Keynote: Raising the Bar on the Ethical Use of Data in Government at the ArabNet Digital Summit 2018

Editor's Notes

1. NEXT
2. Introductions – BA Former DM HHS NYC History at agency level in child welfare and homelessness, City Hall domain
3. Experience across those years – Good intentions enough Reluctance to be measured by outcomes Need to move to use of data to guide practice and inform results
4. The world of data has changed in one generation Private innovation in use of data has been remarkable Government data practices have not changed with it
5. We need pathways to open up the use of data But it is challenging
6. There are no clear set of standard practices that governments trust to create that path
7. It requires expertise, time and money to make it happen The power sits in the hands of those least likely to want to take the risk – the programs themselves
8. And we face a public increasingly skeptical about our intentions
9. So what will it take to move the culture? define as a public good – a treasured resource that government has a responsibility to unleash But must be based on integrity of data themselves And integrity of process which must involve stakeholders With utmost attention to privacy And commitment to preventing unintended consequences and undoing bias
10. Data science has not always been helpful to us
11. In the hands of private market interests How’d they know that??? Feeling like every step is watched Don’t know who has what or how to cut the link It has often been insensitive or outright biased (like apps to rate “beauty”) All creating deep lack of trust
12. And it shows up in scary ways
13. Increasingly putting algorithms in charge of decision making Formula not clear – probabilistic associations, sample size Individuals don’t know how results were achieved and have no power of redress to challenge or correct
14. Private sector products adopted by government decision makers without fully understanding what drives the methodology
15. Read from slide
16. An informed consumer facilitates trust
17. And data scientists need to be leaders in ensuring ethical use of data – for government use and for private sector use One informs the other and they are interrelated If private sector employs poor or abusive practices, everyone suffers Read form slide
18. Practitioners need to lead the way – we need a professional code of ethics
19. And if we don’t we will surely get more governmental regulation This can be good and necessary But it can be a rough tool and can stifle innovation Watching implementation of EU standards which became effective last week And the fall out from Facebook and Equifax To see what government needs to do. Minimally need to take strong, clear, values based action in the private sector regardless, and how the world of data science respects these concerns will be carefully watched