Elsevier

Research Policy

Volume 42, Issue 9, November 2013, Pages 1568-1580
Research Policy

Developing a framework for responsible innovation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2013.05.008Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • The democratic governance of emerging science and innovation is a major challenge.

  • We describe a framework for responsible innovation that addresses social and ethical concerns.

  • The framework has four dimensions: anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion and responsiveness.

  • We describe the application of this framework to one geoengineering research project.

  • We conclude that such a framework can underpin a practical and systematic approach to governance.

Abstract

The governance of emerging science and innovation is a major challenge for contemporary democracies. In this paper we present a framework for understanding and supporting efforts aimed at ‘responsible innovation’. The framework was developed in part through work with one of the first major research projects in the controversial area of geoengineering, funded by the UK Research Councils. We describe this case study, and how this became a location to articulate and explore four integrated dimensions of responsible innovation: anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion and responsiveness. Although the framework for responsible innovation was designed for use by the UK Research Councils and the scientific communities they support, we argue that it has more general application and relevance.

Keywords

Responsible innovation
Governance
Emerging technologies
Ethics
Geoengineering

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