Sustainable technology evolution in innovation ecosystems: A regulatory framework for (non)-convergent technologies

Abstract

Technological convergence is a critical driver of technological evolution and industrial transformation, yet, convergence also generates complex ethical, sustainability, and regulatory challenges that remain poorly understood and insufficiently theorized. This study advances a conceptual framework that explains the regulatory mechanisms shaping convergence and non-convergence dynamics across three ecosystem layers: components, products and applications, and support and infrastructure. By distinguishing these layers, the framework reveals how interdependent evolution can raise ethical, sustainability, and regulatory concerns at different levels. The study advances theory by (1) reconceptualizing convergence as a multi-layered phenomenon, (2) expanding analysis beyond appropriability indicators such as patents to include development-based mechanisms like licensing, (3) proposing a dual regulatory role in balancing innovation development and appropriation, and (4) showing how regulation conditions the effects of convergence and non-convergence on technological sustainability.