RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Charles François (2004). RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 2856.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2856 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
The set of activities that tends to translate pure scientific knowledge into practical applications.
The aim of R&D is basically to create workable techniques out of general scientific principles. For instance, organic chemistry led to the production of many artificial derivates of organic molecules, and genetics is now leading to genetic engineering.
R&D is however not much concerned with side-effects of its creations, because it is basically profit-oriented. In many cases — and more and more so — the side-effects are noxious or even catastrophic. Thus, from a systemic viewpoint, R&D should be re-framed in a more global perspective in order to forecast and take care in due time of possible negative effects.