Competing modes of responsibility in research organisations—Insights from an international comparison

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonhard Hennen ◽  
Julia Hahn ◽  
Miltos Ladikas
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Perceived Need ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
The Status ◽  
Considerable Resistance ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Research Organisations ◽  
Responsible Research ◽  
Republic Of Science

Abstract Based on findings from research in the incorporation of responsible research and innovation in research organisations in twelve European and non-European countries, the article discusses how old (i.e. internal) and new (i.e. external) modes of responsibility coexist and compete with each other in actual research practice. Although the analysis shows ubiquitous perceived need for re-arranging the relations between science and society in order to legitimise scientific research in organisations, it also finds that the incumbent structures and cultures of internal thinking are still dominant in most organisations, which leads to considerable resistance to change. In particular, for public engagement and reflexive anticipatory ethics, strategies of conceptual and procedural demarcation are evident. Organisations adapt public engagement or reflexive ethics as extraordinary or experimental activities thus allowing for the continuation of the status quo in the perspective of the ‘republic of science’, keeping ‘internal’ affairs unaffected by societal intervention.

scholarly journals Responsibility, Representation and Participation: Bureaucratic Steering of Biofuel Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahendra Shahare ◽  
Naveen Thayyil
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Specific Aspect ◽  
Entry Point ◽  
Responsible Research And Innovation ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
Responsible Research

This article seeks to trace the implicit notion of responsibility in the bureaucratic steering of biofuel research in India—as a useful entry point to think further on framework of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in India. It concentrates on a specific aspect within the RRI framework in particular—public engagement and concerns for greater participation. By engaging with R&D in biofuel technologies in India, the techno-bureaucratic steering of its trajectories and the emphasis on public engagement within RRI frames, this article seeks to bring focus on how S&T governance in India could in principle be made more responsive to societal needs by motivating positive developments in line with public needs.

scholarly journals Ethical governance is essential to building trust in robotics and artificial intelligence systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 376 (2133) ◽  
pp. 20180085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan F. T. Winfield ◽  
Marina Jirotka
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Responsible Research And Innovation ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Building Trust ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Ethical Governance ◽  
Responsible Research ◽  
Artificial Intelligence Systems

This paper explores the question of ethical governance for robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) systems. We outline a roadmap—which links a number of elements, including ethics, standards, regulation, responsible research and innovation, and public engagement—as a framework to guide ethical governance in robotics and AI. We argue that ethical governance is essential to building public trust in robotics and AI, and conclude by proposing five pillars of good ethical governance. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Governing artificial intelligence: ethical, legal, and technical opportunities and challenges’.

scholarly journals Science communication: process, power and politics

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (04) ◽  
pp. C02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Broks
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Responsible Research And Innovation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Alternative Facts ◽  
Effective Science ◽  
Responsible Research

The “post-truth” age of “alternative facts” suggests both the urgent need for effective science communication and also its failure over the past thirty years. Two sessions at the Science in Public conference explored what could be done. Responsible Research and Innovation is presented as one possible way forward with the NUCLEUS project offered as an example. The result would be to transform “science communication” so that public engagement shares not only knowledge but the power that goes with it.

The Legal Status of Local Government in South Africa under the New Constitutional Dispensation

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mbuzeni Mathenjwa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
First Time

The history of local government in South Africa dates back to a time during the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. With regard to the status of local government, the Union of South Africa Act placed local government under the jurisdiction of the provinces. The status of local government was not changed by the formation of the Republic of South Africa in 1961 because local government was placed under the further jurisdiction of the provinces. Local government was enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa arguably for the first time in 1993. Under the interim Constitution local government was rendered autonomous and empowered to regulate its affairs. Local government was further enshrined in the final Constitution of 1996, which commenced on 4 February 1997. The Constitution refers to local government together with the national and provincial governments as spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated. This article discusses the autonomy of local government under the 1996 Constitution. This it does by analysing case law on the evolution of the status of local government. The discussion on the powers and functions of local government explains the scheme by which government powers are allocated, where the 1996 Constitution distributes powers to the different spheres of government. Finally, a conclusion is drawn on the legal status of local government within the new constitutional dispensation.

The Portuguese Astronomer Melo e Simas (1870–1934): Republican Ideals and Popularization of Science

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Simões ◽  
Luís Miguel Carolino
Keyword(s):  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Multiple Forms ◽  
Professional Career ◽  
Popularization Of Science ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Republic ◽  
European Periphery ◽  
Scientific Ethos

ArgumentThis paper analyses a process of co-construction of knowledge and its multiple forms of communication in a country of the European periphery in the early twentieth century. It focuses on Lieutenant Manuel Soares de Melo e Simas, a politically engaged Portuguese astronomer, who moved from amateur to professional during the political transition from the monarchy to the republic. Melo e Simas paralleled his professional career in continuous activity of communicating science to the public in the context of republicanism in a double way, by responding to the agenda of republicanism and by playing an active role in shaping it. He aimed at educating lay audiences in the various ways of astronomy, and he reached out to as many people as possible by exploring a multitude of communication channels, from lectures to articles in newspapers and journals. Voiced often within newly created republican institutions, the praxis and the ideas of Melo e Simas helped to mold the new republican scientific ethos. By going beyond mere emphasis on scientism and positivism, usually taken to be the defining characteristics of the new republican ethos, this paper argues that science and the specificities of its multiple forms of communication were central to the way Melo e Simas shaped the republican ideology. Furthermore, popularization of science was used to legitimize the status of professional scientists at the same time that it helped reinforce their institutional setting, still to be negotiated in the forthcoming decades through a complex process which deserves further historical analysis.

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