Responsible Research and Innovation in Engineering and Technology Management: Concept, Metrics and Assessment

Author(s):  
Lukasz Nazarko ◽  
Borisas Melnikas
Author(s):  
Lukasz Nazarko

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a cross-cutting theme for the European Union Horizon 2020 programme. On one hand it may be seen as a burden for the R&D community but on the other, as a source of innovation and creativity aligned with the values of the society. The paper attempts to explore the possibilities of making Responsible Research and Innovation a framework that strengthens and deepens the relationship of a business with the clients and the rest of its environment. Special attention is paid to the relationship between RRI, Future-Oriented Technology Analysis and Technology Management. RRI principles are studies from the perspective of an enterprise.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Klimburg-Witjes ◽  
Frederik C. Huettenrauch

AbstractCurrent European innovation and security policies are increasingly channeled into efforts to address the assumed challenges that threaten European societies. A field in which this has become particularly salient is digitized EU border management. Here, the framework of responsible research and innovation (RRI) has recently been used to point to the alleged sensitivity of political actors towards the contingent dimensions of emerging security technologies. RRI, in general, is concerned with societal needs and the engagement and inclusion of various stakeholder groups in the research and innovation processes, aiming to anticipate undesired consequences of and identifying socially acceptable alternatives for emerging technologies. However, RRI has also been criticized as an industry-driven attempt to gain societal legitimacy for new technologies. In this article, we argue that while RRI evokes a space where different actors enter co-creative dialogues, it lays bare the specific challenges of governing security innovation in socially responsible ways. Empirically, we draw on the case study of BODEGA, the first EU funded research project to apply the RRI framework to the field of border security. We show how stakeholders involved in the project represent their work in relation to RRI and the resulting benefits and challenges they face. The paper argues that applying the framework to the field of (border) security lays bare its limitations, namely that RRI itself embodies a political agenda, conceals alternative experiences by those on whom security is enacted upon and that its key propositions of openness and transparency are hardly met in practice due to confidentiality agreements. Our hope is to contribute to work on RRI and emerging debates about how the concept can (or cannot) be contextualized for the field of security—a field that might be more in need than any other to consider the ethical dimension of its activities.


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