Survey on societal engagement in technological innovation and the SocKETs Tech Industry’s Guide

This short survey aims to gather your opinion about practices and experiences on societal engagement, starting from the good practices developed by the SocKETs project and summarized in The Tech Industry’s Guide.
You can fill in the survey anonymously or provide your contacts. We also hope you would like to endorse our Tech Guide, with your name and possibly a short statement.

Societal engagement is seen as an increasingly important action to facilitate and increase the impact of R&I activities. Engaging society in design and development of technological innovations can improve the quality of research outcomes, and help building trust and understanding between science, industry and society. It could act as a form of collaborative innovation aiming to the joint development of new values.

The European project SocKETs - Societal Engagement with Key Enabling Technologies (2020-2023) performed six societal engagement labs with industry, research, public bodies and citizens. Our Tech Industry's Guide provides a quick overview of pros and cons, and practical suggestions to put in practice societal engagement. The main targets are research and industry actors dealing with enabling technologies.

Let us know your opinion on how societal engagement and our Tech Guide could be useful for you. Your views will inform our recommendations to the European Commission and all stakeholders on how to integrate societal engagement in R&I processes.

Compilation should take no more than 10 minutes.

The SocKETs team

1^st part – Your views on societal engagement in technological innovation
With “societal engagement” we mean a process integrating all stakeholders’ perspectives, including citizens and civil society, throughout the innovation development, going beyond the simple consultation or deliberation to reach co-creation and facilitating collaboration, mutual learning and a higher degree of responsiveness amongst the actors involved.

1.What is your experience with societal engagement? Did you or your organisation used it, or is currently using it?

I already used it in past activities/projects

I’m using it in current activities/projects

I plan or would like to use it in future activities/projects

I used it but I won’t use it any more

I never used it and I don’t want to use it

I don’t know what it is

2.How important is the active involvement of stakeholders, including citizens, in developing technological innovation?

It’s not important, we can develop innovations without them

It is important to take their opinion into consideration, but only once the innovations is on the market

It is important to involve only selected stakeholders during the development phase, and all the others once the innovation is on the market

It is important to involve all stakeholders already in the development phase, to gather their inputs

Other (specify)

3.Which kind of impact you can relate to societal engagement activities?

Very positive, they provide an added value

Positive, sometimes they are useful

Neutral, positive aspects balance the negative ones

Negative, usually they are not worth the effort

Very negative, they might be detrimental

4.Feel free to add a comment explaining your views
(e.g. enrich and inspire the process, an opportunity for growth, time-consuming, create friction between people, etc.)

2^nd part – Your views on SocKETs Tech Guide

5.How deep did you go in reading the Guide?

I just had a look

I read only the parts I was interested in

I read it all

6.Did the Guide influence or change the way you see societal engagement?

No, it didn’t change anything

Partially, only on few aspects

Mostly

Yes, it completely changed my view

7.What you think you are going to do with the Guide?

I won’t use it

I'll keep it, maybe I will use it someday

I will use it, but I still don’t know how

I will use it in activities/projects I already have in mind/ongoing

8.Could you imagine sharing the Guide with someone?

No, I don’t think so

I will share it with selected people within my organization

I will share it within my whole organization

I will share it with selected people outside my organization

I will share it with my network

9.What do you like or do not like about the Guide? Is there anything missing?

3^rd part – If you like, give us your endorsement on societal engagement practices and the SocKETs Tech Guide!
With “endorsement” we mean a statement in support of societal engagement practices and possibly more explicitly on the Guide, in which, for example, you indicate your willingness to use it or testify to its quality. We are looking for these endorsements to assess the interest of stakeholders in societal engagement practices, the effectiveness of the Guide, and consequently of SocKETs and its methodology, and to showcase and promote it.

11.Can we mention your name as one of the endorsing subjects of the Guide?
(you can make your endorsement as an individual, or representing your organization)

Yes, I am willing to endorse the Guide

No, I am not willing to endorse the Guide

Not now, maybe in the next period

12.Please provide the way we can mention you in the list of subjects endorsing societal engagement practices and the Guide

13.If you like, leave here a brief statement on the value of societal engagement for innovation and/or on the Guide, to mention it together with your name (or anonymously)

14.Let us know the level of disclosure of the information given in question 12 and 13

Feel free to make them public (SocKETs website)

Please include them only in internal reports for the project and the European Commission

Additional profile info (optional)

15.Did you take part in the SocKETs Lab?

Yes

16.Which organisation are you from?

17.What is your organisation main activity/business/field of operation?

18.What is your role within your organisation?

Data management disclaimer
The survey is collected by Airi – Italian Association for Industrial Research: see here our privacy policy. Please note that the information you provide will be analysed and kept confidential within the SocKETs consortium and not shared with other parties. This apart from information provided in questions 11-14.

Contacts
Airi – Italian Association for Industrial Research
Olmo Guagnetti: guagnetti@airi.it

The SocKETs project (Societal Engagement with Key Enabling Technologies) has received funding from the European Union´s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement no.958277.