The Campaign for Data Ethics in Education

Central to the theme of Spatial Reserves and our book is ethics. Why? Because all mapping is laden with meaning. An important initiative on geo-ethics is the Campaign for Data Ethics in Education. The African Association of Universities (AAU), the University of Nottingham, and the Ethical Data Initiative launched the Campaign for Data Ethics in Education during 2023. The Campaign aims to highlight the importance of educating researchers and aspiring data practitioners about the ethical considerations involved in collecting, using, reusing, and storing data during their training.

“The Campaign advocates for the integration of data ethics in all higher education courses focused on data science and research. It aims to educate the next generation of data and research professionals about their legal and ethical obligations when it comes to using, reusing, and sharing data. In today’s increasingly connected and digitized world, data is everywhere, and its significance cannot be overstated. With the increasing prevalence of big data and artificial intelligence, it has become clear that data ethics is essential for both individuals and organizations. This is especially true in the field of scientific education and research. Therefore, it is crucial for universities to include data ethics in their curricula.”

Campaign partners actively support and advocate for the integration of data ethics in all research and data intensive higher education courses, with a view to educating researchers and aspiring data practitioners about the ethical considerations inherent in their work. One of the panel discussions is detailed here and another discussion is here. The latter includes the following pertinent items:

• Who owns our data? Who benefits from our data?
• How we might avoid the pitfalls of feudalism and colonialism in this new and constantly evolving landscape?
• Whether, and why, it might be time for data ethics to become an integral part of the education curriculum in schools and universities.
• How can we can build capacity for Data Ethics in universities and industry.

Details can be found here:  https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/campaign-for-data-ethics-in-education/ [ethicaldatainitiative.org] and here: https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/news/

What are your thoughts around this initiative? What projects do you think should the participants in this initiative tackle? What articles should be written that are still left unsaid?

–Joseph Kerski