The PRISMA project aims to develop and test a roadmap that will help industry to implement Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in their innovation processes within the framework of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy. This will enable them to address uncertainties and risks, as well as public and ethical concerns surrounding transformative technologies. Furthermore, the project aims to have the roadmap adopted by companies by targeting industry associations, CSR and branch organizations, as well as governments and civil society organizations.

Eight RRI pilot cases in industry, involving both private firms and public-private partnerships, will be conducted and evaluated. The pilots will take place in some of the major industries in Europe. Some of the pilot cases will focus on emerging technologies (nanotechnology, synthetic biology, Internet of Things), and others on cases that exemplify the transformation of long-established technologies (materials, cars). These will provide evidence about how the RRI approach and inclusion of the gender dimension can improve innovation processes and their outcomes for transformative technologies.

The evidence from the pilots will be used to develop an RRI-CSR roadmap that will allow others in industry to embark on a similar path. The roadmap will consist of:

• a set of RRI tools for industry with instructions and recommendations about when and how to use them in relation to the level of risk associated with the products/processes in the specific industrial sectors;
• approaches and tools for including the gender and diversity dimensions in research and development;
• principles for stakeholder involvement at different stages of the value chain;
• ethical principles and guidelines;
• recommendations for integrating RRI in CSR;
• best practice examples as models for responsible innovation (on the basis of pilots);
• added value for companies (competitiveness).

ITAS will be responsible for one of the aforementioned pilots. This will provide evidence about how the RRI approach, and especially the opening up of the innovation process to social actors, can improve the development process and the quality of the final outcomes of the research. This evidence will be obtained by assessing the pilot project and systematically comparing it with "normal" projects within the company.

ITAS will also be responsible for developing and organizing five stakeholder dialogues. One of the main aims of the dialogues is to receive feedback for the roadmap while stimulating exchanges between the various actors. These stakeholder dialogues will also concern the pilot projects. This will enable direct contact and feedback during the actual innovation process. Some key issues in these dialogues will be risks, gender issues, transparency and products that reflect societal values.

PRISMA web site: http://www.rri-prisma.eu