Responsible research and innovation – a conceptual contribution to theory and practice of technology management
Abstract
The concept of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has become a popular term as a result of making it a cross-cutting theme for the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union. RRI may be understood as a process by which societal actors and innovators become mutually responsive to each other with a view to the acceptability, sustainability and societal desirability of the innovation process and its products. The work presents a review of the state-of-art scientific literature on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) together with a synthesis of theoretical and practical challenges faced by this new concept. Mapping of RRI dimensions and its theoretical assumptions is performed. Bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on RRI is carried out. The analysis of RRI-related projects is conducted. The attempt is made to clarify what RRI means for an enterprise in practical terms and what makes an innovation project in an enterprise a responsible one. Finally, a proposal for a closer interchange between RRI and Technology Assessment discourses is made together with an argument for a more extensive use of future-oriented methods that increase epistemic horizons of an innovating organisation.
Keyword : Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), responsibility, European Union, innovation, technology management, technology assessment
How to Cite
Nazarko, L. (2019). Responsible research and innovation – a conceptual contribution to theory and practice of technology management. Business: Theory and Practice, 20, 342-351. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2019.32
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Chodakowska E, Nazarko J (2017) Environmental DEA method for assessing productivity of European countries. Technological and Economic Development of Economy 23 (4): 589-607. https://doi.org/10.3846/20294913.2016.1272069
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European Parliament (2013) Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing Horizon 2020 – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014–2020) and re-pealing Decision No 1982/2006/EC.
European Commission (2011) DG Research Workshop on Responsible Research & Innovation in Europe, Brussels, 16-17 May 2011.
Flipse SM, Yaghmaei E (2018) The Value of “Measuring” RRI Performance in Industry. In: Ferri et al., Governance and Sustainability of Responsible Research and Innovation Processes. Cham: Springer, 41-47. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73105-6_6
García D, Zuazua E, Perat B (2016) The RRI Toolkit. RRI Tools project https://www.rri-tools.eu/documents/10184/107098/RRITools_D3.2-TheRRIToolkit.pdf
Gianni R (2016) Responsibility and freedom: the ethical realm of RRI, London: ISTE. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119277354
Grunwald A (2009) Technology assessment: Concepts and methods. In: Meijers A (Ed) Philosophy of technology and engineering sciences vol. 9. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1103-1146.
Grunwald A (2011) Responsible innovation: bringing together technology assessment, applied ethics, and STS research. Enterprise and Work Innovation Studies 7: 9-31.
Grunwald A (2014) Technology assessment for responsible innovation. In: van den Hoven J, Doorn N, Swierstra T, Koops BJ, Romijn H (Eds) Responsible Innovation 1: Innovative Solutions for Global Issues. Cham: Springer, 15-32. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8956-1_2
Halicka K (2016) Innovative classification of methods of the Future-oriented Technology Analysis. Technological and Economic Development of Economy 22 (4): 574-597. https://doi.org/10.3846/20294913.2016.1197164
Horizon Dashboard (2018) https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/dashboard
Iatridis K, Schroeder D (2016) Responsible research and innovation in industry: the case for corporate responsibility tools. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21693-5
Kupper F, Klaassen P, Rijnen M, Vermeulen S, Woertman R, Broerse J (2015) A catalogue of good RRI practices. RRI Toolsproject https://www.rri-tools.eu/documents/10184/107098/RRITools_D1.4-CatalogueOfGoodRRIPractices.pdf
Martinuzzi A, Blok V, Brem A, Stahl B, Schönherr N (2018) Responsible research and innovation in industry – challenges, insights and perspectives. Sustainability 10 (3): 702. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030702
Mitcham C (2012) Technology and the burden of responsibility. In: Values and Ethics for the 21st Century. BBVA, 141-164.
Nazarko L (2016) Responsible research and innovation – a new paradigm of technology management. 9th International Scientific Conference “Business and Management 2016”, 12-13 May 2016, Vilnius, Lithuania. http://doi.org/10.3846/bm.2016.71
Nazarko L (2017) Future-oriented technology assessment. Procedia Engineering 182: 504-509. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pro-eng.2017.03.144
Nazarko L (2019) Responsible research and innovation in industry: from ethical acceptability to social desirability. In: Golinska P, Spychala M (Eds) Corporate social responsibility in the manufacturing and services sectors. Springer: Berlin-Heidelberg, 127-138. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33851-9_7
Owen R, Macnaghten Ph, Stigloe J (2012) Responsible research and innovation: From science in society to science for society, with society. Science and Public Policy 39: 751-760. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scs093
Pellé S, Reber B (2016) From ethical review to responsible research and innovation. London: ISTE.
