Responsible Innovation Centre for Public Media Futures

The Responsible Innovation Centre for Public Media Futures (RIC) is an independent research centre hosted by BBC Research & Development and funded primarily by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a non-departmental public body that directs UK research and innovation funding. Working with the BBC and a world-leading network of partner organisations, we help ensure technology supports a strong and resilient public service media sector.

Developments in technology continue to disrupt the media landscape in ways that threaten to destabilise foundational public values such as trust and universality. Today, technology and content are deeply intertwined. This creates new challenges and risks for public service media when trying to innovate in the public interest and deliver their public purposes. Ensuring technology works for public service media, audiences, and society requires more than technical expertise. It also requires understanding the legal, social, ethical and editorial impacts of new technologies.

Vision

Our vision is a world where technology enables public service media values to flourish to the benefit of all and in support of the health of our media ecosystem and society.

Mission

• Contribute to positive shifts in industry norms, cultures, and practices.

• Help shape technology development and innovation.

• Build evidence to inform policy.

• Encourage demand for more civic-minded media technologies.

Our approach

Public service media has a unique opportunity to lead responsible technology and innovation and shape a healthier digital world, supporting audiences, society, and public service media. To do this, we believe that we need:

• Clarity on the problems, and what’s at stake. By interrogating available evidence and developing insight to fill knowledge gaps, RIC helps improve understanding of long-terms challenges facing public service media and audiences.

• Make complex systems more understandable. We bridge research and professional practice, social and technical contexts to help explain the opportunities and risks of emerging technologies.

• Bring together different ideas, experiences and skills. We work with media professionals, policymakers, researchers, and the public to bring together different perspectives and develop shared approaches to common challenges.

• Turn research into practical action. We translate research findings into recommendations, guidance, and tools that organisations can use in practice.

Our partners

Our independence

RIC is hosted by BBC R&D but operates with financial and research independence. Funded by a £1.9 million UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship grant, we set our own research agenda and make our own recommendations.

The BBC’s support of RIC stems from its commitments under the Royal Charter to promote technological innovation in the public interest, seeking to share its work openly for wider industry, policy, academic and public benefit.

Work with us

We work with researchers, industry experts and more. If you're working in a related area or would like to learn more about our research, email responsible.innovation@bbc.co.uk