The ‘urgencies’ of implementing an RRI approach in EU-funded law enforcement technology development: between frameworks and practice

Abstract

RRI aspirations are complicated by two kinds of ‘urgency' in the field of EU-funded security research: the timeframe and requirements for such technologies often present researchers with ‘urgency' due to the sensitive nature of the security domain and it is ‘urgent' for building societal trust in security technology that RRI approaches shall be introduced and effectively implemented in the lifecycle of developing such technologies. Drawing on experience from an H2020-multidisciplinary project, this article presents the gap between the top-down formal frameworks and bottom-up practice of designing and implementing RRI approaches under conditions of ‘urgency’ and time pressure. In the case of EU-funded security research, it is argued, there are still significant practical challenges which hinder the effective implementation of RRI approaches, potentially limiting the extent to which such approaches deliver meaningful impact. The paper reflects on these challenges, as well as on potential strategies to overcome them in the future.