HBP experts provide recommendations to help researchers and policy makers address emerging ethical issue

LONDON, 28 Feb 2019: “Dual Use” describes the potential for scientific knowledge and emerging technologies, developed within a civilian context, to be used in other settings, including the military domain. With current and newly emerging insights and technologies arising from brain science, Dual Use concerns are becoming increasingly relevant in this area, raising ethical and regulatory questions. An expert group of ethicists and scientists from the European Union-funded Human Brain Project (HBP) has now published an “Opinion on ‘Responsible Dual Use”. Political, Security, Intelligence and Military Research of Concern in Neuroscience and Neurotechnology’. This document sets out a framework to promote awareness of the issue and encourage responsible practice among those involved in the research and development of such technologies. To ensure ongoing attention to the issues raised, the Opinion offers recommendations for the Human Brain Project, the European Union and the research communities in neuroscience, information and communication technology, and robotics.

As a pan-European project at the interface between neuroscience and technology, the HBP early on recognized that new research developments in these fields raise ethical, social, philosophical and regulatory issues. Within the HBP, a dedicated Ethics and Society group that includes scientists, philosophers, sociologists and public engagement specialists, has been tasked from the start of the project to identify, examine and address these questions. This group has introduced appropriate structures and mechanisms within the project and carries out public engagement activities, as well as extensive sociological, philosophical and ethical analyses, to make sure that neuroscience, neuro-medicine and neuro-inspired technology research are all done in a responsible way.

Most recently, the group focused on current and potential applications of brain research and brain-inspired technologies in political, security, intelligence and military settings. Its new “Opinion on Responsible Dual Use” analyses definitions of dual use and relevant regulations in the EU and other international jurisdictions, describes emerging neuroscientific research that could have dual-use applications and examines ethical implications.
One of the issues identified is that existing policies often restrict their focus to the stated aims of the research. This is problematic, as even if the initially intended use is purely civilian (for example a medical application), it can be difficult to foresee how a neuroscientific technology or innovation might be used thereafter.

A key recommendation for policy makers is therefore to supplement existing policies with the moreprocess-oriented measures embodied in the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) framework.

As defined in 2014, in the “Rome Declaration on Responsible Research and Innovation in Europe”, RRI is an approach that aims to align the innovation system more closely with the needs, expectations and values of citizens. To this end, it requires that societal actors, such as researchers, citizens, policy makers, businesses and NGOs, work together throughout the research and innovation process. RRI principles are being applied successfully throughout the HBP, as described in a second paper recently published in the journal Neuron, (see Press Release, 7 February 2019).