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The high school business and Humanism, y Telefónica held on May 17 a lecture on "Innovation manager and technologies", which was attended by more than fifty managers, entrepreneurs and university professors. The event took place at the Royal Academy of Engineering in Madrid and is part of the activities developed by high school this year around the generic topic "Social Innovation". The two presentations that articulated the workshop were given by position Elena Valderrábano, Director of Corporate Ethics and Sustainability at Telefónica, and Professor Jeroen van den Hoven, Full Professor of Ethics and Technology at the Delft University of Technology and one of the main promoters of the concept of "innovation manager" and its adoption in the European Union.

The need for responsible technologies

Innovation manager is framed by the challenging environment around us. Economic and technological revolutions are often accompanied by profound societal changes. With the digital revolution at plenary session of the Executive Council peak, and with an unceasing degree program towards new innovations, humanity has the challenge to commit itself, in the midst of this magnificent technical development , to the preservation of fundamental values such as human rights and civil liberties, and to the promotion of ethical behavior that respects the dignity of individuals. Individually, each of the new technologies we know has the potential to transform products, services and activities. Taken together, they can overturn old business models and institutions, ushering in a new era of economic, social and political development . How can we respond to these transformations? On the one hand, we need to build open and participatory information ecosystems that empower all of us to contribute our ideas, talents and resources to the generation of value. On the other, in an interconnected world, where everything we do affects others, we must learn to think beyond ourselves, and to pursue goals that are beneficial to society as a whole.

In this process of intensifying innovation and technological development , it is essential to distinguish what makes us grow as people and societies from what enslaves us or limits our freedom. The presentations by Elena Valderrábano and Jeroen van den Hoven dealt with these issues.

Innovation and sustainability

For Elena Valderrábano, Telefónica's Director of Corporate Ethics and Sustainability, "it is necessary to incorporate sustainability as a fundamental and transversal element of the strategy, and to promote innovation that allows us to address the great social, economic and environmental challenges". In this sense, the Telefónica executive pointed out that "technology, like any other tool, can be used for the best and for the worst (...) Therefore, for promote the former, we must ensure an ethical purpose for technological innovation, as we would do in any other area of human beings". With that goal in mind, Valderrábano pointed out that "beyond ensuring a business manager, in Telefónica we have created a specific direction of 'Sustainable Innovation' that has as goal raise awareness and train all our employees on the value of sustainability and promote the incorporation of sustainability criteria as an element that will ensure long-term growth deadline".

Technology and values

Jeroen van den Hoven, Full Professor of Ethics and Technology at Delft University of Technology, and a recognized expert in this field subject, spoke about his experience at the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research in applying RRI (Reponsible Research & Innovation) principles at a practical level. The professor presented, through real cases, the importance of innovation manager to adapt it to the needs and values of society and to avoid misgivings about new technologies.

For Professor van den Hoven, founder and publisher of the scientific journal Ethics and Information Technologyone of the challenges facing Europe in the 21st century is how to position itself in the face of technological innovation and the power that powers such as the United States and China are deploying in this field, enhancing the ethical and value dimensions that every decision in this field implies. In this sense, he stressed the importance of introducing values, criteria and moral principles in the design and implementation of innovation processes, in an integral manner, without having to renounce some of them (for example, privacy) for promote others (such as security). Innovation manager implies, for example, thinking about the incorporation of the Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) included in the United Nations' diary 2030, in a joint manner, when developing technologies and innovation projects from which positive impacts for society are derived.

Jeroen van de Hoven put forward these and other ideas from his research and work for more than decades, both in his country and in Europe, on the interaction between ethics and technologies. In this regard, in his long degree program in this field, van den Hoven was founder and director scientist of the 4TU. Center for Ethics and Technology at the University of Deft between 2007 and 2013. He was also the founder, and director of Programs, of the Dutch Research Council on Responsible Innovation until 2016. He was also a member of the TU Deft Blockchain Lab. For his scientific and academic career in the field of ethics and technology he has received awards such as the World Technology Award for Ethics and the IFIP Prize for ITC and Society. He has authored and publisher numerous fundamental books in this field of study such as the Handbook of Ehics, Values and Technological Design (Springer), Information Technology and Moral Philosophy (Cambridge University Press), or the recent collection on Responsible Innovation (Springer).

Related links article

Telefónica: Business manager (https://www.telefonica.com/es/web/negocio-manager/articulo/-/blogs/etica-e-innovacion-dos-caras-de-una-misma-moneda)

Interview with Jeroen van den Hoven, Bus Inf Syst Eng 59(4):297-300 (2017)): https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12599-017-0476-2.pdf)