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On 11-12 December, irecs held its final conference, “Understanding Ethics in Tech – irecs and the Future of Research Ethics Governance,” in Brussels to celebrate the project’s achievements. The event took place at the Representation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia to the European Union and brought together policymakers, researchers, industry representatives, and international partners for keynotes, presentations, and panel discussions.
The conference opened with welcoming remarks from the project coordinator, Prof. Dr. Dirk Lanzareth, followed by an introduction from Joanna Drake, Deputy Director-General at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. Two keynote speeches set the tone for the event: Michael Sahnau, Director of Health & Life Sciences at Microsoft Germany, spoke on Responsible Research and Innovation in industry, and Christophe Markschies, President of the Berline-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, addressed Responsible Research and Academic Freedom.
The programme continued with presentations on implementing research ethics governance and integrity by irecs consortium members Ana Marušić, Kate Chatfield and Mariette van den Hoven, alongside Stakeholder Advisory Board member Maura Hiney. Sandra Scholle and Daniela Proske from University of Bonn presented the irecs training materials, which participants were able to explore throughout the day via interactive demonstrations.
In the afternoon, Wei Zhu (Fudan University, China) and Francis Kombe (EthiXPERT, South Africa) shared international perspectives on cultural sensitivity in research ethics. The day concluded with a panel discussion on best practices in research ethics governance, followed by a joint dinner to mark the successful completion of the project.
The second day opened with remarks from Roberta Monachello, irecs Project Manager at the European Commission’s Research Executive Agency. Presentations and discussions explored the intersection of ethics, law and policy and the responsible use of emerging technologies, featuring contributions from Barbara Prainsack (European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies), Rafael Vale e Reis (University of Coimbra), Alexei Grinbaum (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, Paris-Sacly Centre, and irecs consortium member), and Karl-Heinz Land (neuland.ai AG).
The conference closed with a forward-looking panel on the sustainable use of cluster networks, highlighting irecs as a “Cluster of the Clusters,” and a presentation on how the project’s results will inform future initiatives such as AIOLIA. Prof. Dr. Lanzareth concluded the event by thanking all partners and participants for their contributions to the successful completion of irecs.
Authors: Daniela Proske, University of Bonn