Doteveryone's Trustworthy Tech Partner program launch at Civic Hall
1. Fighting for a fairer internetFighting for a fairer internet
doteveryone.org.uk
@doteveryoneuk
@LaurieJ
2. Fighting for a fairer internetFighting for a fairer internet
doteveryone.org.uk
@doteveryoneuk
@LaurieJ
3. Fighting for a fairer internetFighting for a fairer internet
doteveryone.org.uk @doteveryoneuk
4.
5. Responsible technology
Exploring ways to get more responsible and ethical
technology in the world, to create a positive future
where digital technologies are useful, trusted and
trustworthy.
6. Responsible technology
Exploring ways to get more responsible and ethical
technology in the world, to create a positive future
where digital technologies are useful, trusted and
trustworthy.
7. Write down one thing you love
about technology today on a post-it
and one thing that worries you
about technology today on a post-it
and share with your neighbor
11. – Onora O’Neill
“Those who want others’ trust have to do two things.
First, they have to be trustworthy, which requires
competence, honesty and reliability.
Second, they have to provide intelligible evidence that
they are trustworthy, enabling others to judge
intelligently where they should place or refuse
their trust..”
12. • a voluntary scheme
• a mark or indicator of some sort
• backed by an open evidence base
• values-based criteria
• business and technical aspects
Trustworthy tech mark concept
13. • a voluntary scheme
• a mark or indicator of some sort
• backed by an open evidence base
• values-based criteria
• business and technical aspects
Trustworthy tech mark concept
15. Business models, ownership and control
The business model, and the ownership and
control of the organisation, and the product or
service, are responsible and appropriate
Employment and working conditions
Inclusive employment, fair pay and conditions,
including at suppliers
Reward for contributions
Fair reward to all those contributing information
or other effort
Societal impact
The impact of the tech on public/societal value is
positive or neutral
Unintended consequences
There has been consideration of systems effects,
side effects, potential harms and unintended
consequences
Maintenance, service and support
Consideration of maintenance, service and support
over the long term
Understandability
People can easily find out and understand how the
product/service works
Standards and best practice
Relevant tech standards and best practices, and
systems design are used and evident
Usability
If a broad range of users are expected, or if some
users may be compelled to use the product or service,
it should be accessible and have appropriate support
Context and Environment
The context of the system, product or service has
been considered and addressed appropriately;
including sustainability considerations
16. Business models, ownership and control
The business model, and the ownership and
control of the organisation, and the product or
service, are responsible and appropriate
Employment and working conditions
Inclusive employment, fair pay and conditions,
including at suppliers
Reward for contributions
Fair reward to all those contributing information
or other effort
Societal impact
The impact of the tech on public/societal value is
positive or neutral
Unintended consequences
There has been consideration of systems effects,
side effects, potential harms and unintended
consequences
Maintenance, service and support
Consideration of maintenance, service and support
over the long term
Understandability
People can easily find out and understand how the
product/service works
Standards and best practice
Relevant tech standards and best practices, and
systems design are used and evident
Usability
If a broad range of users are expected, or if some
users may be compelled to use the product or service,
it should be accessible and have appropriate support
Context and Environment
The context of the system, product or service has
been considered and addressed appropriately;
including sustainability considerations
17. Business models, ownership and control
The business model, and the ownership and
control of the organisation, and the product or
service, are responsible and appropriate
Employment and working conditions
Inclusive employment, fair pay and conditions,
including at suppliers
Reward for contributions
Fair reward to all those contributing information
or other effort
Societal impact
The impact of the tech on public/societal value is
positive or neutral
Unintended consequences
There has been consideration of systems effects,
side effects, potential harms and unintended
consequences
Maintenance, service and support
Consideration of maintenance, service and support
over the long term
Understandability
People can easily find out and understand how the
product/service works
Standards and best practice
Relevant tech standards and best practices, and
systems design are used and evident
Usability
If a broad range of users are expected, or if some
users may be compelled to use the product or service,
it should be accessible and have appropriate support
Context and Environment
The context of the system, product or service has
been considered and addressed appropriately;
including sustainability considerations
18. discuss:
how important is being responsible
and ethical in your organisation?
do your customers / potential
customers value this sort of thing?
what are the obstacles to being
responsible and ethical?
19. discuss:
how important is being responsible and ethical in your
organisation?
do your customers / potential customers value this sort of
thing?
what are the obstacles to being responsible and ethical?
Feedback - one idea per postit, about each of:
a quote or example that demonstrates how important this is to
your organisation
a quote or example showing how customers value (or don’t
value!) responsible and ethical practices
an obstacle you’ve encountered to being ethical/responsible
21. • launch event (today!)
• meetings to discuss in detail if needed; sign ups
• program launch 20th November
• main program November - January
• 10 exercises
• reflections on processes and practices
• capturing evidence in a repository
• Slack community
• office hours
• Documentation review (January - February)
• Wrap up meeting with each organisation (February)
22. • The level of ethical and trustworthy performance
• The evidence to support this performance, and how
useful it is to demonstrate reliability and honesty and
competence
to someone outside the organisation
• The effort taken to produce the evidence, and the
experience of gathering this (as a prototype of taking
part in a future trustmark process, and what that
might be like).
what we’ll review the evidence for
23. What we hope to learn
• Do the 10 aspects of responsible technology align with your
thinking about ethics and trustworthiness?
