Implementing RRI in the HBP: an updated anthology

The Human Brain Project’s (HBP) commitment to ethics and societal values is a distinctive and sustainable approach to brain research, allowing for a broader, more inclusive perspective. To share their work in a sustainable and accessible way, the Ethics & Society team published a series of essays that reflect on their efforts. These contributions aimed…

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Equality in science: a call to reform working conditions for researchers

In their statement on improving the working conditions for early-stage researchers in science, the Human Brain Project’s Diversity & Equal Opportunities Committee highlight the significance of the Human Brain Project and other European science collaborations stressing the importance of equal opportunities, equity, diversity, and inclusion for scientific innovation and excellence is central. It is key…

An overview of the ethical issues across the Human Brain Project

We prepared an overview of the ethical issues across the Human Brain Project, compiled in the context of the Ethics Rapporteur Programme and in our Ethics Trilateral Meetings. In the overview, we summarise some of the ethical issues and challenges identified by Ethics Rapporteurs across the Human Brain Project during the last phase of the…

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EHDS: Meeting the Challenges of Responsible Data Governance

Data is a cornerstone for innovation and better health care. Responsible data governance is key to the public’s trust in science and the sustainability of research. The European Health Data Space (EHDS) is the European Commission’s response to the pressing need for a trustworthy health data infrastructure that reaches across member states. Needless to say,…

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Responsible and ethically sound knowledge and technology transfer

Knowledge and technology transfer is more than commercialisation. It is one of the key aspects of innovation processes and exploitation of research results. This makes these processes an excellent opportunity to make sure the care taken of ethical and responsible research and innovation practices during research and development also carries on through the continuous innovation…

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Time to move from ‘AI Ethics’ to a notion of responsible AI ecosystems

The current discourse on AI and ethics is both broad and rich, but there are some structural and fundamental limitations. A recent paper published in Scientific Reports suggest that artificial intelligence is better described as an ecosystem of socio-technical systems where some of the characteristics we should ask of a responsible ecosystem of intelligent systems…

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Responsibility by Design: Moving beyond responsible research and innovation

A paper with the title “From Responsible Research and Innovation to responsibility by design” suggests that a ‘Responsibility by Design’ approach can help mitigate some of the challenges experienced in the application of Responsible Research and Innovation (sometimes called RRI) in the Human Brain Project (or HBP). This is a relatively new concept, that can…