The presence of Responsible Research and Innovation in the perspectives of Dutch policy officers regarding innovation with quantum technology

Abstract

The European Union strives to align research and innovation to the values, needs and expectations of society to address societal challenges. To support this alignment the European Union endeavours to make Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) part of the governmental policies on science and technology of its member states. If the European Union is effective in this endeavour, then principles that are common in the field of RRI should play a significant role in the perspectives that belong to the member states’ policy officers for research and innovation. In this paper we empirically check this by conducting a Q-method study on Dutch policy officers working on quantum technology-related policies. In this study we found four perspectives on innovation among these policy officers. In all these perspectives some of the RRI principles are present in merely a weak manner, or even absent, casting substantial doubts on whether RRI has become part of the EU member state governmental policies on science and technology.