A couple of weeks ago - on 6-7 December, 2021 - took place an international (virtual) conference on Technology in and for Society, organized by the OECD. During these two days, more than 650 participants joined from more than 60 countries around the world. 

The event brought together discussions on the transformative potential of emerging technology with the necessity of good governance. Participants asked "how can we innovate both more and well, i.e. within inclusive processes, with values at the centre, and with lasting positive impact?" The conference explored the values, design principles, and a possible practical agenda for leveraging good governance for critical sociotechnical transformations. 

An initial set of findings from the conference are set out below and over the coming weeks, the OECD will prepare a conference report to help inform their future work and efforts to meet the urgent needs of policymakers and citizens.

The SeeRRI project has worked tirelessly for three years to find a framework that allows territories to put Responsible Research and Innovation principles at the core of their smart specialisation stratregy. Financed by Horizon2020, the project has piloted its process in three different territories: B30 (Spain), Lower Austria, and Nordland (Norway), and has counted on the participation of twelve partner organisations from five different countries. 

As it is now coming to an end, the SeeRRI project will culminate in the Final Conference “Bringing RRI into Regional Planning: From Theory to SeeRRI”, which will take place in the beautiful modernist building “Casa Convalescència” in Barcelona on the 29th and 30th of September. The Conference will bring together policymakers, regional stakeholders, researchers, members of SeeRRI and related projects, EU officials, citizens interested in the future of Europe, and inspiring guest speakers for two days of knowledge-sharing and lively debates about the future of responsible regional planning and responsible research and innovation (RRI) in Europe and beyond.

(*) Post last updated the 27th of May 2021 - link to the recording of the webinar has been added

The LIVING INNOVATION project brings together 14 partners from all over Europe, including major industry leaders, civil society and research organizations to co-develop more responsible, inclusive and sustainable approaches to innovation in the areas of smart homes and smart health. The participation of "la Caixa" Foundation in the project guarantees the link and efficient transfer of learnings between LIV_IN and RRI Tools. 

LIV_IN has created a virtual community platform and launched different joint actions meant to serve as an interactive space for discussion, knowledge exchange and collaboration, open to experts and practitioners.

In this context Dialogik has launched an online working group on inclusive innovation and is organizing a series of workshops. The fisrt one was focused on co-creation with families. The second one will be taking place on May 25th and will be focused on co-creation with blind and visually impaired people.

Two cases will be presented, the experience by the Siemens Accessibility Competence Center conducting several co-creation workshops with blind and visually impaired people in the context of LIV_IN, and the "Sensory Assistive Technologies for Impaired Persons" project, an initiative by the IIT, which is part of the RRI Tools collection of inspiring practices

How to include blind & visually impaired people in innovation | webinar on May 25th 2021 (16:00 – 17:30 CEST)

(*) Recording of the webinar is now online - see here

Presenting two cases of involving blind and visually impaired people, you can explore how co-creation with experts and citizens works and learn why inclusive innovation is worth considering

(*) Post last updated on June 3rd 2021 - the detailed agenda of the event has been added

CONTEXT

Traditionally the innovation process has been driven by the industry, the public sector and/or research. However, increasingly, it is acknowledged that actors from the sector of civil society may bring valuable knowledge to innovation and it is becoming necessary to include these undervalued actors in order to let innovative solutions flourish.

Models like Open Innovation 2.0, Mode 3 or Quadruple Helix (QH) innovation provide theoretical frames for cross sector collaboration that incorporates civil society. The idea of these inclusive innovation models is the following: by bringing different voices together in new types of collaborations, blind spots are avoided because every actor has specific competences and focus points. Also, it is assumed that with an active co-creation process with civil society it is possible
to find more holistic and appropriate solutions.

The RiConfigure project has been dedicated to empirically investigate such actions and to make cross-sectoral collaborations thrive and overcome the challenges that the actors might face.

ABOUT THE EVENT

The RiConfigure final event is an open online event that serve a double purpose. On the one hand, it brings to the public the main results of the project in gaining a more realistic understanding of real-life Quadruple Helix Collaborations (QHCs).  On the other hand, the final event aims to create a space to discuss the roles QH may have in national and EU Research & Innovation landscapes and particularly for the Horizon Europe (HE) Programme.

All participants will be involved in co-creating an agenda on future research directions, policy improvements and actions to be taken to make QHCs progress from a normative concept to a well-established social practice in the context of the forthcoming HE framework.

(*) Post last updated the 27th of May 2021 - link to the recording of the webinar has been added

The LIVING INNOVATION project brings together 14 partners from all over Europe, including major industry leaders, civil society and research organizations to co-develop more responsible, inclusive and sustainable approaches to innovation in the areas of smart homes and smart health. The participation of "la Caixa" Foundation in the project guarantees the link and efficient transfer of learnings between LIV_IN and RRI Tools. 

LIV_IN has created a virtual community platform and launched different joint actions meant to serve as an interactive space for discussion, knowledge exchange and collaboration, open to experts and practitioners.

In this context De Monfort University & "la Caixa" Foundation have joined forces to organize an online dialogue to explore the future of Public Health and Responsible Innovation in a post-Covid Europe - that will be taking place on May 20th (14.00-17.20 CEST)

(*) Recording of the webinar is now online - see here

As Covid-19 will remain a part of our lives for the next years, the role of public and preventative health has been rarely so important. Digital tools and technologies offer great opportunities to the healthcare sector. However, the challenges and risks in this aspect have to be considered critically.
 
The webinar will focus on:

• the challenges and dilemmas for Responsible Innovation in the public health sector;
• bringing together community and commercial perspectives;
• helping to chart a responsible and sustainable way forward for innovation in public health.

