Transparency data

Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation Minutes - Board Meeting 11

Updated 12 October 2023

This transparency data was withdrawn on 16 October 2023

This content is no longer current. The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) Advisory Board closed on 9 September 2023.

19th March 2020

Remote Board Meeting^{[footnote 1]}

Attendees (dialling in)

• Roger Taylor (RT)
• Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft (SC)
• Prof Luciano Floridi (LF)
• Dame Patricia Hodgson (PH)
• Dr Susan Liautaud (SL)
• Baroness Kate Rock (KR)
• Dame Glenys Stacey (GS)
• Prof Lord Robert Winston (RW)
• Dr Adrian Weller (AW)
• Edwina Dunn (ED)
• James Snook (JS) - Joined for Item 2 to provide an update on the DCMS Data Directorate’s response to COVID-19

Apologies:

• Kriti Sharma (KS)
• Richard Sargeant (RS)

Observers (CDEI staff for sections of the meeting relevant to their work):

• Ollie Buckley (OB)
• Louise Pakseresht (LP)
• Mark Durkee (MD)
• Alexander Lawrence-Archer (ALA)
• Ben Lyons (BL)
• Benedict Dellot (BD)
• CDEI Team Members

Item 1: Chair’s Welcome

The Chair (RT) welcomed the Board to the remote meeting. Apologies were given by RS and KS. JS was also invited to the first part of the meeting to discuss with Board Members the wider DCMS response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Declaration of interests:

• There were no declared interests.

Minutes from previous Board meeting:

• Board approved the minutes from the previous Board meeting.

Actions:

• CDEI to publish the minutes on gov.uk.

Item 2: Covid-19 Updates

The Chair invited the DCMS Director for Data Policy and the CDEI Executive Director to provide an update on the DCMS wide perspective and CDEI response to Covid-19. Director for Data Policy’s update:

• JS provided a DCMS wide update on the current reconfiguration of government in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including relevant staff changes and DCMS responsibilities in crisis response;
• The Board held a discussion on the current challenges facing government and society; there was general agreement amongst Board Members that the CDEI can be useful in thinking about the role of data-driven technology in rebuilding and resilience in the aftermath of Covid-19.

Executive Director’s update:

• OB provided an update on the known and potential impacts of Covid-19 on the CDEI staff and workstreams, as well as risk mitigations, including working from home, the wellbeing and mental health of staff, an update on recruitment and having new starters join amidst Covid-19, possible CDEI staff reallocation within DCMS and how best to prioritise current workstreams. OB also mentioned that CDEI is actively identifying ways in which the teams can contribute to the wider pandemic response;
• The Board agreed to the proposition that CDEI should not be publishing major outputs at this time and should instead be focusing on the new priorities. The Chair invited BL to provide an update on CDEI’s engagement with NHSX. A follow up discussion ensued on CDEI’s role relating to the pandemic and key ways in which data-driven technology can address Covid-19 and associated ethical issues.

Actions:

• CDEI to add the suggestions made by the Board in the CDEI Coronavirus Response paper and scope out the appetite from wider government.

Item 3: Bias Review

The Bias Review team provided an update on the report progress and sought agreement from the Board on the overall tone, key findings and recommendations of the review, as well as the publication date, noting that final Board sign-off will be done by correspondence.

• On the publication date, the Board was in agreement with postponing the publication date of the review owing to the pandemic, but that it should be ready for publication at any point, pending a few outstanding stakeholder conversations and board sign-off of a final version;
• On the overall tone and key messages, the Board held a discussion on the narrative of the review, a need to differentiate between data and algorithms as well as greater contextualisation, noting that fairness is not a universal concept; Furthermore, the discussion considered the current gap in centralised guidance and the potential for CDEI to inform best practice on regulation across sectors;
• The Board also underlined the importance of recognising that this is a fast moving space and that CDEI should ensure the document is updated to reflect changes in regulation and national auditing mechanisms.

Actions:

• CDEI to incorporate Board comments into the bias review and communications strategy in a subsequent draft subject to Board approval.

Item 4: Work Programme 2020/21

OB provided an update on the initial engagement to secure agreement from the Secretary of State on the CDEI strategy and the budget review process prior to the pandemic, and acknowledged that timelines for agreeing and signing-off the work programme will be postponed due to Covid-19. The Board was in general agreement on this issue.

Item 5: Diversity & Inclusion

OB recognised that CDEI is committed to diversity & inclusion both across CDEI’s workstreams and organisation, including CDEI internal recruitment processes. OB also mentioned that the teams are currently actively thinking about how best to work with Board members on this, particularly in regards to external communications and engagement.

Item 6: AOB and Closing

1. 1 The Board meeting happened remotely via online video conference due to Government guidance to work from home, in response to Covid-19, coming into effect from 17th March. ↩