Abstract
Responsible research and innovation (RRI) is a newly emerging governance framework, promoted initially by public funders of research. This chapter explains the concept by defining its individual elements (responsibility, research and innovation). Three case studies are given: one from South Africa, where indigenous community involvement provided a significant lead for a health innovation; one from Germany, where end-user involvement in the innovation process led to faster and less contentious market entry; and one from India, where an innovation significantly improved the lives of the poorest girls and women. The concepts of responsiveness, inclusiveness and providing a societal good are illustrated through the case studies, mapped against policy and academic work on RRI and derived from the earlier discussions of responsibility.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
An elementary particle in physics.
- 2.
For instance, Raz (2001) argues that people are responsible for their own biases and ‘other distortions of their cognitive functioning’ and therefore are also responsible for failed judgements coloured by bias. He calls this epistemic responsibility.
- 3.
Grimm, author of Shopping hilft die Welt verbessern (2009).
- 4.
On 24 April 2013, an eight-storey commercial building collapsed in Savar, near Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The building hosted mostly garment factories; the accident killed 1129 people and left many more with serious disabilities (Butler 2013).
- 5.
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement with 180 parties. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival (http://www.cites.org).
- 6.
Employment tribunals are set up by the UK government specifically in order to resolve disputes between employers and employees over employment rights.
- 7.
Contract law is a framework for regulating voluntary exchange transactions, such as employment contracts. One may wonder why legal and contractual responsibilities should be separated. However, the distinction is not only routinely made (Werner 2013:41), but helpful in untangling the complexity of obligations companies face (see next section).
- 8.
For an excellent argument on moving care and empathy into the centre of ethical thinking, see Slote (2007).
- 9.
See, for instance, Argumedo and Pimbert (2006).
- 10.
An arid region extending through Namibia and South Africa.
- 11.
5-HT, also known as serotonin, is a hormone and neurotransmitter, an imbalance of which is likely to play a role in depression. When its reuptake is inhibited, more serotonin is available within the body.
- 12.
This is an important point in dealing with benefit sharing (see Wynberg et al. 2009).
- 13.
Personal communication from Nigel Gericke to Doris Schroeder, 2 April 2015.
- 14.
Importantly, the San representatives decided that the income from this benefit-sharing agreement was to be shared fifty-fifty with the two communities in Namaqualand that had provided the information on the addiction potential of Sceletium.
- 15.
All information for this case study was taken from Responsible-Industry (n.d.).
- 16.
In rural India, girls are likely to drop out of school with the onset of menstruation.
- 17.
Income distribution data through personal communication from Thomas Pogge based on 2011 data from Branko Milanovic, World Bank. In 5Â % steps, the shares are as follows: 0.130, 0.199, 0.248, 0.297, 0.349, 0.413, 0.493, 0.600, 0.741, 0.920, 1.167, 1.515, 1.976, 2.587, 3.396, 4.514, 6.678, 11.520, 19.487 and 42.768Â %; world population at the time 7 billion.
- 18.
It has been argued that ‘base of the pyramid’ would be a more politically correct term. However, since the majority of authors use the term ‘bottom of the pyramid’, we have chosen to do so as well, for consistency with the existing literature.
- 19.
All information in the table from Prahalad (2014:52–71).
- 20.
For more information on corporate responsibility, see Chap. 3.
