This working paper is based on the authors' contributions to the Innovation Management Workshop held at IIASA in June 1981. Chapters 1-4 were written by Heinz-Dieter Haustein; chapter 5 was prepared by Harry Maier.
The authors describe the role of flexible automation in increasing productivity, characterize flexible automation as a socioeconomic phenomenon, make a rough forecast of robot diffusion, and present some information on robots and national innovation policy using the GDR as an example
