RRI - The heart of iResponse

Harald Throne-Holst at SIFO explains what RRI is, why it is important and how it is implemented in the iResponse project. "We need to interact with ‘the crowd’, to earn their trust, to handle and analyse their data in the best possible way, and to build a sustainable solution for the future, will it be imperative to implement socially robust technology development"

Crowdsourcing is a novel way of obtaining data from a large group of people, primarily based on online tools and the participation of communities. To assist in the project’s efforts of developing and assessing socially responsible ICT-based tools for this end, we will employ the principles behind RRI – Responsible Research and Innovation.

The complete title of the iResponse-project is Social Responsible Crowdsourcing for Environmental Research and Decision-Making. So, at the very core of our iResponse-project lies social responsibility. What is it, and how does it connect to the broader trends in Norwegian and European research?

For the success of our project, we need to interact with ‘the crowd’

For the success of our project, we need to interact with ‘the crowd’, which is Norwegian citizens and consumers. To earn their trust, to handle and analyse their data in the best possible way, and to build a sustainable solution for the future, will it be imperative to implement socially robust technology development.

The building blocks we have envisioned to achieve this in the iResponse project, is to involve stakeholders before, during and at the end of the project. What do they see as the important challenges and the exciting possibilities of our endeavor?

Further, we want to ensure that we are transparent in our research process and the accompanying decisions: We want to be open about what the rationale and reasons were for the choices we made. Another pillar is to build solutions that actually respond to and target the challenges the citizens, the consumers, the policy makers – the society as a whole, face on our path to a sustainable future. As such the project aims to address the needs and concerns from Norwegian society.

We aim to make substantial efforts to understand the needs of the citizens and the consumers

We aim to make substantial efforts to understand the needs of the citizens and the consumers in this respect, and based on that how can we motivate them to contribute, and learn, from the tools we are developing. To achieve these goals, the iResponse-project is based on the fundamentals of RRI.

RRI – Responsible Research and Innovation is a term that currently is very much in vogue among policy makers, civil society organizations and academics. The term is still developing; however, there appear to be a consensus on certain aspects it entails:

1)      Inclusion of and mobilise a wide variety of stakeholders throughout research and innovation processes in a mutual learning process

2)      Responsiveness – Research and innovation should take up and adopt the needs and concerns of the European society. This also seen as a precondition for new and emerging technologies to be adopted they have to align with societal needs and values.

3)      Co-responsibility – The research and innovation should be transparent and all actors and stakeholders, including scientists should acknowledge that they have a co-responsibility ethical, regulatory and societal needs and concerns

4)      Reflections over ethics –In continuation of the previous point 3, ethical reflections must be a part of research and innovation processes. Important in this context is that actors and stakeholders can see that such endeavors are productive, constructive and fun.

The danger is that RRI stays disconnected from those that actually perform research and innovation

One of the challenges of RRI is that term is most actively discussed and among policy makers and academics (social scientist and humanistic scholars), apparently without too much thought of including and involving those at the laboratory floor – the natural scientists in both universities and businesses. The danger then is that RRI stays in these circles, disconnected from those that actually perform research and innovation.

Fortunately, in the iResponse-project these challenges are addressed head on. They are addressed in the original project application. All partners acknowledge the need to address these points, although it is not always evident how they can be realized and interpreted in a practical setting.

Harald Throne-Holst

About the Author: Harald Throne-Holst is the leader of the Work Package "Social Response and Responsibility" in the iResponse project. He is head of research at SIFO, National Institute for Consumer Research, working on governance of different types of technologies, sustainable consumption, and energy use. 

Twitter: @ThatRRIguy