“Trust is the oxygen of sustainable business and governance, and without it not much is possible” noted a few weeks ago TIGTech’s director Conrad von Kameke commenting the great technological disruption and its impacts on society for the World Economic Forum.

Among approaches gaining momentum in the restoration of public trust in governing innovation is the development of a responsible and ethical approach to scientific research and innovation.

In fact, the more technologically and scientifically evolved a community becomes, the more it has to ask itself how it should responsibly use and steer its potential.

The Lombard Regional Government, covering one of the most innovative areas in Europe with a population of 10 million, more than 4.000 startups and lying at the center of the Italian biotech and fintech ecosystem, is today leading the way with its first Forum on Research and Innovation. The Forum, launched in 2017, started fully operating 12 months ago and last Monday convened all its members in Milan for its first face to face meeting.

The event, coordinated by Forum President Mario Calderini, professor at the Politecnico di Milano, with the support of Fondazione Bassetti who are responsible for the executive management of this board, gave Forum members the opportunity for discussion with Regional officials on how local government is moving ahead in several areas, from data-driven and AI supported policy-making to blockchain supported services. The meeting was also the occasion for planning the next steps of the Responsible Initiative on Newborn Genome Sequencing (RINGS) and for discussion on how to advance structured consultation strategies for implementing participatory research agenda setting and co-design exercises with citizens on new tech and innovation policies.

The following day, the Forum joined the General Assembly for research and innovation which also featured as speakers Mario Calderini, presenting the Forum, and another Forum member, David Guston, head of Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society, lecturing on the concept of Responsible Innovation and the need of embedding its principles in the innovation governance, with anticipatory approaches, technology assessment and public engagement being three key pillars of RI.

Below some photos:
> Forum on Research and Innovation

> General Assembly for research and innovation

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