Reimagining Innovation for a Human-centred Future

We live in an era where science, technology and innovation (STI) are not only transforming the world, but they are also fundamentally reshaping what it means to be human. From artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing to biotechnology and digital platforms, the pace of change is extraordinary.

Yet, amid these seismic transformations, the concept of innovation remains oddly underexamined. We praise it, pursue it and embed it into policy — but we seldom ask the deeper question: What exactly are we innovating for?

Philosophers like Vincent Blok have argued that innovation is neither neutral nor inherently positive. Instead, it is a contested and often ill-defined concept, frequently reduced to a narrow techno-economic function. Similarly, in his 1959 essay on creativity, Isaac Asimov explored the conditions under which breakthroughs emerge, challenging us to reflect on the deeper values and purposes that drive innovation. These thinkers urge us to go beyond the superficial celebration of novelty and ask: What values animate innovation? Who benefits? And how can we ensure it advances peace and human flourishing, rather than exacerbating inequality and conflict?

These questions are more pressing than ever in a world marked by geopolitical instability, ecological crisis, and social fragmentation. Innovation has long been equated with ‘creative destruction’, as Joseph Schumpeter famously described — a process that topples the old to make way for the new. But in the face of today’s global crises, the real challenge is no longer to innovate, but to do so in ways that heal rather than harm.

Poet Warsan Shire captured the global mood when she wrote: “I held an atlas in my lap, ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered, ‘Where does it hurt?’ It answered, ‘Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere'”. Today’s crises — ranging from violent conflict and climate breakdown to disinformation and displacement — cannot be solved by technology alone.

UNESCO has long advocated for STI to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. However, in practice, access to innovation remains deeply unequal, with Africa lagging behind. It is concentrated in a few regions of North America, Europe, and Asia, while the costs and disruptions disproportionately fall on the many. Bridging this divide demands more than new tools — it requires new thinking, new values, and new governance models.

Blok proposes a necessary shift: from innovation as commercialization to innovation as care, justice, and sustainability. This is a normative reorientation. It requires us to ask who is included in innovation processes, and who is left out. What futures are being enabled, and which are being foreclosed?

Designing for responsible innovation

To harness STI for global peace and equity, we must embed inclusive, human-centered values in the way innovation is designed and governed. Transparency builds trust. Truthfulness resists manipulation. Ethics safeguard fairness. Safety and privacy protect dignity. Yet these values must not remain aspirational — they must be institutionalized through robust systems, policies, and accountability mechanisms.

Here, mechanism design — a concept from economic theory and behavioral science — offers a practical governance model. By aligning incentives with desired outcomes, mechanism design enables the creation of environments that foster responsible innovation. It moves us from passive oversight to active stewardship, ensuring that technological advancement is guided by public purpose, not just private interest.

Governance, in this sense, is not only about laws and regulations. As Rohini Nilekani rightly observes, governance is co-creation. It requires the active engagement of governments, civil society, academia, private actors, and communities to define not only what innovation does, but what it means. Too often, this participatory dimension is overlooked, resulting in systems that perpetuate rather than address inequality. We must instead design governance that is inclusive, adaptive, and democratic.

The UN Pact for the Future offers a compelling framework for this endeavor. It calls for renewed multilateralism anchored in shared purpose and planetary well-being. A central question arises: How can people be empowered to make inclusive decisions in the implementation of this pact? The answer lies in repositioning STI not as tools of economic competition, but as instruments of dialogue, justice, and cooperation.

Peace, in this context, must be understood not as the mere absence of violence, but as the presence of dignity, equity, and sustainable livelihoods. When governed ethically, STI can address the root causes of conflict — poverty, exclusion, misinformation, and ecological degradation — by fostering more resilient and just societies. But such outcomes are not automatic; they must be deliberately and collectively designed.

Blok’s critique of philosophy’s disengagement from innovation is particularly relevant in this context. While philosophy has historically sought permanence, innovation is rooted in disruption and change. Yet, this makes innovation a profoundly philosophical act — one that requires us to ask not only what is possible, but what is right. To innovate today is not simply to create the new, but to take responsibility for the kind of world we are bringing into being.

Reframing innovation for a shared future

Innovation alone is not enough — we must ask what it is in service of. This is the essence of transformative governance: aligning scientific and technological advances with our ethical, political, and ecological imperatives.

As we look to the future, innovation must not be treated as an end in itself. It must be a means towards peace, equity, and shared human dignity. It must honor our obligations to one another and future generations.

Reimagining innovation is not simply desirable, it is urgent. Only by doing so can we ensure that progress does not leave peace behind, and through this, the overdue dream of 'Silencing The Guns in Africa' can finally be achieved.