The IANUS Project represents a key activity in the current R&I portfolio of AcumenIST – a new concept consultancy initiative provided by experienced business leaders with a pronounced track record in both scientific research, development and innovation, as well as in public and regulatory affairs.
The AcumenIST Founder & Director, DrSteffi Friedrichs, has been a strong proponent of science and technology throughout her over 25 years long career, in which she combined her training in chemistry, nanotechnology, biotechnology and data analytics with new applications and challenges ranging from R&I management to regulatory affairs to policy- assessment and -development to responsible research and innovation (RRI).
Dr Friedrichs’ in-depth experience in nanotechnology (cf. The Economic Impact of Nanotechnology (March 2012)), as well as her most recent work on genome editing specifically supports IANUS’ case study on these topic (e.g. Conversations on Science, Society & the Future of Gene Editing (June 2019), Human Germline Genome Editing (November 2018), and Genome Editing – Opportunities & Challenges (March 2018))). On an international discussion panel, she noted that “[…] as humans and society are a part of the technology and its advancement, and as humans and society are more impacted by technologies than ever before, they should also have a much bigger responsibility in the technology development.” (cf. Technologies that change our lives: should they be celebrated or feared? (October 2017)).
AcumenIST will specifically contribute analyses of weak signals to the study of trends and indicators of ‘trust in science’ in all its complexity and manyfold contexts. In doing so, ‘[t]he IANUS Project provides us with the opportunity to complement AcumenIST’s long-term work on the public perception of STI [science, technology and innovation] in general and of emerging STI disciplines in particular, through in-depth studies and interpretations of trends by a balanced team of experts from across Europe’, Dr Friedrichs notes at the start of the IANUS Project. ‘This is another opportunity to help turn the triumph of science in helping to end the pandemic both through the information about protective measures and through the unprecedented development and distribution of life-saving vaccines into a new area of increased importance of research and innovation for society’, she adds (cf. The Story of Responsible Research & Innovation in 36 Chapters (August 2021), COVID-19: Nanomedicine’s finest Hour? (April 2021)).
