Responsible Research and Innovation in the Digital Age

AT A TIME when increasingly potent technologies are being developed with the potential to transform society, researchers in all technological fields, including information and communications technology (ICT), are under growing pressure to consider and reflect on the motivations, purposes, and possible consequences associated with their research. This pressure comes from the general public, civil society, and government institutions. In parallel is a growing recognition that current ethics review procedures within ICT may not address broader concerns (such as the potential societal consequences of innovation). Instances of ICT raising concerns abound. For example, along with attention-grabbing headlines that artificial intelligence (AI) could ultimately pose an existential threat to humankind, there are more prosaic, yet strongly felt, social transformations