How Do New Technologies Diffuse ? Be Informed with InfoCons Consumer Protection for Intellectual Property !
Recently, the World Intellectual Property Report 2026: Technology on the Move was launched, which is structured into several interconnected parts. The first chapter addresses a fundamental question: How do new technologies diffuse?
This opening chapter explores how technologies spread across economies and why diffusion is essential for translating innovation into real economic and social impact. Invention alone does not generate prosperity. Adoption, adaptation and effective use are what ultimately drive progress.
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Why Technology Diffusion Matters
Over the past two centuries, global living standards have improved dramatically. Since the Industrial Revolution:
- Global income per capita has increased more than tenfold
- Life expectancy in developed economies has nearly doubled
- Communication and transportation have become exponentially faster
These gains were made possible by successive waves of innovation replacing older technologies, a process often described as creative destruction. Modern economies can now produce far more goods and services with the same resources than previous generations.
However, invention is only the starting point. For technological breakthroughs to generate economic growth and societal benefits, they must spread widely across firms, industries and households. This process, known as technology diffusion, forms the bridge between invention and real-world transformation.
Diffusion is neither automatic nor guaranteed. It depends on infrastructure, skills, institutions and
Diffusion Often Follows an S-Shaped Pattern
Many technologies follow an S-shaped diffusion path:
- An initial slow adoption phase, led by early adopters
- A rapid growth phase once confidence and accessibility increase
- A final phase of saturation
Mobile communication technologies such as 2G, 3G and 4G have reached the upper part of this curve in many regions. Renewable energy technologies, by contrast, remain in a rapid growth phase.
Not all technologies follow a perfectly smooth S-curve. Some experience waves of acceleration and slowdown, particularly when improved versions replace earlier ones.
Newer Technologies Are Diffusing Faster
The speed of diffusion has increased significantly over time.
Earlier household technologies often took decades to reach mass adoption. By the late twentieth century, products such as personal computers spread much faster. Today, digital technologies can achieve global reach within days.
Generative artificial intelligence provides a striking example. Following its public release in 2022, large language model tools reached users in nearly every country within a matter of days, facilitated by existing digital infrastructure.
However, diffusion speed varies by technology type. Electric vehicles, for example, require substantial new infrastructure, such as charging networks and grid capacity, which slows adoption compared to purely digital tools.
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Adoption Gaps Across Countries Are Shrinking
Historically, advanced economies adopted new technologies decades before developing economies. Adoption lags have shortened dramatically over time:
- Telegraph: approximately 50 years global diffusion lag
- Automobile: approximately 36 years
- Mobile phones: less than 20 years
- 3G and 4G networks: often just a few years
Recent technologies are reaching more countries more quickly than ever before. This has created opportunities for developing economies to adopt innovations sooner and, in some cases, leapfrog older technological stages.
The Usage Gap Remains Important
Adoption timing does not tell the full story. What matters equally is the intensity of use within countries.
Historically, advanced economies not only adopted technologies earlier but also used them more intensively. This divergence in usage intensity contributed to widening income gaps.
Encouragingly, for more recent digital and renewable technologies, usage intensity is beginning to converge across countries. Asia, in particular, has narrowed its technology-use gap significantly in several domains.
Although generative AI is too recent for long-term analysis, early indications suggest strong uptake in certain middle-income economies.
What Drives Faster and Broader Diffusion?
The report identifies four key factors influencing diffusion outcomes.
- Characteristics of the Technology
Simple, affordable and modular technologies spread more rapidly. Technologies requiring complex infrastructure or high capital investment tend to diffuse more slowly.
- Speed of Information Flows
Modern digital platforms and AI systems enable near-instant access to knowledge, dramatically reducing barriers to learning about new technologies.
- Absorptive Capacity
The ability to understand, adapt and implement new technologies depends on education systems, technical training, research institutions and integration into global knowledge networks.
- Public Policy and Institutional Frameworks
Governments shape diffusion through:
- Investment in infrastructure
- Standardization and interoperability frameworks
- Safety and consumer protection regulations
- Intellectual property systems
Intellectual property plays a dual role. It incentivizes innovation by granting exclusive rights, while disclosure requirements and time limits ensure that knowledge eventually becomes accessible. Well-designed IP systems also facilitate licensing and cross-border technology transfer.
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Policy Implications
The chapter makes clear that encouraging invention alone is insufficient. Policymakers must also create conditions that enable technologies to spread widely and effectively. This requires:
- Investment in complementary infrastructure
- Development of human capital
- Access to financing
- Effective regulatory frameworks
- Balanced IP systems that support both innovation incentives and technology access
Reducing barriers to diffusion is essential for narrowing global income gaps and addressing pressing global challenges, including climate change.
Technology diffusion is central to economic development and human progress. While the pace of global technology adoption has accelerated significantly, the benefits remain unevenly distributed within and across countries.
The first chapter of the World Intellectual Property Report 2026 highlights both encouraging convergence trends and persistent structural challenges. Understanding how diffusion works is critical for unlocking the full potential of technological innovation.
The following chapters build on this foundation by examining cross-border knowledge flows and detailed case studies in agricultural biotechnology, clean technologies and digital innovation.
To explore the complete analysis and data, access the full World Intellectual Property Report 2026 HERE .
Signature : InfoCons Intellectual Property Department
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