On Thursday, May 30, 2013, between 10:00 and 11:30 am The Brookings Institution are holding a public forum to discuss the role of social responsibility in each stage of the innovation process. A panel of experts will discuss the kinds of institutions and incentives that govern innovation and how they shape the behavior of researchers, high-tech firms, capital investment firms, and regulatory agencies.

The moderator will be Walter D. Valdivia, Fellow of The Brookings Institution, and the panelists include David Chu, President of the Institute for Defense Analysis, Bennett Freeman, Senior Vice-President of Sustainability Research and Policy at Calvert Investment and David H. Guston, Professor and Director of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at the Arizona State University and friend of the Bassetti Foundation.

The Event Announcement states “While emerging technologies–like nanotechnology, synthetic biology. and advanced manufacturing–bear the promise of great benefits to society, they also pose significant risks. New sciences and technologies substantially affect society and yet it is nearly impossible to anticipate every major consequence of their advancement, development, and commercialization. Who is responsible for those consequences? How is responsibility distributed among the various actors who influence and regulate innovation, such as private enterprises, the government, inventors and the general public?”

The event will be held at at The Brookings Institution, Saul/Zilkha Rooms, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC.

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(photo: Cell phone tower by Gary Lerude from Flickr)

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