THE PROJECT, COORDINATED BY THE UNIVERSITAT JAUME I AND FINANCED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION THROUGH THE PROGRAM HORIZON 2020, INTENDS TO IMPLEMENT AN ETHICAL GOVERNANCE SYSTEM ALIGNED WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION OF ORGANIZATIONS
Espaitec, Scientific and Technological Park of the Universitat Jaume I, participate in the European project ETHNA System, an initiative promoted by the European Commission and coordinated by the UJI. Specifically, it is a ethical governance system to promote Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in higher education centers, financing entities and public-private partnerships linked to research and innovation.
Ten partners from eight European countries are part of this project that began in January 2020 and lasts three years. Espaitec's participation in this initiative consists of implement the governance system by integrating an ETHNA office within its management structure. Thus, there are six entities in the consortium that have implemented the system in their organization - two universities, two technology parks and two research funding centers - with the aim of develop a common methodology and that any entity can adopt it.
Through the integration of the ETHNA offices, which are supported by four tools - code of ethics, ethical committee, ethical line of alerts and suggestions and informative indicators on compliance with implementation -, RRI will be promoted and institutionalized from the integrity, open access, gender perspective and citizen commitment. Specifically, Espaitec will develop and publish in 2022 its own code of ethics and good practices regarding gender perspective. According to Juan A. Bertolin, manager of the Fundació General UJI and director of Espaitec, "this type of project provides companies linked to the Park with an opportunity to provide them with sufficient mechanisms to strengthen, from a responsible perspective, their research processes and generation of innovation."
Consortium
ten entities that form the consortium are the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló (Spain), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway), European Network of Research Ethics Committees (Germany), BIOCOM (Germany), Zentrum für Soziale Innovation (Austria), Danish Board of Technology Foundation ( Denmark), Applied Research and Communication (Bulgaria), Archimedes Foundation (Estonia), UNINOVA (Portugal) and FECYT (Spain). On the other hand, Espaitec also participates as a third party, through the General Foundation of the Universitat Jaume I, the Fundació Universitat Jaume I – Empresa and the Étnor Foundation.
