Introduction

The state of evolution of knowledge has always set the pace of material as well as intellectual progress in any society. To meet the end of our proliferated need that arises due to the non-availability of certain solutions, we continuously transcend the circumference of imagination and condense our need-based thoughts into concepts. The latter has broadly been denoted as ‘technology’ that meets our needs of the time—be it the ‘discovery of wheel’ for our ancestors or ‘robotics deployment’ to carry out the complex tasks of modern society. In fact, every significant issue of our time—energy, environment, health, education, economic development, and so on—is increasingly and intricately shaped by the ebb and flow of new technologies. While generation of new technologies is no doubt central, their diffusion or ‘spread’ is all the more crucial for greater socio-economic progress as the technologies must diffuse fairly rapidly to propel development in myriads of socio-economic outcomes. Truly, diffusion takes place at the heart of a socio-economic system. Therefore, the rate and speed of diffusion of technologies indicates the flexibility, richness, strength and tenacity of the system. It has been rightfully pointed out in the existing literature that the process of ‘diffusion’ is a pivotal element in innovation as without being spread, the new technology would have little social or economic impact.