Foresighting for Responsible Innovation Using a Delphi Approach: A Case Study of Virtual Fencing Innovation in Cattle Fa
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Foresighting for Responsible Innovation Using a Delphi Approach: A Case Study of Virtual Fencing Innovation in Cattle Farming D. Brier1 · C. R. Eastwood2,4 · B. T. Dela Rue2 · D. W. Viehland3 Accepted: 5 November 2020 / Published online: 16 November 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The use of virtual fencing (VF) in pasture-grazed farm systems is currently close to commercial reality but there are no studies applying the principles of responsible research and innovation, such as foresighting, to this technology. This paper reports results of a study aimed at foresighting potential implications associated with virtual fencing of cattle. A Delphi method was used to survey the opinions of farming practitioners and researchers, using pasture-grazed cattle farming in New Zealand as a case study. The key benefits were identified as environmental protection, improved feed allocation, access to previously unavailable grazing areas, labour savings and individual animal management. The five most important potential barriers identified were device reliability, farmer perception of a value proposition, ethical issues related to community perception of negative animal welfare, lack of feed budgeting skills of farmers, and excessive training time. We suggest that more knowledge is needed on ethical issues associated with VF, including understanding public opinions of such technology developments. We suggest that development and use of VF has been focussed primarily on technical features and user benefits and needs to include consideration of wider socio-ethical principles to ensure responsible innovation processes. The findings from this study will aid focussed research and development to incorporate ethically acceptable development alongside technical factors. Keywords Virtual fencing · Delphi method · Animal welfare · Foresighting Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s1080 6-020-09838-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * C. R. Eastwood [email protected] 1
Pāmu Farms of New Zealand, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
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DairyNZ Ltd., Hamilton 3240, New Zealand
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Massey University, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
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Present Address: DairyNZ Ltd., Hamilton 3240, New Zealand
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Introduction The concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI) has rapidly developed in the past decade as a process to anticipate potential implications of innovation trajectories, with a particular focus on enhancing responsiveness to societal concerns (Asveld et al. 2015). Studies focussed on the application of RRI have proliferated recently, initially in Europe (Stilgoe et al. 2013) and subsequently in other countries such as the USA (Stahl et al. 2014), Australia (Ashworth et al. 2019) and New Zealand (Eastwood et al. 2019b). There has, however, been criticism of the practical applicability of RRI frameworks (Rose and Chilvers 2018), and scholars have signalled the need for robust
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