Creating responsible innovation

A thriving culture of innovation, both responsible and dynamic, is fundamentally important to the UK economy and society. This requires UK regulatory systems for innovative technologies that are adaptive, fit for purpose and robust. Luckily, the Innogen Institute, co-directed by Professor Joyce Tait, was equal to this task.

Professor Tait was appointed CBE for services to social science in 2005 and has taken a proactive role in informing and advising on UK regulation and governance of innovative technologies.

After considerable research, the Innogen Institute concluded that the UK’s regulatory systems were ill-adapted to the needs of 21st-century innovative technologies. This had led to the abandonment of innovations that could have met pressing societal needs and, particularly in life science sectors, loss of the creative innovation potential that could come from small companies with the ability to develop transformative, path-breaking new developments.

Specifically, it was clear that current regulatory systems were negatively affecting diagnostic devices; drug development; initiatives to overcome antimicrobial resistance; regenerative medicine and stem cell therapies; agricultural biotechnology; animal breeding; and industrial biotechnology.

In short, the Institute demonstrated the many flaws in the system and developed a framework for future governance (Proportionate and Adaptive Governance of Innovative Technologies - PAGIT) showing how the necessary adaptation could be achieved. The aim was to cover both regulatory and societal aspects of governance, including regulatory adaptation led by government bodies and assurance of responsible innovation led by companies.

The PAGIT framework involves (i) creative roles for regulatory and standards bodies in devising future regulations, standards and guidelines to govern the development and adoption of a technology and (ii) the nature of the support needed by companies in order, first, to assure themselves that they are behaving responsibly and, second, to demonstrate that responsible behaviour to stakeholders.

As part of the impact on regulatory aspects led by government, Professor Tait led the initiative from the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology that culminated in the publication of the White Paper on Regulation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, setting up four government initiatives designed to deliver the necessary regulatory adaptation. The UK government swiftly confirmed that they intended to implement these recommendations and Professor Tait is now a member of one of the four bodies, the Regulatory Horizons Council. It is recommending how to adapt the UK’s regulatory systems to deliver the benefits of the UK’s more proportionate and adaptive regulatory approach.

Considering societal aspects and responsible innovation, funded by Innovate UK, the British Standards Institution commissioned Professor Tait to be the technical author of a standard on Responsible Innovation to support responsible company behaviour in light of expected future changes in UK regulatory systems.