Giving Compass' Take:

• Following the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, more humanitarians and philanthropists are concerned about data privacy. However, many are also examining the opportunities to use data collection to enhance development initiatives. 

• How can philanthropists and humanitarians collaborate to promote ethical data collection and technology advancement? How can we introduce technology that is safe for some of the world's most vulnerable people?

• Read more about the tech ethics. 

After making investments in “tech for good” at the philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network, Paula Goldman has since become focused on the unintended consequences of these technologies.

While some have said social media should be regulated like the tobacco industry, Goldman, vice president and global lead at the network’s Tech and Society Solutions Lab, said she thinks of the tech industry more like the automobile industry.

As a result of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, leaders at technology companies in Silicon Valley have come under pressure to identify ways to mitigate the threats their products could pose to society. Ethics around the use of technology in philanthropy were a key part of discussions at the forum, held in Redwood City, California, last week.

“While technologists provide extraordinary tools, it is up to society as a whole to establish the norms that govern their ethical use,” read the agenda. The funders and practitioners in attendance talked about how to tap into the potential of tools such as satellite imagery, blockchain, and artificial intelligence, while also talking about the risks, weighing the tradeoffs, and establishing the norms that will govern their ethical use.

Goldman asked what the philanthropists gathered in the room could do in order to get more of the tech industry to shift from treating data privacy as a defensive public relations exercise to working proactively because they see this in their business interest.

One recent example of collaborative philanthropy through technology was when Omidyar Network joined forces with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support Radiant.Earth, a platform that aims to gather the world’s geospatial data and make it accessible for humanitarian work.

But increasingly, leaders in the development community are also worried about the consequences emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics are likely to have on developing country workforces.

 

Read the full article about philanthropists affecting the potential of tech in development  by Catherine Cheney at Devex International Development