scholarly journals Institutional changes through Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) implementation in prospective cohort studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Barbosa Mendes ◽  
Natalie Terzikhan ◽  
Pawel Sowa ◽  
Lukasz Kiszkiel ◽  
Robert Kondracki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Cohort Studies ◽  
Learning Organizations ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Responsible Research And Innovation ◽  
Institutional Changes ◽  
Citizen Engagement ◽  
European Level ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Responsible Research

Purpose: We provide a new multifaceted paradigm to implement Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in medical sciences on the European level. This paper presents a roadmap from the perspective of cohort studies to combine RRI and crowdsourcing as converging approaches to promote inclusive innovation and citizen engagement in cohort research. Design: The learning organizations are three population-based cohort studies: Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) in Germany, the Rotterdam Study in the Netherlands and the Bialystok Polish Longitudinal University Study (PLUS) in Poland. These cohorts comprise a total of 28,000 participants and in total 58 years of data (start in 1997, 1990 and 2019, respectively). Firstly, we outline the envisaged mechanism of implementing RRI using a crowdsourcing methodology. Secondly, we present a (theoretical) model for sustainably implementing RRI in institutions, which will be applied as part of the JoinUs4Health project (01/21-12/23). Finally, we discuss barriers and opportunities encountered by cohort studies on the path towards a learning organization.Findings: We formulated an institutional change roadmap that can be used by partners in and outside the consortium with the aim to implement RRI practices. From the strategies outlined in the roadmap, we focused on three key aspects of the project that will benefit organizational learning in the participating institutions: 1) digital infrastructure for crowdsourcing; 2) local citizen engagement in science; 3) formal and non-formal science education for a range of stakeholder groups.Originality: The outputs of this paper provide a foundation to promote all disciplines of a learning organization based on education, team learning, dialogue, open discussion and systematic promotion of diversity on a European level. The engagement of various societal stakeholder groups in a co-creative manner and the outline of a roadmap and theoretical model provide a valuable basis to widen the degree of diversity in scientific learning organizations. The envisioned institutional changes mutually benefit society as a learning system as well as scientific partners as learning organizations. For societal actors, enhanced access to scientific skills and resources and empowerment to influence science are likely to strengthen the capacity of critical thinking and reflection across different societal groups and strata. For scientific partners, expected positive effects related to citizen input and commitment to participate in the cohort studies (enhanced response) may provide a competitive advantage over other cohorts.

scholarly journals Contextualizing Security Innovation: Responsible Research and Innovation at the Smart Border?

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Klimburg-Witjes ◽  
Frederik C. Huettenrauch
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Border Security ◽  
Responsible Research And Innovation ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Security Technologies ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
Responsible Research

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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