CW500 Interview: Roger Taylor, chair of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation

An increasingly debated topic, both in and outside of the technology sector, is the introduction of sustainability and ethics in the business world. As the general public become more conscious of their impact on the world, they expect the businesses they work for and buy from to be equally as concerned with ethics and sustainability. 

In this CW500 video, Roger Taylor, chair for the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, talks about ethics and sustainability in IT and what this means to IT leaders. 

He answers questions from Computer Weekly's editor-in-chief, Bryan Glick, such as:

Why do we need a Centre for Data Ethics?

How does the Centre plan to address the huge challenge of ethics and data?

What advice would Taylor give a CIO or CTO about the ethics of collecting and using data?

Taylor claims the government has “woken up” to the fact these new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are becoming more frequent, but regulations for these new technologies is not up to scratch. But regulation and standards should not be rushed, which is why the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation exists as an independent body to identify how to use these new systems safely for the benefit of population. Its aim is to identify what governance, rights and regulations will be needed to help the public and businesses better use these technologies. 

He warns this problem won’t go away, it has to be dealt with, and it makes good business sense to start thinking about it now.