Business, Innovation and Responsibility

Foreword

By its very nature, the notion of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is focused on the world of research, and more specifically on the allocation of project funding by European or national funding bodies, as in the case of the Netherlands, where considerable importance has been accorded to this theme. RRI expresses new requirements in terms of the conduct of research projects. This is not intended to imply that certain forms of responsibility were not previously considered in the research process. Good science always involves the respect of certain responsibilities from scientific integrity to the respect of discipline-specific standards of excellence. These responsibilities should be seen alongside the desire to protect individuals (both in physical terms and in terms of personal data) involved or affected by certain processes, limit animal suffering or preserve the environment, for example. RRI is different in that it goes beyond the level of research projects and experiments, taking in a broader spectrum of responsibility. This is particularly applicable to certain emerging technologies, where there is a need to anticipate potential consequences. Research should not, therefore, be limited to questions of social and economic impact; it needs to be responsible in a broader sense. This extends from the social and environmental challenges that need to be taken into account (such as the European Grand Challenges) to considering the means of responding to these ...