How important is it to upskill ethical digital capabilities?

Is it important to upskill both those who work in organisations creating digital tools and citizens alike on ethical digital capabilities? Through this upskilling of citizens do we create raised expectation which will keep creators of digital tools on their toes? How would that impact organisational digital growth? Would it slow it down or inhibit it? Or would it be balanced by the value generated by increased transparency & trust with citizens who become users & customers?

Why the contribution is important

Trust is key, but it can't be creators who identify what that trust is - by equally upskiling creators & users that rise in expectation will organically ensure ethical digital tools. Enable users to be intelligent clients, not just consumers of digital tools.

by Ingrid on December 10, 2020 at 05:14PM

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Comments

  • Posted by Anthony December 14, 2020 at 14:12

    I like this idea, I have submitted a similar idea although I think my proposal is different in that it is focussed on even more basic level digital skills. I think we need to start from a lower base. I do agree that a better understanding of ethical practices from the organisations creating the tools is crucial too if we are to deliver trustworthy services.

  • Posted by deafscotland December 15, 2020 at 17:20

    Again, Inclusive Communication would support the upskilling of "those who work in organisations creating digital tools and citizens alike on ethical digital capabilities". Users need to know what "ethical digital capabilities" are in a way that is accessible, inclusive and easy to understand . Those creating digital tools need to understand how to enure users can participate and understand the messages.

  • Posted by SOCITM December 16, 2020 at 18:13

    This accords with Socitm’s wider support for leadership and skills development through its Grow, Share, Lead programme. On Digital ethics we see that training and development should focus on the development of a clear understanding of the following 5 attributes of ethical digital practice and the following considerations in their application. Beneficence: do good. Benefits of work should outweigh potential risks. How do we keep “Do Good” Ethics in the Spotlight? • Remember: Ethics is a pervasive aspect of good practice; ethical issues are intrinsically involved in ensuring good use of data and technologies. • This means: Ethical considerations are ubiquitous and intrinsic to design, development, deployment and delivery, and individuals and organisations need to keep the ethics in the spotlight at all time. How do we prioritise Human lives and interests in adopting emerging solutions? • Remember: Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) interacts with the most important aspects of people’s lives: their wellbeing, their finances, their social relationships, and their emotional and mental health. • This means: Emerging approaches and solutions need to focus on people’s needs, money, and wellbeing with due care and attention; ensuring that robust ethical principles and standards are applied when developing technologies that touch these and other important aspects of people’s lives. Non-maleficence: do no harm. Risks and harms need to be considered holistically, rather than just for the individual or organisation. How do we consider ethical risks and harms? • Remember: That involvement with the ethical issues concerning emerging technologies and big data don’t go away once we have undertaken our own particular tasks and fulfilled our immediate responsibilities in the delivery chain. • This means: We need to view ethical risks and harms holistically – taking a comprehensive end-to-end view of the ethical issues across all stages of design, development, deployment and delivery and how they interact with people and society in an ethical manner. How do we ensure design processes support privacy and security? • Remember: Ethical design is not only technical design (of networks, databases, devices, platforms, websites, tools, or apps), but also social and organisational design of groups, policies, procedures, incentives, resource allocations, and techniques that promote privacy and security objectives. • This means: Whilst DDaT implementation approaches and solutions will vary depending on context, it is an ethical imperative that the values of privacy and security are always at the forefront of operational design, planning, execution, and oversight. Autonomy: preserve human agency. To make choices, people need to have sufficient knowledge and understanding. How do we ensure that relevant stakeholders and interest groups in the design and decision-making are consulted? • Remember: Stakeholder and interest group involvement in ethical risk assessment and design is key to maintaining public and community confidence and trust in DDaT outcomes. • This means: It is important that stakeholder input does not simply reflect the same ethical perspectives as those already held within your organisation. External input from a more truly representative body of those likely to be impacted by specific DDaT outcomes is required. How do we balance user expectations and the reality of what DDaT can deliver? • Remember: In creating DDaT approaches, consider how stakeholders’ expectations of a particular solution may diverge from the reality of what can be delivered. • This means: We always have an ethical duty of care to ensure stakeholders are properly informed about not just the benefits but also the limitations and risks of a particular emerging approach or solution. Justice: be fair. Specific issues include algorithmic bias and equitable treatment. How can we ensuring DDaT can help promote equitable outcomes? • Remember: Emerging approaches need to ensure that they mitigate the risk of producing or magnifying disparate impacts, resulting in inequitable outcomes that make some people and communities better off and others worse off. • This means: The ethical risk that solutions might induce disparate impacts needs to be actively considered; these impacts should be anticipated, actively monitored for, carefully examined and mitigated, in order to enable acceptable ethical and equitable outcomes How do we factor in the “bigger picture” to ensure just outcomes? • Remember: Always keep in mind the wider context in which emerging approaches exist and the purpose intended, as well as considering the direction in which the technology we introduce today may head in the future. • This means: Our operational and design considerations should never be isolated from the “bigger picture” of social and technological ecosystems that encompass factors and risks that are not always under our control. Explicability: operate transparently so as to explain systems working and its outputs How can we ensuring DDaT can help promote equitable outcomes? • Remember: Emerging approaches need to ensure that they mitigate the risk of producing or magnifying disparate impacts, resulting in inequitable outcomes that make some people and communities better off and others worse off. • This means: The ethical risk that solutions might induce disparate impacts needs to be actively considered; these impacts should be anticipated, actively monitored for, carefully examined and mitigated, in order to enable acceptable ethical and equitable outcomes How do we factor in the “bigger picture” to ensure just outcomes? • Remember: Always keep in mind the wider context in which emerging approaches exist and the purpose intended, as well as considering the direction in which the technology we introduce today may head in the future. • This means: Our operational and design considerations should never be isolated from the “bigger picture” of social and technological ecosystems that encompass factors and risks that are not always under our control. see more at https://socitm.net/inform/collection-digital-ethics/

  • Posted by simonbarrow December 18, 2020 at 15:48

    Demonstrable understanding of (and communication of) ethical practice, guidelines and monitoring from organisations involved in the creation of digital tools is essential. But the criteria from this need to be established and agreed from outwith. As DeafScotland have said: users need to know what "ethical digital capabilities" are in a way that is accessible, inclusive and easy to understand . Those creating digital tools need to understand how to enure users can participate and understand the messages.
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