14-1190b-innovation-managing-risk-evidence

As experienced by the World Trade Organization in the field
of GMOs, trade disputes concerning innovation in the field
of agriculture and food will without any doubt be part of
the potential obstacles for the conclusion of Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership agreements (TTIP
between the EU and the USA, and CERA between the EU
and Canada).
Under the negotiations scheme, the Sustainability Impact
Assessment (SIA), a mandatory mechanism, must be applied
to each domain of the agreements (energy, food, agriculture,
ICTs, mining, pharmaceuticals, materials and so on) and
agreed before the agreement is concluded. When the US
Congress voted in favor of opening negotiations with the
EU on the TTIP (with the European Commission, which has
an exclusive competence, the European Parliament being
only consulted for advice), it expressed the will that the
agreement should be founded upon a common set of values
supporting the whole edifice. For a SIA, we are aware of the
fact that the so-called ‘precautionary principle’ will not be
shared as the “common set of values” called for by the US
Congress. This means that the opportunities for innovation
in risky domains will be missed if the agreements (TTIP and
CERA) go into a deadlock.
The stakes are about one trillion dollars in annual
value added , according to the TTIP economic impact
analysis prepared before the opening of the transatlantic
negotiations. So what is left in terms of potential core
values to be shared, in order to secure trust in innovations
perceived as risky, and thereby characterized by a
potential societal risk leading to a political rejection of the
agreement?
The European Commission has been working on the
concept of Responsible Research and Innovation, and
published in 2013 a report exploring the different options
for its adoption and implementation at the European Union
level. The European Commissioner Michel Barnier adds the
concept of responsible investment, which includes long-term
systemic effects, and the ability to finance those investments
for purposes of general interest (the safety of food and
energy supplies, for instance).
So, with a reasonable expectation of success, we can
forge the concept of responsible research, innovation and
investment (R2I2), as the potential foundational shared
value to be proposed as a trade-off for the SIA framework,
in the event of difficulties (we are pretty confident those
difficulties must not be denied but addressed properly as
soon as reasonably possible, otherwise they will pop up at
the worst moment of the negotiation agenda). Should the
potential of this concept be understood in time, it would
have a great positive impact.
OPTIMISM OF THE WILL:
IN DEFENCE OF A MODERN STOICISM
Jesper Poulsen-Hansen (Co-Founder and Partner, Gemeinschaft consultancy)
155
From the fickle beginning of human existence we
have found ways to explain and understand the
uncertainty of our world. We have populated
our collective imaginations with gods, sciences,
superstitions, causalities, anxieties and rituals in order
to impose a fleeting sense of stability on an otherwise
volatile existence.
But why do we combat this uncertainty so
ardently? The answer is fear. We fear the things we
can’t control or the things that we have difficulty
understanding. This is also the main reason for our
time’s fixation with transparency, which again takes
the shape of increased levels of surveillance and
much new public-management logic. In short, we fear
ambiguity and uncertainty, despite uncertainty being
the prime mover of the progress of our species.
This has affected something of a shared pessimism
when it comes to risk and innovations. We seem
to associate uncertainty almost entirely with the
bad things that could happen. But we seem to have
forgotten that uncertainty is not only the source of
dire news. It can also produce wonderful innovations
and technological progress; indeed, historically it has.
Perhaps it is time to revisit the motto coined by
the Italian political theorist and philosopher Antonio
Gramsci: “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the
will”. It was his way of describing these dual forces,
which have always beleaguered mankind. Simply put, it
means that we know things can go wrong but we have
faith that it won’t.
These dual forces of pessimism and optimism,
intellect and will, are also the ground on which
the relationship of risk and innovation is built. The
pessimism suggested is not a bleak cynicism but
rather a constructive scepticism. The optimism
suggested (and much needed) is not a happy-go-lucky
recklessness but rather a historically-founded faith
in a modern humanism. What we need is a modern
stoicism of the twenty-first century. Humanity is
underrated!