Digi­tal ethics: a stra­te­gic issue for chari­ties that will shape our future

No matter whether you are brow­sing the inter­net or making a payment with your credit card, our networked world means that we leave a digi­tal foot­print ever­y­where we go. This increa­ses the risk that we will lose a substan­tial amount of privacy, and, by exten­sion, control over our digi­tal iden­tity, too. This is paired with new chal­lenges on a socie­tal level, such as job losses, incre­asing social surveil­lance or fake news and hate speech.

But in whose inte­rests is it to ensure that as many people as possi­ble can bene­fit from digi­ta­li­sa­tion? Who is suffi­ci­ently inde­pen­dent to stand up to the world of busi­ness? And who has access to the finan­cial resour­ces needed for this? Chari­ties! As a matter of urgency, we need invest­ments in projects and orga­ni­sa­ti­ons that will contri­bute to turning digi­ta­li­sa­tion into an oppor­tu­nity. Here are four examples:

Reduce mani­pu­la­tion by incre­asing education

Lots of people are worried that arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence and digi­ta­li­sa­tion will soon do away with their jobs. And as we know, worry­ing never solves anything. We need an educa­tio­nal campaign that will prepare indi­vi­du­als for this and equip them to face the chan­ges ahead, helping them to make the most of their perso­nal free­dom as private indi­vi­du­als, consu­mers and citi­zens. Free, prac­ti­cal educa­tio­nal program­mes for people of all ages and at all levels in society could play a key role here. Program­mes desi­gned for teachers and their clas­ses would also be ideal, as cantons and muni­ci­pa­li­ties do not have the funds available for this.

Reduce discri­mi­na­tion by incre­asing diversity

There is no doubt that we will be able to use our voices to accom­plish all kinds of tasks in the future. It is easy, quick, and provi­des great relief for people who struggle with reading and writing. Howe­ver, a study by UNESCO shows that virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri and their ilk cement outda­ted clichés about gender roles. We need to increase diver­sity at every level. This would also prevent unde­si­red bias and discri­mi­na­tion in the use of arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI), which is alre­ady a major socie­tal problem, accor­ding to the AI Now Insti­tute at New York University.

Reduce partis­an­ship by incre­asing civil society

The lack of an even play­ing field in the poli­ti­cal sphere puts demo­cracy at risk. Poli­ti­cal parties and autho­ri­ties alike are still getting to grips with the new mecha­nisms of digi­ta­li­sa­tion, rely­ing on compa­nies’ know­ledge as far as regu­la­ti­ons rela­ting to the digi­tal world are concer­ned. There is a lack of poli­ti­cal stake­hol­ders who feel obli­ged to work in the inte­rests of the common good when it comes to topics connec­ted to digi­ta­li­sa­tion, such as data protec­tion, net neutra­lity or e‑IDs. There are some orga­ni­sa­ti­ons in this field, like the Digi­tale Gesell­schaft asso­cia­tion and the Stif­tung für Konsu­men­ten­schutz charity, but they do not have enough resour­ces to really be able to sit at the table.

Reduce envi­ron­men­tal destruc­tion by incre­asing sustainability

If digi­tal change is not actively shaped by poli­tics, it will acce­le­rate our use of resour­ces and energy and, in turn, speed up the planet’s destruc­tion. This is the conclu­sion drawn by the German Advi­sory Coun­cil on Global Change (WBGU). A study by TWI2050, an inter­na­tio­nal rese­arch initia­tive, confirms this, refer­ring to a selec­tion of areas such as health, educa­tion, conser­va­tion and climate protec­tion. Digi­ta­li­sa­tion must be aligned with the Sustainable Deve­lo­p­ment Goals, other­wise the problems we alre­ady have will simply get worse.

Chari­ties meet all the requi­re­ments for giving civil society a voice and actively play­ing a role in shaping the histo­ric process of change to the bene­fit of the grea­ter good. Howe­ver, people can only make an impact if they under­stand the dyna­mics of data-based busi­ness models, new approa­ches to commu­ni­ca­tion and consu­mer beha­viours as well as the oppor­tu­ni­ties and limits of new tech­no­lo­gies such as big data and arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence. This is why chari­ties should not just realign their funding focus; they should also invest in their own ethi­cal compass and their employees’ know­ledge. They also need to be aware that the era of constant change has only just been rung in.

Trend­ra­dar Digi­tale Ethik
As a reader of The Philanthropist, you can enjoy a special discount of 40 percent off an annual subscrip­tion until 30 Novem­ber 2019. Trend­ra­dar Digi­tale Ethik is published monthly. Special offer: 3,900 Swiss francs, exclu­sive of VAT, via www.digitalresponsibility.ch

Quel­len 

UNESCO: “I’d blush if I could” (2019)

AI Now Insti­tute: “Discri­mi­na­ting Systems. Gender, Race, and Power in AI” (2019)

WBGU: “Unsere gemein­same digi­tale Zukunft” (2019)

TWI2050: “The Digi­tal Revo­lu­tion and Sustainable Deve­lo­p­ment: Oppor­tu­ni­ties and Chal­lenges” (2019)