Responsible Innovation

Innovation is at the centre of current economic policy in most nations, and yet report after report from learned societies such as the Royal Society have repeatedly asked for a more responsible approach to innovation, one that has been echoed by the public. At a time when we face a bewildering number of emerging technologies (such as nanotechnologies, geoengineering, whole genome sequencing, and next generation computing) the topic is extremely timely.

Responsible Innovation defines what this is, and brings together the issues, challenges and solutions in a constructive, accessible way.

The book introduces key themes from  academic and business literature to redefine our relationship with innovation and technology. Essentially multidisciplinary in nature, these include:

• Identifying and managing the risks of innovation in the present and future
• Building reflexive capacity into science and innovation to identify and manage the unanticipated wider impacts of innovation
• Opening up dialogue around innovation and emerging technologies to understand  wider acceptability and public concerns
• Regulation, governance and adaptive management
• Key questions regarding the concepts of responsibility, accountability and liability

Throughout the book, key aspects of Responsible Innovation are scrutinized, underpinned by current knowledge and using case studies / examples for illustration. It concludes with a forward look that pulls together the various fields of understanding and knowledge to ask “How do we ensure the responsible emergence of innovation in democratic society?”