Technology Reviews: PATH Histories Once a technology has been on the market for a significant time period, PATH evaluates its level of success at reaching its potential. A technology's success is based on a combination of factors, only some of which are technical. Regulatory, marketing, and financial factors also contribute to a technology's success. PATH provides comprehensive sociotechnical analyses of technologies that have been commercialized, reaching significant market penetration. The analyses reveal the technical constraints that have kept a technology from more widespread use, the regulatory or institutional barriers that have aided or hindered it, and the marketing or financial issues that have affected the technology. The PATH Technology Reviews point to ways PATH partners can improve future housing technology developments. The reviews will help PATH document technologies' progress within the housing industry as well as guide PATH in developing new services for research and dissemination projects. Commercialization of Innovations: Lessons Learned In this report, PATH asked practitioners associated with two innovations, exterior insulated finishing systems (EIFS) and wood I-joists to reflect on their experiences and relate what they thought worked well and what they would do differently. Both innovations experienced difficulties during commercialization; on the basis of those difficulties PATH derived general advice that could be applied to the introduction of new technology by other private parties and public officials concerned with innovation in the housing industry. Commercialization of Innovations: Lessons Learned
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Content updated on 2/13/2003