HEric's quote is the most egregious piece of awful writing I have ever encountered. It presumes referents for things which have no referent, and pretends to map territory which does not exist, leaving the reader in a tail-spin of multi-dimensional meaninglessness.
That is the purest of psychobabble.
"State of the art" is a commonly used term in patent processes.
"Pushing the envelope" was very meaningful in its original context which was high-speed (faster than sound) flight.
When a meaningful expression is stolen and turned into a "buzzword", used for excitation instead of communication, babble ensues.