The American Association for the Advancement of Science is holding its annual meeting in Chicago from 13th to 17th February, and Jonathan Hankins, Ottavia Bassetti and Jeff Ubois will represent the Bassetti Foundation.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of all people. Their publications include the journal Science and the association provides an array of print and online resources for educators, students, early-career scientists and engineers, reporters and the public.

The annual meeting boasts over 150 sessions including “Responsible Innovation in a Global Contexts” on Saturday 15th between 8.30 and 11.30, organized and moderated by David Guston.

The session abstract states:

“Responsible research and innovation is an emerging term of art in science and innovation policy across the globe. In one definition, it is “a transparent, interactive process by which societal actors and innovators become mutually responsive to each other with a view to the (ethical) acceptability, sustainability, and societal desirability of the innovation process and its marketable products.” In another, it is ‘a commitment of care for the future through collective stewardship of science and innovation in the present.’
It has been enshrined in recent research calls at the European level, and its cognate ‘responsible development’ has been part of the strategic vision of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative for a decade.
Yet, despite a spate of attention, there is neither a clear, unified vision of what responsible innovation is, nor what it requires, nor what it can accomplish. Regardless of specific definition, responsible innovation is about enhancing the connections between the considered values of the wider community and the processes of policy decisions and science and technology development”.
This panel brings together a number of participants in an emerging Virtual Institute for Responsible Innovation to discuss recent research on responsible innovation as an object of study, and recent experiments with responsible innovation in policy and academic environments”.

The panel will include Richard Owen who readers will know from his recent book and online publications. Owen will “describe a framework for responsible innovation developed for the UK Research Councils that couples dimensions of reflexivity, inclusive deliberation, and anticipation to personal, institutional and political responsiveness for influencing trajectories of innovation”.

Full details are available here.

The Conference also provides the backdrop for the launch party of the new Journal of Responsible Innovation. The launch will take place on Saturday 15th between 6.30 and 8.00 PM at the Crystal Ballroom, North Columbus Drive, Chicago. Those interested in attending and meeting members of the Editorial Board should RSVP (to info@fondazionebassetti.org) via the Bassetti Foundation and download the invitation.

The Bassetti Foundation is honoured to have a representative on the Editorial Board and to participate in the launch party. Followers of the site are warmly invited to attend and meet Ottavia Bassetti, member of the Bassetti Foundation Board of Directors and Head of US operations, Jonathan Hankins, Collaborator and member of the Editorial Board of the Journal for Responsible Innovation, and Jeff Ubois, long time collaborator and friend of the Foundation.

Persons invited to the launch do not have to register for the conference, but those wishing to attend the sessions must do so. Single day tickets are available, with all relevant information available through the AAAS Meetings website above.