CONCEPT
Co-Evolution of Technology and Institutions
Juma's claim that technologies and institutions shape each other simultaneously — not a linear sequence in which society catches up to technology, but a mutual influence that determines what the technology becomes.
The standard model of innovation assumes a linear sequence: technology is developed, society responds, institutions adapt. Juma's research demonstrated the relationship is not linear but co-evolutionary — technologies shape institutions and institutions shape technologies simultaneously, in a process of mutual influence that produces outcomes neither could have produced alone. The distinction is not merely academic. It determines what kind of institutional action is possible and when. Under the linear model, the institutional challenge is reactive — society must catch up to the technology. Under the co-evolutionary model, the institutional challenge is creative — society's institutional choices shape what the technology becomes, and the quality of those choices determines the trajectory of the technology's development for decades after the choices are made.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The printing press did not arrive in finished form and wait for institutions to respond. It evolved in dialogue with the institutions that governed its use. The university's demand for standardized textbooks shaped the