NWO-MVI: Responsible innovation

Mission 
NWO-MVI research focuses on important societal challenges and the innovations required for these. It itemises the societal aspects of these (technological) innovations at an early stage so that they can be taken into account during the design and development phase. The aim of NWO-MVI research is to realise innovations that are acceptable to society. 

Approach 
The priorities of the NWO-MVI approach are: 

    •    Proactive design and development perspective
Societal aspects and the potential impact on stakeholders are involved from the start of the innovation process. Examples are the legal, ethical/philosophical, economic, sociological and (behavioural) psychological aspects.

    •    Multidisciplinary and integrated approach 
Societal challenges are always multidisciplinary in nature. In the research, expertise from the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences is deployed in an integrated manner to realise innovations that not only try to solve a problem but are also acceptable or responsible from a societal viewpoint.

    •    Societal relevance and valorisation
Stakeholders are involved in the research to contribute their knowledge from everyday practice and to facilitate the applicability and implementation of the research results.

Explanation 

Complex societal challenges, for example in the area of energy transition, require innovations in which knowledge about people’s behaviour, societal processes, nature and technology are deployed in an integrated manner. Values such as sustainability, health, security, democracy, responsibility, justice and privacy often play an important role in these societal challenges. Conflicts between these values can arise – for example between security and privacy – and the challenge of the innovation process is to devise solutions that do justice to all relevant values. Such an approach makes these solutions more acceptable to society and prevents failures or expensive adjustments in retrospect.

Every NWO-MVI project has a valorisation panel made up of relevant stakeholders. These can be representatives from government bodies, companies and civil society organisations as well as private individuals. The aim of these panels is to obtain a better view of the everyday practice that the intended innovations will play a role in and to foster the involvement of these stakeholders in that. 

For further information about NWO-MVI, see https://www.nwo-mvi.nl.