While the origins of social innovation research can be traced back to the beginnings of the 19th century, technological innovation has come to dominate innovation research and exert a major influence on our societies in the century that followed. It is only in recent years that the importance of social innovation has been re-discovered, both as complement to technological innovation and as form of innovation in its own right. This article outlines main features of technology-centric innovation research, and it elaborates on the recent opening up of this strand of research to the social dimensions of innovation. In addition, current developments in social innovation research are described, with a particular focus on social innovations that are linked to new technological developments. This points to a growing convergence and complementarity of the ambitions and focal areas of these two strands of research.