References
AFRIpads (n.d.) AFRIpads [blog]. http://afripads.com/blog/. Accessed 5 May 2015
Ahamed F (2012) Improving social compliance in Bangladesh’s readymade garments industry. Labour Manage Dev 13. http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/lmd/article/viewFile/2269/3148. Accessed 3 May 2015
Alexander R (2012) Where are you on the global pay scale? BBC News Magazine, 29 Mar 2012. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17512040. Accessed 5 May 2015
Argumedo A, Pimbert M (2006) Protecting indigenous knowledge against biopiracy in the Andes. International Institute for Environment and Development, London
Barnett A (2001) In Africa the Hoodia cactus keeps men alive. Now its secret is ‘stolen’ to make us thin. The Observer, 17 Jun 2001. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jun/17/internationaleducationnews.businessofresearch. Accessed 5 May 2015
Berlin I (1969) Four essays on liberty. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Butler S (2013) Bangladeshi factory deaths spark action among high-street clothing chains. The Observer, 23 Jun 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/23/rana-plaza-factory-disaster-bangladesh-primark. Accessed 3 May 2015
CBD (2010) Nagoya protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization to the convention on biological diversity. http://www.cbd.int/abs/. Accessed 3 May 2015
CITES (n.d.) List of contracting parties. http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/parties/chronolo.php. Accessed 3 May 2015
Crandall A, Otieno A, Mutuku L, Colaço J, Grosskurth J, Otieno P (2012) Mobile phone usage at the Kenyan base of the pyramid. Final report, iHub Research, Research Solutions Africa. https://blogs.worldbank.org/ic4d/files/ic4d/mobile_phone_usage_kenyan_base_pyramid.pdf. Accessed 5 May 2015
DEPweb (2001) What is sustainable development? The World Bank Group. http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/sd.html. Accessed 5 May 2015
Dusseldorp M (2013) Technikfolgenabschätzung. In: Grunwald A (ed) Handbuch Technikethik. Verlag JB Metzler, Stuttgart, pp 194–399
Esbenshade J (2004) Monitoring sweatshops: workers, consumers, and the global apparel industry. Temple University Press, Philadelphia
European Commission (n.d.) Science with and for society. Horizon 2020: The EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/science-and-society. Accessed 5 May 2015
European Parliament (2014) Regulation (EU) No 511/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 Apr 2014 on compliance measures for users from the Nagoya protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization in the union. Off J Eur Union. L 150/59. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32014R0511&from=EN. Accessed 3 May 2015
Feldman F (1991) Some puzzles about the evil of death. Philos Rev 100:205–227
Fisher E, Mitcham C, Mahajan R (2006) Midstream modulation of technology: governance from within. Bull Sci Technol Soc 26:485–496. doi:10.1177/0270467606295402
Grimm F (2009) Shopping hilft die Welt verbessern (Shopping helps improve the world). Mosaik Verlag, München
Grimm F (2015) Vom Irrsinn, der als Normalität durchgeht. Schrot und Korn, January 2015:58. http://schrotundkorn.de/lebenumwelt/lesen/vom-irrsinn-der-als-normalitaet-durchgeht.html. Accessed 3 May 2015
Gupta R (2014) The 100 most influential people: Arunachalam Muruganantham. Time, 23 Apr 2014. http://time.com/70861/arunachalam-muruganantham-2014-time-100/. Accessed 5 May 2015
Guston D, Sarewitz D (2002) Real-time technology assessment. Technol Soc 24:93–109
Hindu (2012) Stress on media’s role in fighting bio-piracy. The Hindu, 6 Mar 2012. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/stress-on-medias-role-in-fighting-biopiracy/article2965633.ece. Accessed 5 May 2015
Kant I (1998) Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Knapp A (2012) How much does it cost to find a Higgs boson? Forbes, 5 Jul 2012. http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/07/05/how-much-does-it-cost-to-find-a-higgs-boson/. Accessed 10 Jan 2015
Locke J (1690) The second treatise of civil government http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/Locke/second/second-frame.html. Accessed 3 May 2015
Make it in Germany (n.d.) Automotive engineering. Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Federal Ministry of Labout and Sodial Affairs, Bundesagentur für Arbeit. http://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en/for-qualified-professionals/working/industry-profiles/automotive-engineering. Accessed 3 May 2015
Miller S (2011) Collective responsibility and global poverty. In: Boylan M (ed) The morality and global justice reader. Westview Press, Philadelphia, pp 135–151
Nagel T (1979) Death. In: Nagel T (ed) Mortal questions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 1–10
Nussbaum M (2000) Women and human development: the capabilities approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Oldntec (n.d.) Welcome to oldntec. http://www.oldntec.de/en/. Accessed 5 May 2015
