Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a term used by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

's Framework Programmes to describe scientific research and technological development processes that take into account effects and potential impacts on the environment and society. It gained visibility around the year 2010, arising from predecessors including " ELSA" (Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects) studies prompted by the

Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a ...

. Various slightly different definitions of RRI emerged, but all of them agree that societal challenges should be a primary focus of scientific research, and moreover they agree upon the methods by which that goal should be achieved. RRI involves holding research to high ethical standards, ensuring

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

in the scientific community, investing policy-makers with the responsibility to avoid harmful effects of innovation, engaging the communities affected by innovation and ensuring that they have the knowledge necessary to understand the implications by furthering

science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some ...

and

Open Access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...

. Organizations that adopted the RRI terminology include the

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences, mainly to universi ...

. "

Horizon 2020 The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europea ...

", the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

's program for science funding announced in 2013, made RRI a main focus. The foundations for this were laid in the program "Societally Responsible Innovating", which was an initiative of Netherlands Organization for Scientific research and six ministerial departments in the Netherlands. The 2005-2007 preparations for this program coined the phrase “Responsible Innovation” and designed a program with several calls for proposals. The core idea of Responsible Research and Innovation in the EU Horizon 2020 Program was inspired by this program. In 2014, it was suggested that the "broader impacts" criteria of the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

were, despite certain dissimilarities, in effect coming to resemble RRI standards. There are many industries and services that involve with research and development and specifically highlight the need and importance of responsible research to make that development most beneficial to all of its stake holders including the society linked with it. Commercial agriculture is one such industry among others that is heavily depended on responsible research development. One area in which RRI principles are being applied is

quantum computing Quantum computing is a type of computation whose operations can harness the phenomena of quantum mechanics, such as superposition, interference, and entanglement. Devices that perform quantum computations are known as quantum computers. Though ...

. A research collaboration led by

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

within the

UK National Quantum Technologies Programme The UK National Quantum Technologies Programme (UKNQTP) is a programme set up by the UK government to translate academic work on quantum mechanics, and the effects of quantum superposition and quantum entanglement into new products and servic ...

aims to reveal how quantum computing can be socially and economically transformative, and to identify the potential downsides of the " disruption" it might bring about. Among the criticisms voiced about RRI, prominent concerns include the vagueness of the terminology, the possibility of discouraging

blue skies research Blue skies research (also called blue sky science) is scientific research in domains where "real-world" applications are not immediately apparent. It has been defined as "research without a clear goal" and "curiosity-driven science". It is someti ...

and the lack of sufficient practical reward for embracing RRI in a research culture based on competition and short-term contracts.

References

External links

Responsible Research and Innovation
at

EuroScience EuroScience (the founding organisation of ESOF, EuroScience Open Forum) is a pan-European grassroots organisation for the support and promotion of science and technology in Europe. The membership of EuroScience consists of individuals interested in ...

* {{cite web, url=http://res-agora.eu/rri-resources/ , title=RRI Resources , website=Res-AGorA , access-date=2018-11-14 Social responsibility Research and development