The programme “Technology, Innovation and Society"

The triangle of technology, innovation and society is one of the central spheres of activity of modernity. Innovation necessarily needs to rely on scientific-technological progress. However, this progress does not automatically result in successful innovation. The decision if, and which, technologies provide solutions for societal problems is also related to the systemic interaction of technologies and societal aspects like political or economic framework conditions, social acceptance, or ethical questions. The task of the Helmholtz Association is to develop solutions for urgent and complex societal challenges. The programme “Technology, Innovation and Society” (TIS) was established to accomplish this task by systematically investigating the various interfaces between technology, innovation and society.

Against this background, the goal of the programme is to contribute to target-oriented effective and responsible innovation processes. The main emphasis is on the investigation of application potentials of key technologies and the development of ways towards a sustainable energy supply. Questions concerning systemic interrelations between technology, innovation and society as well as cross references between the Helmholtz research&development programmes and their societal surroundings are being investigated and transferred into knowledge relevant for action and decisions of science, economy, politics and society. The consequences of technological innovations like opportunities, innovation potentials and risks play a major role.

The existing competences of Helmholtz regarding technology assessment and systems analysis are combined in TIS with adjacent fields like innovation and risk research, applied ethics, material flow analysis and life cycle assessment as well as sustainability research and scientific policy advice; these topics are analysed in the context of different research questions. The work in TIS is characterised by networking and co-operation both within the Helmholtz research fields and the programme.

In co-operation with the related research&development programmes of the Helmholtz Association and with the aim to make the results usable beyond the scientific area for political decision-making and public debate on scientific-technological progress five topics will be analysed by TIS.