18 Making Responsible Innovators

Although the premise behind the innovator imperative is that the world needs more innovators, we argue here that it is important to make responsible innovators. Simply supporting research and development in the name of societal benefits and then waiting for the market to sort it out is not enough. Rather, we have a responsibility to shepherd science and technology through the innovation process to ensure that innovation outcomes do not adversely impact the societies we intend to advance. Accordingly, we need to look beyond traditional educational models in order to instill the capacities that will help innovators be more socially responsible in their daily activities.