• Or with your experiences of what your customers expect?
• Is producing documentation of this sort useful for demonstrating
trustworthiness to current or potential consumers?
• Does this process help you learn about your performance?
• Does this process help you spot ways to act more responsibly?
• Does it take a reasonable & proportionate effort to document
things? What support is needed?
• Are there obstacles to working responsibly that we’re unaware of?
• How does this idea for a trustmark process compare to other
marks, standards, certifications and pledges which are used in the
technology sector, in ethical business, and related areas?
24. • structured way to review your ethical and responsible
performance and get independent external feedback
• show your customers/investors/stakeholders that being
trustworthy is important to you
• profile-raising via Doteveryone network
• help kickstart the movement to more trustworthy tech
• free advice and support from Doteveryone team
why take part
Hi I’m Laura James from Doteveryone
Thank you for coming to this brunch!
Doteveryone is a think tank based in London. We believe our digital society – the ways we live and work together in the 21st century – should be just as important as our digital economy. That’s why we’re fighting for a fairer internet: one we can all understand and help shape for the future.
We explore how technology is changing society, build proofs of concept to show it could be better for all, and partner with other organisations to provoke and deliver mainstream change.
our work is rooted in 3 key areas, and I lead our work on responsible technology
We have a unique perspective here -
● We want to see responsible creation and operation of technologies in practice, not just theoretical frameworks
We take a systems perspective, looking at technology products, services and systems and how they fit with people and society, not just specific niche fields such as ethical AI
● We value the human side alongside the power of technology
We’re looking at a variety of levers for change around responsible tech.
We started exploring the idea of what a consumer trustmark might look like to indicate responsible and trustworthy digital products and services which reflect people’s values. Folks talking to us about tech talk about things like creepiness, and powerlessness, hence the values focus. A lot of tech isn’t seen as trustworthy today
and actually a lot of tech isn’t trustworthy. apps that leak data; IOT devices that record stuff in your home without you realising; systems that break at critical moments; huge security breaches.
a mark would need to offer value to those who make technology, by enabling them to demonstrate their responsible/ethical credentials and efforts; and value to consumers who can make more informed choices about what technologies to use. This means making ethical and responsible digital tech activity not just more worthy, but easier and more valuable to organisations too.
inspired by this quote, we’ve been thinking about how organisations might demonstrate their trustworthiness. To those who might govern a trust mark around these issues; to consumers and potential customers; to consumer groups and review sites.
Our current plans draw on learning from other marks and schemes, aiming to be lightweight, scalable and also testable. Specifically we want to address the variety and complexity of digital tech, and the speed of change and adaptation (a product may receive software updates on the device, in an app, on a server, on a frequent basis - so a certification at a single point in time seems less useful). We also take a systems approach - looking at business and technical - as these are intertwined in digital tech.
We think the open evidence base could be an important part of demonstrating trustworthiness. A place where organisations can show their credentials and practices, which can be checked by consumers or retailers or advocacy groups or others, which can be kept up to date, linked to live data elsewhere, showing how organisations and products evolve. This also allows organisations to surface and talk about the grey areas, the tradeoffs, in responsible tech. Because things are rarely black and white. (fairphone example)
So what would the trust mark look at? Evidence of what?
Responsible technology includes how it is designed, built, operated and maintained. We’ve identified 10 aspects covering business and tech areas.
these are our ten areas. you can see how they cut across tech and business. a contribution of value might be me providing data about myself, but it’s also intrinsic to the business model.
In the trustworthy tech partners program, we’re exploring how organisations could demonstrate their performance in each of these areas. Just as they would if there were a trustworthy tech mark. Exploring what evidence can be provided and how much effort it is; and how useful it is to an external reviewer - does it demonstrate honesty, competence and reliability?
In the partners program we’re prototyping the trust mark idea and the evidence repository, to see what works in practice. We launched programs with B Corps UK and Bethnal Green ventures in the UK in October, and we’re about to start a program with Civic Hall here - which I hope some of you might join.
this is the plan for this programme
the exercises should be fun as well as useful, an opportunity to look at your setup and to think about it in ethical terms, to see what evidence you could provide to demonstrate your trustworthiness, and maybe some areas you could improve in the future. We think the exercises will take a few hours a week and if they need more you should feel free to stop! we don’t want to overload you, we know building tech is a busy business. we’ll have ongoing support for you of course, and we hope that we’ll have useful feedback for you in February as well as hearing from you about what the process was like.
when all the exercises are done, these are the things Doteveryone will be looking for. We will be working out some of the details of the mark idea - like whether it’s a yes/no, or a bronze/silver/gold, or a percentage score - based on what sort of performances we see. and we’ll think about whether gathering evidence for trustworthiness is a reasonable effort, and whether it offers value to an external stakeholder.
and these are some of the other things we hope to learn from the process. We hope we can help each of you in working ethically and showcasing to potential and current customers that you do, and we’ll also be learning a lot from you.
the program can take as much or little time as you want. It could be a few hours a week, or you could time box it to less and focus on the most critical questions.
this work won’t answer all the questions - about consumer response and how a mark, or the evidence base system, could operate at large scale with a sustainable model itself. we’ll be working on some other things in parallel and of course if the trial works well there will be more work afterwards to take it forwards.
thanks all for being here, and I hope many of you will join us on this journey and sign up for the trial this week :)