Three-masted sailing ship discovery of the New World, maritime trade, colonialism 15th century product Printing knowledge economy, science education, financial credit 16th century process Factory system Industrial Revolution, interchangeable parts late 18th century organisation Steam engine Industrial Revolution, machine tools late 18th century product Railways suburbs, commuting, flexible location of factories mid 19th century product Iron steamship global agricultural trade, international tourism, dreadnought battleship mid 19th century product Internal combustion engine automobile, airplane, oil industry, mobile warfare late 19th century product Electricity centralized power generation, factory electrification, telegraphic communication late 19th century product Automobile suburbs, commuting, shopping centres, long-distance domestic tourism 20th century product Airplane international tourism, international sports leagues, mobile warfare 20th century product Mass production consumerism, growth of US economy, industrial warfare 20th century organisation Computer Digital Revolution, Internet 20th century product Lean production Growth of Japanese economy, agile software development 20th century organisation Internet electronic business, crowdsourcing, social networking, information warfare 20th century product Biotechnology genetically modified food, bioengineering, gene therapy 20th century process Nanotechnology nanomaterials, nanomedicine, quantum dot solar cell, targeted cancer therapy 21st century product Artificial intelligence automation of tasks, predictive analytics, scientific discovery acceleration, recommender systems, autonomous robots, data processing & decision support systems, generative content creation 21st century process

Steam engine increased labor productivity annually by 0.34%; IT by 0.6% (1995–2005); robotics by 0.36% (1993–2007).

Military and defense-related procurement In his book, Is War Necessary for Economic Growth?: Military Procurement and Technology Development, Vernon W. Ruttan examined the impact of military and defense-related procurement on U.S. technology development. Ruttan identifies the development of six general-purpose technologies:

Interchangeable parts and mass production Military and commercial aircraft Nuclear energy Computers and semi-conductors Internet Space industries

Ruttan contended that the current technological landscape would look very different in the absence of military and defense-related contributions to commercial technology development. However, from his research, he determined that commercial technology development would have occurred in the absence of military procurement. He cited nuclear power as an example of a general-purpose technology that would not have developed.

See also Dual-use technology Enabling technology

References

External links Usage History of Industrial Robotics from IFR Paperless office adoption statistics – 2015 Installed solar capacity and solar employment growth – 2015