To link part 5 and part 6 of this series together, today we will take a look at two responsible innovation projects that were funded by the European Union (part 4) and have an Italian connection (part 5). Both projects were funded under the Horizon 2020 call, (2013 – 2020), while the book chapter offers descriptions of projects funded and completed in the previous (FP7) calls (from p.70). These newer projects build upon the experiences and results of those that went before.

See my previous post here for an overview of the EU vision on research and innovation.

SMART-Map

SMART-map (RoadMAPs to Societal Mobilisation for the Advancement of Responsible Industrial Technologies) was financed by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Programme.

From the website we learn that its goal was to define and implement concrete roadmaps for the responsible development of technologies and services in three key game-changing fields: precision medicine, synthetic biology and 3D printing in biomedicine.

Synthetic biology is an emerging science that could be extensively employed in industries. Some governments are already pushing for its employability but these new technologies bring about controversial impacts that could influence or violate existing normative values.

Precision medicinehas been growing in the last few years and is still expected to grow extensively. It allows people to map their genome not only to understand their genetic history but also to infer their disease risk profile. This is attractive to citizens as well as to industries that are hence investing always more in this field.

3D printing consists in producing 3D objects by superimposing layers of chosen materials. It is thought by some to be a revolution in the manufacturing industry because the objects resulting from 3D printing can meet the customers’ needs accurately. 3D printing has been also being employed in the biomedical field but it is already facing tremendous societal challenges.

The project aimed to develop a new format for open and collaborative dialogues between industry and societal actors (Industrial Dialogues) allowing the co-design of a tool (a SMART Map) that could help companies to address the questions of social and environmental responsibility they face in their innovation processes. The project tested these SMART Maps in actual industrial settings, ensuring that innovators can use them easily within their existing

The project produced industrial dialogue and materials alongside an E-book, a series of recommendations and the final road-maps. As with all projects all of these materials are made freely available to potential users.

ROSIE

The ROSIE project aimed to improve skills among entrepreneurs and innovation actors to promote responsible innovation in companies based in Central European countries where a lack knowledge, skills and policy frameworks to encourage responsible innovation may slow its developments. In order to address these issues the project developed and tested tools and training methods whose aim was to improve capacity to implement innovation responsibly.

This project grouped together various public administration and governance bodies with Chambers of Commerce and commercial and not for profit organizations from Crotatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Germany and Italy.

The project has a workbox website that includes introductory videos to responsible innovation, self-assessment tools, implementation plan and toolkit, consultancy and training materials. The workbox website also contains a series of training videos that address such issues as the setting up and running of a living lab and how the STIR methodology can be used to raise awareness and promote change in business.

The video I made that you can watch in part 2 of this series was produced for this project with the Bassetti Foundation playing roles in both.

This week we take a look at Chapter 3 of the book Responsible Innovation, a Narrative Approach, that you can download here.

The European Commission Approach

The European Commission has its own take on responsible innovation (RI) and its own acronym. In these circles the term RRI is used, standing for Responsible Research and Innovation, reflecting the use of the concept within its research funding mechanisms. This terminology has been in use since (about) 2011, and since then RRI has become a cross-cutting issue in the most recent calls for research funding after steadily growing in importance.

For those who may not know, the European commission funds research throughout and beyond Europe, publishing calls for project proposals that fit within different categories. This fits within a policy of promoting innovation as an economic driver, following the line that innovation will bring jobs and economic growth.

The RRI inclusion brings in the idea that this research should work towards addressing some of the societal challenges that EU citizens face. This idea grows out of EU treaties, as do the ways that the idea of RRI are put into practice.

The challenges are the following:

• Health, demographic change and wellbeing
• Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy
• Secure, clean and efficient energy
• Smart, green and integrated transport
• Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials
• Europe in a changing world – inclusive, innovative and reflective societies
• Secure societies – protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens.

It’s difficult to work out exactly how much money we are talking about here, but somewhere in the region of 70 billion Euros over 7 years for the current funding program, a figure that is put around 500 billion for the coming call. The book details where you can find all of the documents that explain how and why this path is being followed.

How to Proceed?

Within the approach there are several issues that each research project must address:

 Public Engagement

• the establishment of inclusive participatory multi-actor dialogues between researchers, policy makers, industry and civil society organizations, NGOs, and citizens;
• to foster mutual understanding and co-create research and innovation outcomes and policy agendas effective in tackling societal challenges,
• fostering wider acceptability of results.

Open Access

Making research findings available free of charge for readers. This has been a core strategy in the European Commission to improve knowledge circulation and thus innovation. It is illustrated in particular by the general principle for open access to scientific publications in Horizon 2020 and the pilot for research data.

Gender

• Fostering gender balance in research teams, in order to close the gaps in the participation of women.
• Ensuring gender balance in decision-making, in order to reach the target of 40% of the under-represented sex in panels and groups and of 50% in advisory groups.
• Integrating the gender dimension in research and innovation (R&I) content, helps improve the scientific quality and societal relevance of the produced knowledge, technology and/or innovation.

Ethics

Amongst others, the following ethical issues must be addressed:

• the involvement of children, patients, vulnerable populations,
• the use of human embryonic stem cells,
• privacy and data protection issues,
• research on animals and non-human primates.

Science education

A sustainable and cross-cutting interaction between the relevant actors in the field is crucial:

• different levels of the education system,
• universities and other higher education establishments,
• research and innovation funding and performing organizations,
• civil society organizations and NGO’s,
• industry, policy-makers,
• professors,
• teachers,
• students and pupils,
• Science museums and science centres.

The book chapter goes into greater detail, before offering an overview of several of the projects that have been completed over recent years through this mechanism, which I hope offers a more concrete idea of how this money is being used.

The chapter concludes with an interview with René von Schomberg, widely seen as the architect of this move. I have written a previous post about him here, but the book offers more detail gained through a series of interviews.