RRI Tool: Stage-Gate Model ®

The Stage-gate model ® helps to manage the innovation process from ‘idea to launch’. The innovation process is divided in stages, of activities leading to deliverables, and gates where business evaluations are made as well as decisions to continue or stop. The gates provide set moments where economic and non-economic criteria determine subsequent innovation steps. Responsible innovation processes balances non-economic and economic criteria, as safety. From the start, the Stage-gate model® helps to place both economic and non-economic criteria at the heart of the intermittent decisions to come to a viable and safe product. Originally developed as an investment decision tool, it is applied to safe product development in nanotechnology. This approach can be easily adapted to other industries and dimensions.