Data ethics and governance: origins, progress and priorities

This is a half day workshop hosted by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS). The workshop will review the progress towards developing a better understanding of ethical approaches to data ethics and governance in both the UK and other countries. The workshop will ask what the concepts of data ethics and governance mean and:

• to whom and what do they apply?
• how are they operationalised?
• how and based on what evidence can we understand of the effects of these concepts?
• are our current principles, regulations and tools sufficient in a world where data is everywhere?

Speakers at the event

The workshop includes contributions from people who have worked at an international level to encourage good statistical practice and principles for the use of data for research and policy. It will give:

• an overview of developments in data governance, particularly for access to and analysis of personal data
• a review of the issues that data scientists and statisticians now face – this will help with setting priorities for the future

The speakers have been involved in initial developments at the International Statistical Institute (ISI), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). These are the points of reference that are still in use today. You can find a full list of speakers on the RSS website.

After their individual contributions, panellists will be invited to give their thoughts about current statutory and advisory bodies that have an interest in data ethics and governance both in the UK and internationally. They will give their thoughts on questions such as whether:

• these statutory and advisory bodies can provide the framework we need for effective control of the ways in which data are used for research and policy, both now and in the future
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses issues not covered by existing principles and practice
• we should concentrate on proliferation and literacy issues, and make the revision of the principles less of a priority

How to attend

You can register to attend the workshop on the RSS website.

The meeting is in person only and refreshments will be provided from 1:30pm.

It is likely a recording of the presentations will be available some time after the event but this is not guaranteed.