Research-Technology Management

Responsible Innovation for Emerging Technology: Navigating Ethics, Society, Diplomacy, and Sustainability

Research-Technology Management is seeking submissions for a special issue on how emerging technologies are responsibly developed, executed, and implemented to drive meaningful change and address grand challenges.

Rapid technological development in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, and quantum technology is reshaping industries and societies. These emerging technologies promise significant benefits and present solutions to complex challenges; however, they also raise important ethical, societal, and governance concerns (Carbajal-Pina and Acur 2024).

Responsible innovation is defined as “taking care of the future through collective stewardship of science and innovation in the present” (Stilgoe, Owen, and Macnaghten 2013, p. 1570). In doing so, responsible innovation seeks to make innovation processes more inclusive, ethical, and aligned with societal values by engaging diverse actors in every stage of the innovation process (Blok 2019). Innovation scholars have increasingly recognized responsible innovation’s relevance for businesses, providing a lens to align innovation strategies with ethical and sustainability goals (Lubberink et al. 2017; Owen et al. 2013). Responsible innovation frameworks advocate for processes that ensure companies “do no harm” while actively seeking to “do good” (Voegtlin and Scherer 2017; Voegtlin et al. 2022). This dual mandate of avoiding harm and fostering positive societal impact is particularly critical for emerging technologies, where unintended consequences and ethical dilemmas often remain poorly understood or inadequately addressed.

Emerging technologies evolve quickly, integrating interdisciplinary knowledge with high transformative potential. However, effective implementation requires a nuanced understanding of their economic, ethical, political, and societal impacts (Cammarano et al. 2023). Further, the pace at which these technologies develop often outpaces existing governance structures, creating gaps in regulation and oversight (Grinbaum and Groves 2013). These points highlight the urgency of embedding responsible innovation into innovation frameworks to ensure alignment with global ethical and sustainability goals.

This special issue seeks to examine practical opportunities and challenges for deploying these technologies responsibly across business, societal, and political domains. The goal is to bridge the gap between potential and practice by exploring case studies, action research, and best practices to demonstrate how emerging technologies are responsibly developed, executed, and implemented to drive meaningful change and address grand challenges. Further, by drawing on theoretical insights and lessons from practice, this special issue aims to explore how responsible innovation frameworks can be adapted to anticipate, assess, and address the complex risks and opportunities associated with emerging technologies. Analyzing “lessons learned” from successes and failures will illuminate ethical, socially responsible, and economically feasible strategies, contributing to future policies and standards for sustainable technological development.

Scholars, organizations, and policy makers recognize that embedding responsibility into innovation strategies is essential for navigating complex issues such as climate change, social inequality, and digital ethics (von Schomberg and Hankins 2019). This integration involves proactive stakeholder engagement, anticipating potential impacts, and reflexivity throughout the innovation process (Rip 2014). Recent research highlights the importance of inclusive governance and public participation in shaping innovations that align with societal values and needs (Lubberink et al. 2017). Furthermore, responsible innovation involves creating value for multiple stakeholders through products and services that not only avoid harm but also actively improve conditions for people and the planet, necessitating governance mechanisms that allocate value fairly among stakeholders (Bacq and Aguilera 2022). It also provides a crucial framework for tackling grand societal challenges, demanding reflexive and participative governance structures to assess both risks and contributions to urgent issues like climate change and inequality (Voegtlin et al. 2022).

We aim to foster a deeper understanding of the theories, practices, and methodologies that promote responsible innovation at the individual, organizational, and systemic levels. We invite scholars and practitioners from various disciplines and industries to contribute to this special issue to accelerate the growing field of responsible innovation research by focusing on its application to emerging technologies. We are actively seeking papers on the following topics:

