The Future-Fit Citizen

A Case for Lifeship Public Policy to Transform Knowledge Production and Social Purpose in Britain.

Source: Free Will and Conscious Freedom

Britain faces vast pressure from demographic ageing, a shrinking labour force, and lower productivity through automation. To mitigate risks, the UK government is pursuing various regimes (Figure 1), the most radical being Society 5.0. The underlying logic of Society 5.0 is to integrate technological innovation across multiple layers of society to ensure our cities are human-centred, super-smart and transformative.

Figure 1: Biopolitical spectrum

The concept of biological citizenship or ‘biocitizenship’ provides Society 5.0 with a useful innovation blueprint. This is because biocitizens, specifically DIY scientists operating out of community biolabs, self-experiment with technologies and share resources with others to drive change.

Despite their transformative potential, current triple-helix innovation models between government, industry, and academia limit scalability. Consigning biocitizen activities to fringe operations that reflect the homogeneity of the scientific establishment. In short, a techno-centric members club of largely white, middle-class males.

Limitations reveal an opportunity to develop a more inclusive commons-based model for biocitizenship (Lifeship). A policy blueprint with the capacity to diversify membership, accelerate scientific literacy, bio-innovation, and by extension, societal transformation at scale (i.e. Society 5.0).

This study makes a unique contribution to the political discourse of biocitizenship by positing the following 2-part foresight question:

“Which commons-based innovation model should Britain foster to scale biocitizenship, and how can government policy amplify its distribution and uptake?”

To address this 2-part question, a grounded Delphi scenario study is constructed in five stages (Figure 2):

1. forecasted projections expose commons-based innovation models as a research opportunity to address gaps in the literature,
2. panelist selection identifies and recruits a diverse panel of DIY-bio experts engaged in influencing policy change,
3. a two-round Delphi workshop uses selective coding to explore commons-based scenarios which form a consensus-led shared vision,
4. scenario development applies axial coding to ensure consensus categories are well-grounded in the data, and
5. policymaking insights disseminate results to policymakers for feedback.

Further policy development of this Delphi study is predicted to drive social change at multiple levels:

• For citizens, accelerating public access to biotechnologies may foster collective purpose and meaning in life due to a mutualised sense of public duty and lifelong state support for their contributions.
• For governments and corporations, increased public engagement in biomedicine may boost levels of market-creating innovation, economic wealth and greater trust in science.
• For healthcare providers and educators, increased scientific knowledge transfer may spark a new era of transformative decision-making.

Collectively, enabling people to thrive in Society 5.0 and beyond.

Figure 2:: Research questions and methods

Tags: biocitizenship, commons-based innovation, DIY science, Society 5.0.