Researching and developing innovative technologies is a key part of the energy transition. New technologies can only be deployed, however, if they also meet with public acceptance. The “V4InnovatE” project is keen to provide assistance in assessing the acceptance of technical energy transition innovations and business models. Reference is therefore made to Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in a bid to adopt approaches which embrace accountability in the configuration of research and innovation processes. The ZSW is coordinating the project.
The main target pursued by the V4InnovatE project is to come up with a system of indicators for the assessment of the level of acceptance and a resulting code of practice showing how the system of indicators which has been developed can be used as a guide for the energy transition. The code of practice will be developed in consultation with key players from businesses, associations and politics. The expertise from the real world contributed by these key players will serve as the basis for the development of the system of indicators and the code of practice, and additional input will include analyses of literature and documents, case studies, simulations and evaluation of online texts using machine learning methods. The results obtained in the V4InnovatE project should ultimately help to shape innovation in the energy transition in such a way that it meets with social acceptance.
A tool for applying the developed indicator system can be accessed via the following link: https://www.v4innovate.de/tools/
In addition, a comprehensive guideline was created, which includes the conceptual background as well as simple instructions for the application of the indicator system. The guide can be accessed via the following link: https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/91146