• Firms' governance and strategies for responsible innovation: Firms’ development of regulatory strategies and governance models that facilitate responsible innovation.
• Anticipatory governance and foresight: Use of foresight tools to anticipate and mitigate potential adverse impacts of innovations.
• Stakeholder engagement and public participation: Methods for effectively involving stakeholders and the public in the innovation process to better anticipate technological harms.
• Cultural and contextual influences on responsible innovation: Studies on how cultural and regional contexts affect responsible innovation’s adoption (or lack thereof) and practice.
• Ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies: Exploration of ethical considerations in fields like AI, biotechnology, quantum technology, and data privacy.
• Integrating responsible innovation into organizational practices: Strategies for embedding responsible practices within corporate culture and operations.
• Measurement and assessment of responsible initiatives: Development of metrics and indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of responsible innovation efforts.
• Sustainability and environmental responsibility: Aligning innovation with environmental sustainability goals and practices.
• Case studies and sector-specific applications of responsible innovation: Analysis of responsible innovation implementation in specific industries such as healthcare, energy, or urban development.

Considering the variety and interdisciplinarity of the addressed topics, we welcome empirical studies that follow different methodological approaches. In the spirit of a fruitful academic and practitioner debate, we encourage innovative, thoughtful, provocative, and critical submissions ranging from case study research to experimental research, and both qualitative and quantitative contributions.

References

Bacq, S., and R. V. Aguilera. 2022. “Stakeholder Governance for Responsible Innovation: A Theory of Value Creation, Appropriation, and Distribution.” Journal of Management Studies 59(1):  29–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12746

Blok, V. 2019. “From participation to interruption: toward an ethics of stakeholder engagement, participation and partnership in corporate social responsibility and responsible innovation.” In International Handbook on Responsible Innovation, edited by René von Schomberg and Jonathan Hankins. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Carbajal-Pina, C., and N. Acur. 2025. “From principles to practice: Responsible implementation of emerging technologies through innovation dilemmas.” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management forthcoming. Eprint: https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/338076/1/338076.pdf

Cammarano, A., V. Varriale, F. Michelino, and M. Caputo. 2024. “A Framework for Investigating the Adoption of Key Technologies: Presentation of the Methodology and Explorative Analysis of Emerging Practices.” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 71: 3843–3866. doi: 10.1109/TEM.2023.3240213

Grinbaum, A., and C. Groves, C. 2013. “What is “responsible” about responsible innovation? Understanding the ethical issues.” In Responsible Innovation: Managing the Responsible Emergence of Science and Innovation in Society, edited by Richard Owen, John Bessant, and Maggie Heintz, 119–142. Chichester: Wiley.

Lubberink, R., V. Blok, J. Van Ophem, and O. Omta. 2017. “Lessons for Responsible Innovation in the Business Context: A Systematic Literature Review of Responsible, Social and Sustainable Innovation Practices.” Sustainability 9(5): 721.https://doi.org/10.3390/su9050721.

Owen, R., J. Bessant, and M. Heintz. Eds. 2013. Responsible Innovation, Responsible Innovation: Managing the Responsible Emergence of Science and Innovation in Society. Chichester: Wiley

Rip, A. 2014. “The past and future of RRI.” Life Sciences, Society and Policy 10(1): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/S40504-014-0017-4/METRICS

Stilgoe, J., R. Owen, and P. Macnaghten. 2013. “Developing a framework for responsible innovation.” Research Policy 42(9): 1568–1580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2013.05.008

von Schomberg, R. 2012. “Prospects for technology assessment in a framework of responsible research and innovation.” In Technikfolgen abschätzen lehren, edited by M. Dusseldorp and R. Beecroft, 39–61. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

Voegtlin, C., A. G. Scherer, G. K. Stahl, and O. Hawn. 2022. “Grand Societal Challenges and Responsible Innovation.” Journal of Management Studies. 59(1): 1–28. Doi: 10.1111/joms.12785

Voegtlin, C., and A. G. Scherer. 2017. "Responsible Innovation and the Innovation of Responsibility: Governing Sustainable Development in a Globalized World." Journal of Business Ethics 143: 227–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2769-z

Von Schomberg, R., and J. Hankins. 2019. ‘International Handbook on Responsible Innovation: A Global Resource’, International Handbook on Responsible Innovation: A Global Resource. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781784718862