Owen R, Stilgoe J, Macnaghten P, Gorman M, Fisher E, Guston D (2013) A framework for responsible innovation. In: Owen R, Bessant J, Heintz M (eds) Responsible innovation: managing the responsible emergence of science and innovation in society. John Wiley, London, pp 27–50
Ozolina Z, Mitcham C, Schroeder D, Mordini E, Crowley J, McCarthy P, von Schomberg R (2012) Ethical and regulatory challenges to science and research policy at the global level. Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission, Brussels
PACITA (n.d.) European stakeholder involvement in ageing society. Parliaments and Civil Society in Technology Assessment. http://www.pacitaproject.eu/ageing-society/. Accessed 5 May 2015
Pansera M, Owen R (2014) Framing resources-constrained innovation at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’: insights from an ethnographic case study in rural Bangladesh. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 92:300–311
Porter M, Kramer M (2011), Creating shared value. Harvard Business Review, January-February 2011. http://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating-shared-value. Accessed 5 May 2015
Prahalad CK, Hart SL (2002) The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. Strategy + Business 26. http://www.stuartlhart.com/sites/stuartlhart.com/files/Prahalad_Hart_2001_SB.pdf. Accessed 5 May 2015
Prahalad CK (2014) The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid: eradicating poverty through profits. Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River
Raz J (2001) Engaging reason. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Responsible-Industry (n.d.) Results of the bottom-up call for case study descriptions. http://www.responsible-industry.eu/activities/bu-casestudies-results. Accessed 5 May 2015
Rogers-Hayden F, Pidgeon N (2007) Moving engagement ‘upstream’? Nanotechnologies and the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering’s inquiry. Publ Underst Sci 16(3):345–364. doi:10.1177/0963662506076141
Schot J (1992) Constructive technology assessment and technology dynamics: the case of technology dynamics. Sci Technol Hum Values 17:36–56
Schroeder D (2011) Does the pharmaceutical sector have a co-responsibility to secure the human right to health? Camb Q Healthc Ethics 20(2):298–308
Schwartländer J (1974) Verantwortung. In: Krings H, Baumgartner HB, Wild C (eds) Handbuch philosophischer Grundbegriffe. Koesel Verlag, München, pp 1577–1588
Sen A (1992) Inequality re-examined. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Shams S, Birkenstock G (2012) Bangladesh factory tragedy: Who’s responsible? Deutsche Welle, 26 November 2012. http://www.dw.de/bangladesh-factory-tragedy-whos-responsible/a-16406189. Accessed 3 May 2015
Singer P (2009) The life you can save. Text Publishing Company, Melbourne
Slote M (2007) The ethics of care and empathy. Routledge, London
Stahl B, Eden G, Jirotka M (2013) Responsible research and innovation in information and communication technology: identifying and engaging with the ethical implications of ICTs. In: Owen R, Bessant J, Heintz M (eds) Responsible innovation. John Wiley, London, pp 199–218
Transparency International (2015) Corruption by country/territory: Bangladesh. http://www.transparency.org/country#BGD. Accessed 3 May 2015
UNEP (1992) Convention on Biological Diversity: Text and annexes. United Nations Environment Programme, Chatelaine, Switzerland. http://www.cbd.int/. Accessed 3 May 2015
van den Hoven J (2013) Value sensitive design and responsible innovation. In: Owen R, Bessant J, Heintz M (eds) responsible innovation. John Wiley, London, pp 75–83
van den Hoven J, Jacob K, Nielsen L, Roure F, Rudze L, Stilgoe J (2013) Options for strengthening responsible research and innovation. Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission, Brussels
Venema V (2014) The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary. BBC News Magazine, 4 Mar 2014. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26260978. Accessed 5 May 2015
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. John Wiley, London, pp 51–74
Werner M (2013) Verantwortung. In: Grunwald A (ed) Handbuch Technikethik. Verlag JB Metzler, Stuttgart, pp 38–43
Wilsdon J, Wynne B, Stilgoe J (2005) The public value of science. Demos, London
Wynberg R, Schroeder D, Chennells R (2009) Towards best practice for community consent and benefit sharing. In: Wynberg R, Schroeder D, Chennells R (eds) Indigenous peoples, consent and benefit sharing. Springer, Berlin, pp 335–350
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schroeder, D., Iatridis, K. (2016). The Basics of Responsible Research and Innovation. In: Responsible Research and Innovation in Industry. SpringerBriefs in Research and Innovation Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21693-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21693-5_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21692-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21693-5
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)