We held our second Phase 2 Virtual Meeting at the beginning of October. Sad that it had to be virtual, instead of meeting in Dublin or in Romagna as we’d hoped!
But exchange must go on!
After all the necessary housekeeping, we got down to the business of responsible innovation in our public policies. It’s not easy to keep momentum in the current climate, but MARIE partners believe that a responsible approach to innovation is one of the best ways to emerge from this crisis. NB. This will be one of the topics at the 2020 Responsible Innovation Summit – sign up now to "build back together"!!
One common point that emerged at our meeting is integration of responsible innovation into regional strategies. This includes the Smart Specialisation Strategies (Schleswig Holstein / Emilia Romagna / Tampere / Galicia / Centre Vale de Loire), but also other regional strategies such as the Digital Innovation Hub strategy (Galicia / Centre Vale de Loire), the regional spatial and economic strategy (Southern Ireland - more details here) and the National strategy for Research, Innovation and Development in 2021-27 (Bucharest-Ilfov).
Partners discussed the complexity of integrating not just the concept of Responsible Innovation, but also measures that embed it into strategies as a process taking into account the long-term impact of innovation. Such strategies should embed engagement, not just consultation tools. Partners also discuss the necessity, but complexity, to define measures to measure qualitative impact.
We will keep exchanging on this, helping each other to find solutions, just as we have throughout the project. It may even be the focus of our final event and meeting will be held in Tampere (June 2021)….watch this space!
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash (because really you can’t go wrong with messages of love!!)