A couple of weeks ago - on 6-7 December, 2021 - took place an international (virtual) conference on Technology in and for Society, organized by the OECD. During these two days, more than 650 participants joined from more than 60 countries around the world. 

The event brought together discussions on the transformative potential of emerging technology with the necessity of good governance. Participants asked "how can we innovate both more and well, i.e. within inclusive processes, with values at the centre, and with lasting positive impact?" The conference explored the values, design principles, and a possible practical agenda for leveraging good governance for critical sociotechnical transformations. 

An initial set of findings from the conference are set out below and over the coming weeks, the OECD will prepare a conference report to help inform their future work and efforts to meet the urgent needs of policymakers and citizens.

The SeeRRI project has worked tirelessly for three years to find a framework that allows territories to put Responsible Research and Innovation principles at the core of their smart specialisation stratregy. Financed by Horizon2020, the project has piloted its process in three different territories: B30 (Spain), Lower Austria, and Nordland (Norway), and has counted on the participation of twelve partner organisations from five different countries. 

As it is now coming to an end, the SeeRRI project will culminate in the Final Conference “Bringing RRI into Regional Planning: From Theory to SeeRRI”, which will take place in the beautiful modernist building “Casa Convalescència” in Barcelona on the 29th and 30th of September. The Conference will bring together policymakers, regional stakeholders, researchers, members of SeeRRI and related projects, EU officials, citizens interested in the future of Europe, and inspiring guest speakers for two days of knowledge-sharing and lively debates about the future of responsible regional planning and responsible research and innovation (RRI) in Europe and beyond.

(*) Post last updated the 27th of May 2021 - link to the recording of the webinar has been added

The LIVING INNOVATION project brings together 14 partners from all over Europe, including major industry leaders, civil society and research organizations to co-develop more responsible, inclusive and sustainable approaches to innovation in the areas of smart homes and smart health. The participation of "la Caixa" Foundation in the project guarantees the link and efficient transfer of learnings between LIV_IN and RRI Tools. 

LIV_IN has created a virtual community platform and launched different joint actions meant to serve as an interactive space for discussion, knowledge exchange and collaboration, open to experts and practitioners.

In this context Dialogik has launched an online working group on inclusive innovation and is organizing a series of workshops. The fisrt one was focused on co-creation with families. The second one will be taking place on May 25th and will be focused on co-creation with blind and visually impaired people.

Two cases will be presented, the experience by the Siemens Accessibility Competence Center conducting several co-creation workshops with blind and visually impaired people in the context of LIV_IN, and the "Sensory Assistive Technologies for Impaired Persons" project, an initiative by the IIT, which is part of the RRI Tools collection of inspiring practices

How to include blind & visually impaired people in innovation | webinar on May 25th 2021 (16:00 – 17:30 CEST)

(*) Recording of the webinar is now online - see here

Presenting two cases of involving blind and visually impaired people, you can explore how co-creation with experts and citizens works and learn why inclusive innovation is worth considering

(*) Post last updated on June 3rd 2021 - the detailed agenda of the event has been added

CONTEXT

Traditionally the innovation process has been driven by the industry, the public sector and/or research. However, increasingly, it is acknowledged that actors from the sector of civil society may bring valuable knowledge to innovation and it is becoming necessary to include these undervalued actors in order to let innovative solutions flourish.

Models like Open Innovation 2.0, Mode 3 or Quadruple Helix (QH) innovation provide theoretical frames for cross sector collaboration that incorporates civil society. The idea of these inclusive innovation models is the following: by bringing different voices together in new types of collaborations, blind spots are avoided because every actor has specific competences and focus points. Also, it is assumed that with an active co-creation process with civil society it is possible
to find more holistic and appropriate solutions.

The RiConfigure project has been dedicated to empirically investigate such actions and to make cross-sectoral collaborations thrive and overcome the challenges that the actors might face.

ABOUT THE EVENT

The RiConfigure final event is an open online event that serve a double purpose. On the one hand, it brings to the public the main results of the project in gaining a more realistic understanding of real-life Quadruple Helix Collaborations (QHCs).  On the other hand, the final event aims to create a space to discuss the roles QH may have in national and EU Research & Innovation landscapes and particularly for the Horizon Europe (HE) Programme.

All participants will be involved in co-creating an agenda on future research directions, policy improvements and actions to be taken to make QHCs progress from a normative concept to a well-established social practice in the context of the forthcoming HE framework.

(*) Post last updated the 27th of May 2021 - link to the recording of the webinar has been added

The LIVING INNOVATION project brings together 14 partners from all over Europe, including major industry leaders, civil society and research organizations to co-develop more responsible, inclusive and sustainable approaches to innovation in the areas of smart homes and smart health. The participation of "la Caixa" Foundation in the project guarantees the link and efficient transfer of learnings between LIV_IN and RRI Tools. 

LIV_IN has created a virtual community platform and launched different joint actions meant to serve as an interactive space for discussion, knowledge exchange and collaboration, open to experts and practitioners.

In this context De Monfort University & "la Caixa" Foundation have joined forces to organize an online dialogue to explore the future of Public Health and Responsible Innovation in a post-Covid Europe - that will be taking place on May 20th (14.00-17.20 CEST)

(*) Recording of the webinar is now online - see here

As Covid-19 will remain a part of our lives for the next years, the role of public and preventative health has been rarely so important. Digital tools and technologies offer great opportunities to the healthcare sector. However, the challenges and risks in this aspect have to be considered critically.
 
The webinar will focus on:

• the challenges and dilemmas for Responsible Innovation in the public health sector;
• bringing together community and commercial perspectives;
• helping to chart a responsible and sustainable way forward for innovation in public health.