Methodology development

Fraunhofer ISI is involved in the continuous further development of TA approaches as well as in testing new TA procedures and methods. 

Transdisciplinary methods for societal impact assessment and impact creation for security research technologies (TRANSCEND)

Security technologies should promote public safety and increase societal resilience. However, they can have enormous societal, legal, ethical, economic and political impacts on human rights, and lead to power imbalances and social injustice. Research and development of security technologies rarely engage civil society and possibly do not fully consider societal concerns. The EU-funded TRANSCEND project will improve citizen and societal engagement in security research and innovation (R&I) to allow individuals and their organisations to participate in iterative design and deployment processes actively and creatively. The project will develop a toolbox of methods to enhance the involvement of civil society in security R&I and test and assess it in close collaboration with on-the-ground organisations, researchers, government and industry.

Monitoring-System for RRI (SUPER MoRRI)

Within the MoRRI project, which ran from 2014 to 2018, a monitoring system was designed for responsible research and innovation (RRI) in Europe. The SUPER MoRRI project builds on this and refines the MoRRI indicators. The aims are an improved monitoring system and to continue collecting data across Europe on the development and benefits of RRI. An additional objective is to develop an understanding of the relationships between RRI policies and practices and their social, democratic, economic and scientific benefits.

MIN-TEA

In order to design new technologies to be environmentally-friendly, any potentially negative environmental impacts must be considered as early as possible in their development. In the MIN-TEA project, educational packages and software tools are developed that can help industry and universities to review the environmental risks of new technologies.

Time rebound, time prosperity and sustainable consumption (ReZeitKon)

Thanks to new technology, many processes take much less time today than they used to, for example, sending a message or buying a product. Despite this, many people complain that they have less and less time at their disposal. As a result of society’s acceleration, there is less time available that is perceived as “free” time. The ReZeitKon project explores this time rebound and the associated environmental effects of consumption using a simulation model which was developed specifically for this purpose.

Zielfokussiertes Evaluationstool für Innovationen im Gesundheitswesen (ZEIG) (Objective-focused evaluation tool for innovations in the health care sector)

ZEIG is an indicator-based evaluation tool developed by Fraunhofer ISI, which can be used to review to what extent individual innovations or measures, strategies, activities and projects of actors in the health care sector achieve 12 overriding objectives and thus contribute to a generally positive development of the health system. 

INNOLAB – Living Labs in Green Economy

So-called living labs play an important role in innovation processes: They enable researchers to get closer to real-world usage at early phases of development. In the INNOLAB project, a method was developed for integrating users and sustainability innovations in real-world labs. Fraunhofer ISI coordinated the roadmap to strengthen the living lab approach in the research and innovation system of a green economy, and designed the field tests in the practical project “Sustainable Shopping: Customer guidance at the point of sale”.

• Spindler, M.; Booz, S.; Gieseler, H.; Runschke S.; Wydra, S.; Zinsmaier, J. (2020): How to achieve integration? Methodological concepts and challenges for the integration of ethical, legal, social and economic aspects into technological development. In: Gransche, Bruno; Manzeschke, Arne (Hrsg.): Das geteilte Ganze. Horizonte integrierter Forschung für künftige Mensch-Technik-Verhältnisse. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, S. 213-239.
• Erdmann, L.; Lange, B. (2019): Technikfolgenabschätzung für die Gesellschaft der Singularitäten. Neue Impulse aus kulturtheoretischer Sicht am Beispiel von Offenen Werkstätten. In: Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis 28 (1), S. 65–70.
• Heyen, N. B.; Bratan, T.; Hüsing, B.; Reiß, T. (2018): ZEIG – ein zielfokussiertes Evaluationstool für Innovationen im Gesundheitswesen. In: WISO-Diskurs 13/2018.
• Peter, V.; Maier, F.; Lindner, R.; Bührer, S.; Jäger, A. et al. (2018): Monitoring the evolution and benefits of responsible research and innovation: Summarising insights from the MoRRI project. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
• Forsberg, E.-M.; Ribeiro, B.; Heyen, N. B.; Nielsen, R. O.; Thorstensen, E.; Bakker, E.; Klüver, L.; Reiß, T.; Beekman, V.; Millar, K. (2016): Integrated assessment of emerging science and technologies as creating learning processes among assessment communities. In: Life sciences, society and policy 12 (2016), Art. 9.
• Doren, D.; Forsberg, E.-M.; Lindner, R. (2014): Are assessments responding to a dynamic environment? Evidence from four emerging techno-scientific domains. In: Science and public policy 41 (2014), Nr.3, S.317-331.