Now, more than ever, is the time for Responsible Innovation

Guest blogger and ResponsibleTech Summit 2020 speaker Leanne Kemp, Queensland Chief Entrepreneur shares her thinking about responsible innovation. This post was originally posted by the Office of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur in April 2020 here »

Recently, the Queensland Premier reminded us that 100 years ago, the Ekka grounds were converted to accommodate the pandemic of the day: Spanish influenza. Hard to believe, a century later, we are contemplating converting the same space for a similar use, yet again. 2020 will not be the year of Dagwood Dogs, fairy floss and circus clowns. It’s the year of face masks, hand sanitiser and surgical gowns.

Supply chains for these must-have items have been tested. Which prompts me to ask: are we reaching a 4IR tipping point?

To understand the fourth industrial revolution, it makes sense to learn from the first Industrial Revolution (the OG if you like). The Industrial Revolution was a tipping point, it was huge. For many thousands of years before it, economic growth was practically negligible, generally tracking with population growth: farmers grew a bit more food and blacksmiths made a few more tools, but people from the early agrarian societies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India would have recognised the world of 17th-century Europe.

But when steam power and industrial machinery came along in the 18th century, economic activity took off. The growth that happened in just a couple hundred years was on a vastly different scale than anything that had happened before. We may be at a similar tipping point now, referred to by some as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” and fuelled with the mother of all invention, “necessity”. All that has happened in the past may appear minor compared to the productivity and profitability potential of the future. Industry leaders and defence workers alike met and surpassed the challenge of war by designing and producing materials critical to the war effort.

In the past few weeks, we’ve all been watching as our personal freedom of movement dwindles in the interest of the common good. Hard to believe public gatherings now mean just two people meeting in an open space. But such is the serious impact of the pace and scale of the COVID-19 emergency that is among us. I think about the emergency workers every day and their preparation for what is about to come. If we lose control of this virus, how are our front line medical workers going to be prepared when they come face-to-face with the most vulnerable from our society?

Medical supply chains are fragile in the best of times and COVID-19 will test their strength. In our haste to overcome this virus, we must not forsake deep strategic thinking and ideas with our ability to innovate to deliver working solutions – fit for the problems and timely in the market.

The Office of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur is at the forefront of ‘ideas’ and challenge-led innovation for the State. This is complemented by the breadth and depth of thought leadership that the Office can tap into with the Queensland Chief Scientist, and organisations like Advance Queensland and the CSIRO. Additionally, under my watch, there is a harmonious bridge that provides intelligence from the World Economic Forum, economists and futurists at the OECD. We are privileged to be able to ‘tap’ into extraordinary global and local experience in cross-disciplinary fields.

During this COVID-19 pandemic, the need for certain medical devices, including personal protective equipment (PPE) is outpacing the supply available to healthcare organisations because of the high demand and interruptions to the global supply chain. Beyond hospital and health services, society could seek to use 3D printing to assist in meeting demand for certain products during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have seen and will continue to see Government and authorities take creative and flexible approaches to address the challenge of access to critical medical products in response to COVID-19.

I applaud these efforts but we must balance the race to respond with careful thought and responsible innovation. Responsibility has always been an important theme of research and innovation practice, although how it has been framed has varied with time and place.