The proposed book discusses the ethics and responsibility in innovation dynamics as drivers and shared duties for the sustainability of social, technological, and economic ecosystem. From a holistic point of view, a real innovation ecosystem can be identified by economic and social boundaries along the same lines described in the quadruple helix model. The actors operating therein are, indeed: universities, research centers, firms, markets, industrial clusters which are embedded in regional and national innovation systems. The reference domain is the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) actions in the industrial application of sustainable research and innovation. RRI is a policy concept primarily formulated and promoted by the European Commission and it has gained recognition in the last few years as a guiding principle to bridge the gap between the scientific community and society at large and tackle the grand societal challenges.

The objective of this book is to explore the ways in which the application of RRI principles positively influence the performance of these industrial and innovation ecosystems and their survival in the long term given economic, research and social boundaries defined by the four main elements: Government, Academia, Industry and Society. Another target of this book is to describe how RRI approach affects the development and implementation of policies targeting the dynamics of industrial innovation systems. RRI is expected to give the industrial sector a competitive advantage in the mid-term and long-term perspective, since it considers the societal values and impact as the strongest factors in the future global sustainability, and leverages on the scientific support of academia.