Radziszewski P, Nazarko J, Vilutiene T, Debkowska K, Ejdys J, Gudanowska A, Halicka K, Kilon J, Kononiuk A, Kowalski KJ, Krol JB, Nazarko L, Sarnowski M (2016) Future trends in road pavement technologies development in the context of environmental protection. The Baltic Journal of Road and Bridge Engineering 11 (2): 160-168. https://doi.org/10.3846/bjrbe.2016.19
Ravn T, Nielsen MW, Mejlgaard N (2015) Metrics and indicators of responsible research and innovation, monitoring the evolution and benefits of responsible research and innovation (MoRRI) https://www.rri-tools.eu/documents/10184/47609/MORRI-D3.2/
Responsible Industry (2017) Guide for the implementation of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the industrial context (2017) http://www.responsible-industry.eu/dissemination/deliverables/R-I_02_Guide.pdf
Robinson DKR (2009) Co-evolutionary scenarios: An application to prospecting futures of the responsible development of nanotechnology. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 76 (9): 1222-1239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2009.07.015
Scholten VE, Blok V (2015) Foreword: Responsible innovation in the private sector. Journal on Chain and Network Science 15 (2): 101-105. https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2015.x006
Smallman M, Bouwers M, Miller S (2016) Learning Outcomes. RRI Tools project https://www.rri-tools.eu/documents/10184/193151/RRIToolsTraining-LearningOutcomes.pdf
Stahl B (2018) RRI in Industry: On the Translation of the RRI Discourse into the Private Domain. Orbit Journal 1 (3).
van de Poel I (2012) The relation between forward-looking and backward looking responsibility. In: Vincent N, Van de Poel I, Van de Hoven J (Eds) Moral Responsibility, Beyond Free Will & Determinism. Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1878-4_3
van de Poel I, Asveld L, Flipse S, Klaassen P, Scholten V, Yaghmaei E (2017) Company Strategies for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI): A Conceptual Model. Sustainability 9 (11): 2045. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112045
von Schomberg R (2012) Prospects for technology assessment in a framework of responsible research and innovation. In:Dusseldorp M, Beecroft R (Eds) Technikfolgen abschätzen lehren. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 39-61. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-93468-6_2
von Schomberg R (2013) A vision of responsible research and innovation. In: Owen R, Bessant J, Heintz M (Eds). Responsible Innovation: Managing the Responsible Emergence of Science and Innovation in Society, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 51-74.
Chodakowska E, Nazarko J (2017) Environmental DEA method for assessing productivity of European countries. Technological and Economic Development of Economy 23 (4): 589-607. https://doi.org/10.3846/20294913.2016.1272069
Ejdys J, Ustinovičius L, Stankevičienė J (2015) Innovative application of contemporary management methods in a knowledge-based economy – interdisciplinarity in science. Journal of Business Economics and Management 16 (1): 261-274. https://doi.org/10.3846/16111699.2014.986192
European Parliament (2013) Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing Horizon 2020 – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014–2020) and re-pealing Decision No 1982/2006/EC.
European Commission (2011) DG Research Workshop on Responsible Research & Innovation in Europe, Brussels, 16-17 May 2011.
Flipse SM, Yaghmaei E (2018) The Value of “Measuring” RRI Performance in Industry. In: Ferri et al., Governance and Sustainability of Responsible Research and Innovation Processes. Cham: Springer, 41-47. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73105-6_6
García D, Zuazua E, Perat B (2016) The RRI Toolkit. RRI Tools project https://www.rri-tools.eu/documents/10184/107098/RRITools_D3.2-TheRRIToolkit.pdf
Gianni R (2016) Responsibility and freedom: the ethical realm of RRI, London: ISTE. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119277354
Grunwald A (2009) Technology assessment: Concepts and methods. In: Meijers A (Ed) Philosophy of technology and engineering sciences vol. 9. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1103-1146.
Grunwald A (2011) Responsible innovation: bringing together technology assessment, applied ethics, and STS research. Enterprise and Work Innovation Studies 7: 9-31.
