First steps towards a consistent classification of innovation

The Frascati and Oslo manuals assemble scientific activities, technological activities and their definitions in generic manner, without attempting to propose a rigorous and cogent organization of the categories. Such uncertainties could possibly be overcome by an attempt to formulate a coherent, holistic classification, retracing the indications of previous scholars concerning the broader characteristics of scientific discovery and technological innovation. From such an attempt, we gather the lesson that scholars of technological innovation and scientific progress must at all times be ready to reopen debate on the assertions that they have thus far formulated.