Essays and tools on science, innovation, the power they shape and their implications for justice.
A few weeks ago, during a conference on artificial intelligence for science, someone in the audience asked a very common question. The framing was familiar because it appears almost systematically whenever new technologies are discussed: “AI is a tool and like any tool, it can be used for good or bad. So how do we make sure it is used responsibly?”
The more I work on responsible research and innovation, the more I encounter the same paradox: we keep asking innovators to become more responsible while organizing innovation systems in ways that make it increasingly difficult for them to choose their path.
European research funding increasingly asks projects to demonstrate societal impact. In principle, this is a good thing. For years, research and innovation systems have been criticized for their distance from major societal and environmental challenges, and for the way scientific excellence was often evaluated independently from broader consequences.
This report proposes a shared international definition of societal impact in research and innovation. It unpacks the choices behind each term (what is included, what is not, and why) and addresses the ambiguities that often weaken impact discussions in institutional settings.
It is a reference document developed within the High Level Forum (an international network of innovation ecosystems bringing together research institutions, industry leaders, and public decision-makers) through the Societal Impact Working Group led by SoScience.
It is particularly useful for structuring conversations in research organizations, aligning stakeholders, or challenging narrow interpretations of impact limited to economic or technological outputs.