A theory-based dinamical model of exaptive innovation processes

A major problem in research on innovations is the understanding of invention, that is, the origin of innovations. In this paper we propose that radical innovations are created by a process of 'exaptation', and we introduce a dynamical model which describes how it may happen. In particular, our model is focussed on the interplay between artifact innovation and attributions of functionality. We propose that the explicit representation of artifacts and categories eases the understanding of the exaptation phenomenon, seen in this context as a shift in terms of “leading attributions”, and allows the identification of the elements favouring the emergence of innovations