Have you ever seen a bridge collapse on TV? We only care about inspection and maintenance if it does not work. However, robotics are changing the inspection & maintenance landscape, and significant societal and political implications follow the magnitude of innovation. To pay due attention to these developments, the communication on innovation in robotics for inspection & maintenance has to play a role in informing and influencing the target groups for the successful adoption of robotics technologies. The question on what role communications play in forming the perception of innovative technology was discussed in the workshop "Communicating innovation: What can we do better?" on May 25th, 2022.

Robotics4EU is a 3-years-long EU-funded project which advocates for the wider adoption of AI-based robots in 4 sectors: healthcare, inspection and maintenance of infrastructure, agri-food, and agile production. Thus, one of the ways in which Robotics4EU raises awareness about non-technological aspects in robotics is delivering a series of workshops to involve the research community, industry representatives and citizens. Role of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) in I&M Robotics" which took place on the 23rd of February, 2022 analysed the role and contribution of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) to the widespread adoption of robotics in society. How can they enhance the implementation of robotics by SMEs and startups into their daily operations? How can they help to close the knowledge gap of non-technological issues of robotics in Inspection & Maintenance (I&M)? These questions were analysed by five experts: Ebert von Vonderen, Ladislav Vargovcik, Maria Roca, Roi Rodriguez de Bernardo and ...