Responsible Innovation Path for Ultrathin Nanomembranes for Electrochemical Conversion and Artificial Photosynthesis: Value Co-Creation in a Quadruple Helix System

Ultrathin nanomembranes (NAMEs) can enable efficient and scalable system designs for (photo)electro-catalytic applications that allow a sustainable production of fuels and basic chemicals/materials. However, the technology’s success depends not only upon technological breakthroughs but also upon its absorption of socio-ethical values ‘upstream’ in the R&D process during its competition with the existing dominant solutions. It is therefore necessary to both understand the socio-ethical embedding of NAMEs and to create a responsible innovation path (RI path) for this technology in which socio-ethical values are absorbed into the design process. In this project, we conceptualize the innovation path of NAMEs as taking place in a quadruple helix innovation system where four types of values are constantly negotiated and accommodated: market value (industry), political value (policymaking), moral value (civil society) and research value (academia). An RI path for NAMEs can accommodate the four different types of helix-specific values while minimizing the corresponding helix-specific risks. Therefore, our objectives are: (i) to develop a governance framework for responsible innovation paths that can facilitate the absorption of socio-ethical values in the design and system integration of NAMEs; (ii) to analyze the relationship between NAMEs and the four helixes of the quadruple helix system, (iii) to create a RI path for NAMEs in which helix-specific values can be absorbed into the design process through an inclusive, reflective dialogue between NAMEs and its quadruple-helix stakeholders.