In the era of digitalisation, where you have a virtual identity, who is to say that your data and personal information will not be leaked publicly or it won’t be sold off to anyone? Every time you log into your social media account, or link your Gmail to any other website or app to login, all your personal information is accessible by the app. You use fingerprint or face unlock feature in your phones or computers and that data gets stored in the company’s database. And you don’t know how that information can or will be used. Digitalisation and ethics should always go hand in hand.
Cyber-security is a big concern in today’s virtual world where everything we do, starting from a normal message you send to your bank activity or social media presence is easily traceable. Your data, no matter how secure, can be easily hacked and sold to the highest bidder. As the organisations focus on bringing forward the next best technology and staying ahead of its competitors, security concerns might get overlooked.
Ethics are and always been an integral part of any successful business, be it small or big. An organisation which is ethically responsible will always automatically have the trust of its customers and that leads to a strong customer base. Organisation willing to compromise on ethics for their profit, sooner or later lose the faith of the people, and are thrown out of the market.
With the advancement of artificial intelligence and new technologies being developed every day, Northeastern University’s professors, Ron Sandler and John Basl, team up with Accenture to develop a committee to overlook the operations and make sure that these practices are ethical.
“If you want to build a committee that works effectively and if you really want to build ethical capacity within an organisation, it’s a significant undertaking where you can’t just throw together a few people with ethical expertise,” says Sandler. Basl added, “We lay out the kinds of experts an organisation will need – someone who knows local laws, someone who knows ethics, a variety of technical experts, and members of an affected community. Who those individuals are, or what their particular expertise is, depends on the kind of technology being developed and deployed.”
Anushka Singh