The state of the responsible research and innovation programme: A case for its application in additive manufacturing

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Many of the ethical issues of additive manufacturing (AM) are not well known or understood, and there remains a policy vacuum that needs to be addressed. This paper aims to describe an approach that has been applied successfully to other emerging technologies, referred to as the responsible research and innovation (RRI) framework programme. A case is then made for the application of this approach in the AM industry with an illustration of how it might be used

The ethical issues of additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (3D printing) has brought industrial manufacturing capabilities to the desktop, allowing the seamless transition from consumer-to-manufacturer-to-retailer and enabling anyone to use the technology outside of traditionally regulated spaces. This creates new challenges for information technology governance. The potential societal risks of additive manufacturing (AM) are not well known and there is a policy vacuum on how the technology should be used responsibly. As 3D printers become mainstream and are increasingly being used in homes, garages, SME’s, educational institutions, large enterprises etc, this study explores the ethical issues promoted by the technology. Considering that 3D printing has mainly been advanced by activities of DIY hacker groups and the sharing economy, this thesis is framed in the context of users from DIY hacker collectives like hackspaces, makerspaces, and FabLabs. The research investigates the ethical concerns of experts who are closely associated with such collectives to understand the types of issues they are concerned about. The study was also an attempt to understand the implications of expert participation in knowledge-making in terms of ethics. An interpretive hermeneutic approach was followed in the collection and analysis of data from the experts that participated in this research. This approach helped the researcher to recognise how personal prejudices can be the basis of developing an understanding and to reflect critically on the cultural and historical background of 3D printing, the participants, and the researchers own historicity in a bid to derive meaning from the study. The study has found that participants were able to identify several ethical issues which have been broken down into 26 subthemes. The main themes, however, are environment, health and safety, intellectual property rights, jobs, 3D printed guns, business ethics, offensive items, data security, and liability. Nevertheless, a closer inspection of these findings also indicates that individually, the participants have limited knowledge of the societal concerns of 3D printing. For example, when participants are split into academics and SME’s to reflect their professional background, academics identified an average of 1.7 of the 26 subthemes, as opposed to an average of 3.7 issues by those from SMEs. This raises important questions about the reliability and validity of expert participation in knowledge-making for ethics-related studies. The findings also show that the hacking culture has had a double-edged effect on 3D printing. It has actively promoted the democratisation of the 3D printing by enabling anyone and everyone to participate and benefit equally. However, it has also passively promoted societal concerns by enabling the use of 3D printers in spaces outside of institutional control where ethical approval isn’t required

Data Governance in International Neuroscience Research

open access articl

Engaging Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Responsible Innovation

A significant part of responsible innovation is engagement with diverse groups of stakeholders; this remains true for projects investigating responsible innovation practices. This chapter discusses strategies for engaging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in co-creating visions of and plans for implementing responsible innovation, drawing on the example of engagement with United Kingdom cyber security companies. The key aspect of the engagement was building trust between the responsible innovation researchers and the companies. Trust was built by a movement away from traditional recruitment procedures for research projects, towards proactive engagement with the culture and traditions of the sector – participating in company sponsored talks and conferences, finding ways to communicate effectively, and ensuring a tailored message that fit the expectations and requirements of the sector. This chapter reviews the context in which the recruitment took place, the assumptions made prior to recruitment, the approaches taken, the revisions made to these approaches, and ultimately offers some general recommendations for industry engagement in responsible innovation activities

Time to consider animal data governance: perspectives from neuroscience

Introduction: Scientific research relies mainly on multimodal, multidimensional big data generated from both animal and human organisms as well as technical data. However, unlike human data that is increasingly regulated at national, regional and international levels, regulatory frameworks that can govern the sharing and reuse of non-human animal data are yet to be established. Whereas the legal and ethical principles that shape animal data generation in many countries and regions differ, the generated data are shared beyond boundaries without any governance mechanism. This paper, through perspectives from neuroscience, shows conceptually and empirically that there is a need for animal data governance that is informed by ethical concerns. There is a plurality of ethical views on the use of animals in scientific research that data governance mechanisms need to consider. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Overall, 13 interviews with 12 participants (10 males and 2 females) were conducted. The interviews were transcribed and stored in NviVo 12 where they were thematically analyzed. Results: The participants shared the view that it is time to consider animal data governance due to factors such as differences in regulations, differences in ethical principles, values and beliefs and data quality concerns. They also provided insights on possible approaches to governance. Discussion: We therefore conclude that a procedural approach to data governance is needed: an approach that does not prescribe a particular ethical position but allows for a quick understanding of ethical concerns and debate about how different positions differ to facilitate cross-cultural and international collaboration

Understanding the perceptions of UK COVID-19 contact tracing app in the BAME community in Leicester

