Responsible innovation

Contemporary society demands that organizations include responsible innovation in their innovation processes. Responsible innovation can be seen as a way to achieve new market opportunities without creating new social and environmental problems. Therefore, responsible innovation incorporates research and product innovation to achieve social and environmental benefits with the continuous involvement of society in the entire development process in a transparent manner. This concept has promoted a broader perspective of innovation, revealing new roles that innovation can achieve and the role of actors in society. In this sense, responsible innovation aims to include stakeholders from the early stages of research and development. The inclusion of different stakeholders aims to increase the possibilities of anticipating and discerning how research and innovation may or may not benefit society and prevent any negative consequences from occurring. 

Responsible innovation is a challenge faced by any organization, association, or individual. Meeting this challenge is necessarily complex and multifaceted because it involves others and requires different dimensions to be structured in a consistent and interconnected way. It is assumed that the incorporation of social and ethical aspects in innovation allows reducing the negative impact on innovation and, consequently, will lead to more responsible and sustainable innovations. Having a process for assessing and measuring innovation contributes to responsible innovation being integrated into the business strategy and can be continuously integrated and improved.

Responsible innovation assessment tools (RIATs) must include a set of dimensions and sub-dimensions that integrate different perspectives such as inclusiveness, reflection, transparency, ethics, environmental, economic, among others. It should be noted, therefore, that the measurement of responsible innovation cannot be restricted to just one dimension and must include individuals with interdisciplinary skills in this process.