#ICTDEthics - Co-producing a set of minimum ethical standards for ICT4D/ICTD

Many different actors, including academics, NGOs and businesses carry out research in ICT4D/ICTD. While much of this research is carried out in a way which can be seen as broadly ethical, different communities of practice (and disciplines) have more or less codified ethical standards. In recent years there have been individual examples of problematic research practice (for example around consent, relations with local communities, participant privacy, scientific rigour, selective reporting of findings etc) which have led to calls for a set of agreed minimum ethical standards for ICT4D/ICTD research.

Following such calls at the ICTD2015 conference in Singapore, the #ICTDEthics initiative set out to facilitate among the global ICT4D/ICTD research community a participatory process to develop such standards. The following steps have been taken (see blog: https://ictdethics.wordpress.com/ ):

1. 7 ethical frameworks from related fields have been collated

2. In a participatory workshop at the ICTD2016 conference in Ann Arbor with 30+ researchers, these were sifted to filter out items which were endorsed, rejected or raised for discussion

3. We now are seeking in regional workshops to discuss the key issues that have been identified (of which the London workshop is one)

4. A proposed text for minimum ethical standards is to be presented at ICTD2017 in Lahore (November 2017)

In this participatory workshop we invite members of the London ICT4D MeetUp community from academic, NGO, business, policy and other backgrounds to input to help shape a set of minimum ethical standards for ICT4D/ICTD research.

Dorothea Kleine & Andy Dearden (co-facilitators, the #ICTDEthics initiative)

Info:

Dorothea Kleine is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Sheffield and leads the Digital Technologies, Data and Innovation Research Theme group at the Sheffield Institute for International Development which brings together 22 academics and PhD students. http://siid.group.shef.ac.uk/team/prof-dorothea-kleine/

Andy Dearden is Professor of Interactive Systems Design in the Communication & Computing Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University. His work explores the interplay of participatory technology design and participatory approaches to development.

http://research.shu.ac.uk/lab4living/about/people/professor-andy-dearden

The location for this meetup is forthcoming but shall be somewhere central. We will share details as soon as possible. Hope to see you all there!

Your ICT4D Meetup Organizers,

Ronda, Lauren, and Tony