Emerging technologies in emerging markets: Introduction to the special section Mei-Chih Hu a, ⁎, Shih-Chang Hung a , Jian Gao b a Institute of Technology Management, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan b School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China article info abstract Article history: Received 13 March 2011 Accepted 19 March 2011 Available online 19 April 2011 Emerging technologies have significant implications and profound consequences for firms, markets, government policy, and society as a whole. In emerging markets, however, social uncertainties are as important as technological and market uncertainties, and moreover are somewhat more complex. The papers in this special section offer views of how these important social uncertainties can be considered concurrently with technological and market un- certainties, particularly because they play a relatively larger role in emerging markets than in more advanced markets. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Emerging technologies Emerging markets Technological uncertainties Social uncertainties Nelson and Winter [1] argue that technical change leads to human progress, but that it also generates new problems that must be dealt with later, in one way or another. This insight presents an important implication for the present dilemma faced by rapidly growing emerging economies that are venturing into globalization activities. We suggest, therefore, that the impact of emerging technologies is particularly important for emerging markets in which knowledge has been separated into different types — such as old knowledge, recent knowledge, and new knowledge. Much of the research into empirical strategy argues that entrepreneurship, innovation, and knowledge creation result not from particular types of knowledge, but from recombining knowledge in novel ways [2–4]. Applying this perspective, the emerging technologies in growing markets such as China and Brazil are thus driven by way of a socio-analytic application landscape reconfigured through innovation capabilities. The strength of emerging markets is based on the steady creation of complementary knowledge built on the incremental and under-utilized knowledge possessed by advanced markets such as the US and Japan. This complementary knowledge has either been overlooked by current market leaders or is irrelevant to the business strategies of advanced countries [3,5]. Consequently, the process through which an emerging market creates complementary knowledge will be determined essentially by its capability to adapt and reduce both technological and social uncertainties. This special section focuses on the interactions in emerging markets between technological and social uncertainties. Over the last decade, emerging markets, particularly transitional markets, have posed a great challenge to the study of technological forecasting and social change, which implicitly assumes a relatively stable society and a foreseeable future. Technological forecasting, although it is difficult, is an endeavour to understand the nature of technological uncertainties and their possible impacts on social change. Emerging markets are societies replete with social uncertainties as they move from a planned to a market economy. When technological forecasting meets emerging markets, the two uncertainties collide, and the resulting repercussions not only provide opportunities to broaden our understanding of each type of uncertainty, but also create a precious moment for the emergence of a new field of study. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 78 (2011) 1101–1103 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 886 3 5162162; fax: + 886 3 5623770. E-mail address: mchu@mx.nthu.edu.tw (M.-C. Hu). 0040-1625/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2011.03.019 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Technological Forecasting & Social Change