This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Human Brain Project Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under the Specific Grant Agreement No. 945539 (HBP SGA3). This work was also supported by De Montfort University COVID-19 Special Research Fund. Open access articlePurpose – Digital contact tracing technologies are critical to the fight against COVID-19 in many countries including the UK. However, a number of ethical, legal and socio-economic concerns that can affect uptake of the app have been raised. The purpose of this research is to explore the perceptions of the UK digital contact tracing app in the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community in Leicester and how this can affect its deployment and implementation. Design/methodology/approach – Data was collected through virtual focus groups in Leicester, UK. A total of 28 participants were recruited for the study. All participants are members of the BAME community, and data was thematically analysed with NVivo 11. Findings – A majority of the participants were unwilling to download and use the app owing to legal and ethical concerns. A minority were willing to use the app based on the need to protect public health. There was a general understanding that lack of uptake will negatively affect the fight against COVID-19 in BAME communities and an acknowledgement of the need for the government to rebuild trust through transparency and development of regulatory safeguards to enhance privacy and prevent misuse. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the research makes original contributions being the first robust study conducted to explore perceptions of marginalised communities, particularly BAME which may be adversely impacted by the deployment of the app. By exploring community-based perceptions, this study further contributes to the emerging citizens’ perceptions on digital contact tracing which is crucial to the effectiveness and the development of an efficient, community-specific response to public attitudes towards the app. The findings can also help the development of responsible innovation approaches that balances the competing interests of digital health interventions with the needs and expectations of the BAME community in the UK

Developing Capabilities for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)

open access articleThis paper examines the notion of capability development through the lens of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). It describes how RRI capabilities can be promoted and developed through capacity-building activities by drawing on a reflection of the experiences of some members of the Ethics and Society team of the EU-funded Human Brain Project (HBP) who have contributed to the development of an extensive RRI capacity building programme for HBP researchers, EBRAINS research infrastructure developers and users, as well as interested external audiences. It also highlights some of the outcomes of the RRI capacity-building exercise and the challenge of assessing the impact of such activities

Good governance as a response to discontents? Déjà vu, or lessons for AI from other emerging technologies

open access articleRecent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have led to intense debates about benefits and concerns associated with this powerful technology. These concerns and debates have similarities with developments in other emerging technologies characterized by prominent impacts and uncertainties. Against this background, this paper asks, What can AI governance, policy and ethics learn from other emerging technologies to address concerns and ensure that AI develops in a socially beneficial way? From recent literature on governance, policy and ethics of emerging technologies, six lessons are derived focusing on inclusive governance with balanced and transparent involvement of government, civil society and private sector; diverse roles of the state including mitigating risks, enabling public participation and mediating diverse interests; objectives of technology development prioritizing societal benefits; international collaboration supported by science diplomacy, as well as learning from computing ethics and Responsible Innovation

Pseudonymization of neuroimages and data protection: Increasing access to data while retaining scientific utility

open access articleFor a number of years, facial features removal techniques such as ‘defacing’, ‘skull stripping’ and ‘face masking/ blurring’, were considered adequate privacy preserving tools to openly share brain images. Scientifically, these measures were already a compromise between data protection requirements and research impact of such data. Now, recent advances in machine learning and deep learning that indicate an increased possibility of re- identifiability from defaced neuroimages, have increased the tension between open science and data protection requirements. Researchers are left pondering how best to comply with the different jurisdictional requirements of anonymization, pseudonymization or de-identification without compromising the scientific utility of neuroimages even further. In this paper, we present perspectives intended to clarify the meaning and scope of these concepts and highlight the privacy limitations of available pseudonymization and de-identification techniques. We also discuss possible technical and organizational measures and safeguards that can facilitate sharing of pseudonymized neuroimages without causing further reductions to the utility of the data

Can human cardiovascular regulation during exercise be learnt from feedback from arterial baroreceptors?

During dynamic exercise, a large fall in systemic vascular resistance occurs. Arterial pressure (AP) is, however, maintained through a combination of central command and neural activity from muscle afferents that adjust the autonomic outflow to the circulation. How these signals are calibrated to provide accurate regulation of AP remains unclear. This study tests the hypothesis that the calibration can be ‘learnt’ through feedback from the arterial baroreceptors arising over multiple trials of exercise. Eight healthy subjects undertook three different protocols in random order. The test protocol consisted of 7 days' training, when subjects were exposed on 70 occasions to 4 min of exercise (50% of maximal oxygen uptake capacity) paired with neck suction (−40 mmHg) to mimic an excessive rise in AP at the carotid baroreceptors with exercise. Two control protocols involved training with either exercise or neck suction alone. No significant changes in mean AP, diastolic AP or heart rate during normal exercise were detected following training with any protocol. However, the rise in systolic AP with exercise was attenuated by an average of 7.3 ± 2.0 mmHg (mean ± s.e.m., P < 0.01) on the first and second days following training with the test protocol, but not with either control protocol (P < 0.05 for difference between protocols, ANOVA). In conclusion, this study failed to show that mean AP during normal exercise could be reduced through prior conditioning by overstimulation of the baroreceptors during exercise. However, a reduction in systolic AP was observed that suggests the presence of some plasticity within the autonomic response, consistent with our hypothesis