ICT technology has proven potential to reduce disaster risks and support the response to crises. however, even though there are approaches for responsible research and innovation and recommendations on how to use ICT, there is a lack of standardisation and guidance on ethical, legal, and social issues that integrates the perspectives of researchers, technology developers, end users, and society at large.
isITethical? is a knowledge hub for diverse parties involved in promoting security in European societies with a commitment to European values and fundamental rights. The overarching rationale of the project is to support European societies’ need to effectively balance the benefits of ICT with values of democracy and fundamental rights, especially privacy and data protection, and to provide cyber security.
isITethical? builds upon work in the FP7 funded EU Projects BRIDGE and SecInCoRe. The project is currently funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund.
isITethical? captures knowledge about existing and emerging ethical tensions, regulatory frameworks, and responses in an open transnational knowledge base.
The project facilitates broad-based dialogue and make this knowledge actionable through a community platform that provides examples of pro-active practice, technological design, and regulatory responses. We are developing processes and ideas for standardisation and certification for products and services that would adhere to ethical standards. The isITethical? platform is being developed as a result of a series of stakeholder workshops across Europe. It is designed to underpin the development of a more broadly conceived Hub for responsible ICT research and innovation.
A working prototype platform exists at www.isitethical.eu
