Responsible Innovation

Technology has become a main determinant of the quality of life of individuals and the quality of society. New technologies contribute to human well-being, but they may also introduce considerable risks to humans, the environment and future generations. We therefore have every reason to ascertain that the new technologies we develop as a society respect the values we hold dear. Various governments, companies and research funding agencies have now recognized this need for responsible innovation. Responsible innovation can, as a concept, be understood in a more substantive and in a more procedural sense. As a procedural notion, responsible innovation refers to a process of innovation that meets certain procedural norms, like anticipation, reflexivity, responsiveness and inclusiveness.

As a substantive notion, responsible innovation refers to a process of innovation which results in certain products, i.e. innovative technologies, which reflect important moral values. This includes values like, health, safety, human welfare, sustainability, justice, inclusiveness, democracy, privacy, trust, and autonomy.

In this course we will discuss the concept of responsible innovation and how it might be understood. We will discuss tools the approach of Value Sensitive Design (VSD) as a way to put in practice the more substantive notion of Responsible Innovation. We discuss each of the four procedural dimensions: anticipation, reflexivity, responsiveness and inclusiveness. For each, we will look at possible approaches, possibilities, and pitfalls.

Lectures

The following topics will be covered in the lectures:

- The notion of Responsible Innovation (RI)

- Notions of moral responsibility and for individuals and corporations/organizations

- The approach of value Sensitive Design (VSD)

- The four procedural dimensions of RI: anticipation, reflexivity, responsiveness and inclusiveness

- How stakeholder publics are formed and how to engage publics in participatory processes for RI

There is no exam for this course. Instead, assessment takes the form of several required assignments throughout the course. These are described and the weights of each assignment are indicated below.

(A)

25% - weekly quizzes (in class, no option to retake missed quizzes. Best 5 out of 6, graded individually)

(B)

15% - participation (engagement in class meetings, feedback on other groups' presentations, graded individually)

(C)

(graded per small group: 4-5 students)

20% - small group presentation

30% - final presentation (group poster) en writeup

10% - stakeholder feedback

Final Grades

The final grade is calculated:

((A) x .25) + ((B) x .2) + (small group presentation x .2) + (final group presentation en writeup x .3) + (stakeholder feedback x .1)

To pass the course, the final grade has to be 5.75 or higher. All partial grades have to be 5.0 or higher.

There is no resit because there is no exam. However, partial grades are valid for A and B and can be carried from one year to the next if students do not pass or complete all parts of the course. (Parts of C cannot be carried over: this means that students need to complete all parts of C in one year.) Carrying grades into future years is only allowed for insufficient or incomplete grades, not to improve passing grades.