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Responsible Research and Innovation in China and the Risks in Innovation

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Abstract

Innovation is a risky process; it entails both the risk of failure and economic, political, social and ethical risks due to unexpected consequences. Failure to control innovation risks can lead to many detrimental consequences. As an endeavour to reduce and control risk in innovation, responsible research and innovation (RRI) has recently become a hotly discussed concept in science and technology policy research and policymaking in developed countries. Rapid social transition in China has led to a series of changes in attitudes towards and behaviour related to responsibility for innovation among various stakeholders, including the public, the scientific community, enterprises and government. Those changes provide an ideal environment for RRI in China as well as for reducing the risks of innovation and guiding innovation to meet people’s needs for better lives.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Warning from British science leader: the threat of artificial intelligence bigger than terrorism, Can Kao Xiao Xi, 12 September 2018, 7.

  2. 2.

    Originally known as 3TU (Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Twente), it was renamed 4TU in 2016, when Wageningen University and Research Centre joined.

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Acknowledgements

Author Notes

The chapter is adapted from two published papers: Zhao Yandong, Pay attention to innovation risk, promote sustainable innovation, China Social Science Review, 2019, no. 4; Zhao Yandong, Liao Miao, Responsible research and innovation in China, China Soft Science, 2017, no. 3.

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Correspondence to Yandong Zhao .

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Zhao, Y., Liao, M. (2021). Responsible Research and Innovation in China and the Risks in Innovation. In: Schiele, B., Liu, X., Bauer, M.W. (eds) Science Cultures in a Diverse World: Knowing, Sharing, Caring. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5379-7_12

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