Responsible research and innovation fostering citizen science in additive manufacturing innovations

Additive manufacturing is a relatively novel technological innovation and its use in for example in biomedical applications and innovations has been growing. AM is anticipated to be important for manufacturing increasingly customized implants and prosthesis for specific patient needs. Further research and innovation are needed in the areas of bio-compatible materials, AM manufacturing technologies, physiological and clinical testing as well as in the operational practices to cover the whole process from diagnosis to implant manufacturing to surgery. In the contemporary innovation theories, it is not purposeful to conduct these types of research and innovation projects in
isolation within one organization, but to involve different types of skill sets from different types of organizations to seek solutions for challenges. For an emerging technological innovation such as AM, inclusion of as diverse as possible set of societal actors will be beneficial to co-steer the development
into the direction UN Sustainable Development Goals. Project IAMRRI, funded from EC’s Horizon 2020 program, is studying AM innovation processes from network perspectives. The aim of the project is to understand the AM innovation processes holistically; who are the actors participating, what are their inputs for the innovation, what mechanisms explain the innovation process and its success, and if and where are there openings for responsible research and innovation principles in the innovation process network. Responsible research and innovation (RRI) is a concept fostered by EC, where public engagement, open innovation, open science and open access are some of the key thematic areas. Later in the project these identified RRI openings are simulated using complex social simulation to get insight of how the RRI principles can spread trough the AM innovation network to help for example policy makers to anticipate possible futures. This presentation will introduce the project IAMRRI and illustrates how and where citizen science approach is possible to implement in the AM innovation process of biomedical applications. The potential openings are defined and conceptualized based on AM case studies, multiple AM expert interviews and knowledge created during IAMRRI project.