Grunwald A (2014) Technology assessment for responsible innovation. In: van den Hoven J, Doorn N, Swierstra T, Koops BJ, Romijn H (Eds) Responsible Innovation 1: Innovative Solutions for Global Issues. Cham: Springer, 15-32. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8956-1_2
Halicka K (2016) Innovative classification of methods of the Future-oriented Technology Analysis. Technological and Economic Development of Economy 22 (4): 574-597. https://doi.org/10.3846/20294913.2016.1197164
Horizon Dashboard (2018) https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/dashboard
Iatridis K, Schroeder D (2016) Responsible research and innovation in industry: the case for corporate responsibility tools. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21693-5
Kupper F, Klaassen P, Rijnen M, Vermeulen S, Woertman R, Broerse J (2015) A catalogue of good RRI practices. RRI Toolsproject https://www.rri-tools.eu/documents/10184/107098/RRITools_D1.4-CatalogueOfGoodRRIPractices.pdf
Martinuzzi A, Blok V, Brem A, Stahl B, Schönherr N (2018) Responsible research and innovation in industry – challenges, insights and perspectives. Sustainability 10 (3): 702. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030702
Mitcham C (2012) Technology and the burden of responsibility. In: Values and Ethics for the 21st Century. BBVA, 141-164.
Nazarko L (2016) Responsible research and innovation – a new paradigm of technology management. 9th International Scientific Conference “Business and Management 2016”, 12-13 May 2016, Vilnius, Lithuania. http://doi.org/10.3846/bm.2016.71
Nazarko L (2017) Future-oriented technology assessment. Procedia Engineering 182: 504-509. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pro-eng.2017.03.144
Nazarko L (2019) Responsible research and innovation in industry: from ethical acceptability to social desirability. In: Golinska P, Spychala M (Eds) Corporate social responsibility in the manufacturing and services sectors. Springer: Berlin-Heidelberg, 127-138. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33851-9_7
Owen R, Macnaghten Ph, Stigloe J (2012) Responsible research and innovation: From science in society to science for society, with society. Science and Public Policy 39: 751-760. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scs093
Pellé S, Reber B (2016) From ethical review to responsible research and innovation. London: ISTE.
Radziszewski P, Nazarko J, Vilutiene T, Debkowska K, Ejdys J, Gudanowska A, Halicka K, Kilon J, Kononiuk A, Kowalski KJ, Krol JB, Nazarko L, Sarnowski M (2016) Future trends in road pavement technologies development in the context of environmental protection. The Baltic Journal of Road and Bridge Engineering 11 (2): 160-168. https://doi.org/10.3846/bjrbe.2016.19
Ravn T, Nielsen MW, Mejlgaard N (2015) Metrics and indicators of responsible research and innovation, monitoring the evolution and benefits of responsible research and innovation (MoRRI) https://www.rri-tools.eu/documents/10184/47609/MORRI-D3.2/
Responsible Industry (2017) Guide for the implementation of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the industrial context (2017) http://www.responsible-industry.eu/dissemination/deliverables/R-I_02_Guide.pdf
Robinson DKR (2009) Co-evolutionary scenarios: An application to prospecting futures of the responsible development of nanotechnology. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 76 (9): 1222-1239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2009.07.015
Scholten VE, Blok V (2015) Foreword: Responsible innovation in the private sector. Journal on Chain and Network Science 15 (2): 101-105. https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2015.x006
Smallman M, Bouwers M, Miller S (2016) Learning Outcomes. RRI Tools project https://www.rri-tools.eu/documents/10184/193151/RRIToolsTraining-LearningOutcomes.pdf
Stahl B (2018) RRI in Industry: On the Translation of the RRI Discourse into the Private Domain. Orbit Journal 1 (3).
van de Poel I (2012) The relation between forward-looking and backward looking responsibility. In: Vincent N, Van de Poel I, Van de Hoven J (Eds) Moral Responsibility, Beyond Free Will & Determinism. Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1878-4_3
van de Poel I, Asveld L, Flipse S, Klaassen P, Scholten V, Yaghmaei E (2017) Company Strategies for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI): A Conceptual Model. Sustainability 9 (11): 2045. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112045
von Schomberg R (2012) Prospects for technology assessment in a framework of responsible research and innovation. In:Dusseldorp M, Beecroft R (Eds) Technikfolgen abschätzen lehren. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 39-61. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-93468-6_2
von Schomberg R (2013) A vision of responsible research and innovation. In: Owen R, Bessant J, Heintz M (Eds). Responsible Innovation: Managing the Responsible Emergence of Science and Innovation in Society, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 51-74.