New Members of Dutch Advisory Board

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) supports and finances the thematic research programme Responsible Innovation (NWO-MVI). According to the responsible person, its aim is to carry out early phase research into ethical and societal issues related to innovation so that these can be taken into account during the design process. The input may come from information ethics, technology ethics and machine ethics or from other suitable disciplines. Researchers from the humanities, the technological and medical sciences and the social sciences can submit joint proposals, whereby a collaboration with partners from the private and public sector is possible and desirable. Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW) was invited in summer 2016 to join the programme’s international advisory board which is composed of approximately ten members and which plays an important role in assessing the submitted proposals in terms of scientific quality and societal relevance. The decisions have been taken in December 2016. More information via www.nwo.nl.

Fig.: The meetings were held in Amsterdam

NWO Responsible Innovation Programme

Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel from the School of Business FHNW will act as an external reviewer for The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO, the Dutch Research Council) and will assess the merits of a research proposal submitted under the NWO Responsible Innovation programme. The aim of this multidisciplinary programme is to explore the ethical and societal issues surrounding innovations like autonomous cars, electronic patient files and the smart energy meter. The NWO website declares: „Highly promising innovations can fail because ethical and societal questions are not taken into account in good time. … In the case of responsible innovation possible ethical and societal consequences of the innovation are already involved at an early stage. For this NWO has developed the Responsible Innovation research programme.“ (Website NWO) A new registration round started in June 2016. „The programme is for joint projects of researchers engaged in the humanities, science and the social and behavioural sciences. Together with companies and civil society organisations, they identify at the development stage of innovations the potential ethical and societal issues that may arise. Addressing these issues early on will increase support among stakeholders and also the likelihood of successful innovations.“ (Website NWO) More information via www.nwo.nl.

Fig.: At the Universiteit Leiden