Modular exaptation: a missing link in the synthesis of artificial form

Andriani, Pierpaolo; Carignani, Giuseppe; Kamińska, Renata

doi:10.5465/ambpp.2014.11629abstract

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…2. We embrace here the etiological definition of function, aligning with Andriani and Carignani (2014). Exaptation implies technological continuity but functional discontinuity.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2. We embrace here the etiological definition of function, aligning with Andriani and Carignani (2014).…”

Section: Conclusive Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are serendipitous because largely unplanned but driven by the capacity to find a different explanation for something that is not expected. Also, they are nonadaptive because not driven by a function (Andriani and Carignani, 2014), but by the possibility of hacking an existing function already embodied in a technology to solve a contingent problem, at a given point in time. In this framework, intellectual property rights are more a blockage point than an incentive (Von Hippel and Von Krog, 2006; De Noni et al.…”

Section: Conclusive Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exaptive innovation in constraint-based environments: lessons from COVID-19 crisis

Sedita

Blasi

Ganzaroli

2022

EJIM

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PurposeThis paper explores how exaptive innovation process might be considered a useful innovation model in constraint-based environments. Through an in-depth case study, it illustrates clearly the antecedents of exaptation processes, which are particularly relevant in rapidly changing environments requiring new solutions under time and resource constraints.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopt a single case study approach that is particularly suitable in case of an inductive research design, which is required because of the novelty of the topic. The research is inspired by the use of the snorkeling mask EASYBREATH, commercialized by the giant Decathlon, as a medical device, a respirator to treat patients affected by coronavirus in Italy. The authors organized the evidence according to a novel taxonomy grounded in the literature.FindingsThe case study stimulates reflections on the existence of some antecedents to the exaptive innovation process in constraint-based environments: (1) the availability of specific actors in the innovation process; (2) the creation of platforms of interaction between people with different competences, nurtured by collective bottom-up financing systems; (3) the role of the community of makers, in particular, and of the 4th industrial revolution, in general, for creating enabling technologies; (4) multidisciplinary individual background of key actors in the innovation process is crucial to ensure the exaptive path to be in place.Research limitations/implicationsThis work has some limitations, due to the choice of limiting the analysis to a single case, nevertheless, it offers a first glance on a new technological trajectory available in constraint-based environments.Originality/valueThe case study results underline the importance of new digital collaboration platforms as knowledge multipliers, and illuminate on the potential of the fourth manufacturing revolution, which, through new technologies, creates opportunities for distributed forms of innovation that cross long distances.

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“…2. We embrace here the etiological definition of function, aligning with Andriani and Carignani (2014). Exaptation implies technological continuity but functional discontinuity.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2. We embrace here the etiological definition of function, aligning with Andriani and Carignani (2014).…”

Section: Conclusive Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conclusive Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Exaptive innovation in constraint-based environments: lessons from COVID-19 crisis

Sedita

Blasi

Ganzaroli

2022

EJIM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This modular exaptation often results in the creation of new markets, can lead to disruptive innovation in existing ecosystems, and even lead to the creation of a new ecosystem. 32 Compared with traditional innovation processes, exaptation offers significant advantages in terms of greater speed, lower cost, and lower risk (due to proven performance in the original application). 33 In the case of VCUK, we saw exaptation play an important role in successful innovation and delivery, including the repurposing of design, manufacturing, 3D printing, AI, VI, supply chain coordination, and mass-production technologies from the motorsports, automotive, aerospace, electronics, and logistics industries.…”

Section: Harnessing Exaptationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing Exaptation and Ecosystem Strategy for Accelerated Innovation: Lessons From The VentilatorChallengeUK

Liu

Beltagui²,

Williamson

et al. 2021

California Management Review

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The COVID-19 crisis has underlined the need for accelerated innovation to rapidly help business solve social problems. These problems require access to capabilities and knowledge that no single organization or existing supply chain possesses. Drawing on the experience of the open innovation and rapid-scale-up achieved by the VentilatorChallengeUK to address a shortage of ventilators required by patients seriously ill with COVID-19, this article develops a framework for accelerated innovation and delivery that crosses traditional industry boundaries. It offers a series of important lessons for how open innovation, exaptation, and ecosystem strategies—backed by a set of enabling initiatives—can be used to solve multi-faceted social and business problems at speed.

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“…Exaptation is ubiquitous in a broad variety of realms, including language (Williams 1983 ; Traugott 2004 ), music (Ryu 2010 ; Barthet et al 2014 ; Youngblood 2019 ), and urban planning and architecture (Furnari 2011 ). Exaptation is critical to technological innovation (Andriani and Carignani 2014 ; Ferreira et al 2020 ); co-option of proteins such as restriction enzymes, CRISPR-Cas, Taq polymerase, T7-RNA polymerase, and antibodies forms the basis of biotechnology. Microwave ovens use technology co-opted from World War II magnetrons (for RADAR) (Andriani and Cohen 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation and Exaptation: From Small Molecules to Feathers

et al. 2022

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Evolution works by adaptation and exaptation. At an organismal level, exaptation and adaptation are seen in the formation of organelles and the advent of multicellularity. At the sub-organismal level, molecular systems such as proteins and RNAs readily undergo adaptation and exaptation. Here we suggest that the concepts of adaptation and exaptation are universal, synergistic, and recursive and apply to small molecules such as metabolites, cofactors, and the building blocks of extant polymers. For example, adenosine has been extensively adapted and exapted throughout biological evolution. Chemical variants of adenosine that are products of adaptation include 2′ deoxyadenosine in DNA and a wide array of modified forms in mRNAs, tRNAs, rRNAs, and viral RNAs. Adenosine and its variants have been extensively exapted for various functions, including informational polymers (RNA, DNA), energy storage (ATP), metabolism (e.g., coenzyme A), and signaling (cyclic AMP). According to Gould, Vrba, and Darwin, exaptation imposes a general constraint on interpretation of history and origins; because of exaptation, extant function should not be used to explain evolutionary history. While this notion is accepted in evolutionary biology, it can also guide the study of the chemical origins of life. We propose that (i) evolutionary theory is broadly applicable from the dawn of life to the present time from molecules to organisms, (ii) exaptation and adaptation were important and simultaneous processes, and (iii) robust origin of life models can be constructed without conflating extant utility with historical basis of origins.

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Modular exaptation: a missing link in the synthesis of artificial form

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Exaptive innovation in constraint-based environments: lessons from COVID-19 crisis

Exaptive innovation in constraint-based environments: lessons from COVID-19 crisis

Harnessing Exaptation and Ecosystem Strategy for Accelerated Innovation: Lessons From The VentilatorChallengeUK

Adaptation and Exaptation: From Small Molecules to Feathers

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