This project has been part-funded by the European Union Regional Development Fund.Our Place, Our Data Launch
Webinar Event | Apr 1, 2021 10:30 AM
Policy Connect’s landmark report ‘Our Place Our Data: Involving local people in Data and AI-based recovery’, to be published Thursday the 1st of April.
AI is now common practice. Citizens and local institutions are using data-driven technologies every day when choosing an appointment time for the GP, getting directions, or booking an Uber, but does the average person or business fully realise the potential of these algorithms?
Our Place Our Data suggests not. For businesses, there are too many high-level frameworks and not enough practical guidance at the local level on how to use data and AI to grow their services and product offerings. This is especially the case for SME’s that made up over 99% of all businesses operating in the UK in 2020.
Furthermore, as shown by examples in a number of countries throughout the Covid-19 crisis, there is a lack of trust around the use of ‘mutant algorithms’, making businesses and organisations nervous about incorporating AI into their products and services.
The report highlights the ethical issues around capturing data on a large scale, for example to ensure that systems such as facial or voice recognition can cater to all communities. If incorrectly designed, without testing within the community, AI can produce perverse outcomes.
Covid-19 has also shown the transformation the use of big-data can make to our lives, with the accelerated development of multiple vaccines, so imagine the possibilities if we incorporated these technologies in homes and local businesses around the UK.
Our Place Our Data suggests the UK holds the potential to become a global leader in data-driven technology practices, but critical actions must be taken at governmental and local levels to gain the trust of communities that algorithms have historically disadvantaged.
AI can push us forward as we embark along the road to a Covid-19 recovery but to do so, local and government bodies must create an ethical, transparent, and democratic approach to designing and implementing these technologies across the board.
The report launch featuring policy and academic experts such as Daniel Zeichner MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Data Analytics (APGDA), Dr Keeley Crockett, Reader in Computational Intelligence at Manchester Metropolitan University, Floriane Fidegnon, Head of Industry, Technology & Innovation at Policy Connect, and Lord Chris Holmes, House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Roger Taylor, Chair, Centre for Data Ethics & Innovation (CDEI).
The landmark report will launch at 10:30 on Thursday, the 1st of April. Hear more on AI, lessons learned from Covid-19, and case studies of local data-driven strategies in the UK.
To register for the launch, please RSVP via this link.