Money, Power and Data: What Are the Ethical Challenges in Sharing Humanitarian Data?

New York City - February 28 - RSVP Now

The World Food Programme (WFP) recently announced a 45 million-dollar partnership with the data analytics firm Palantir, which sparked intense criticism.

The partnership raises serious issues that the WFP seems to be taking steps to address. But these issues are bigger than WFP and Palantir, and this vocal criticism serve as a both a challenge and an opportunity for the entire humanitarian sector.

As noted by the Responsible Data Forum and others working in the humanitarian data space, humanitarians have become increasingly reliant on digital data and third-party partnerships to collect and process it to create operational impact. As some have pointed out, this is partly because the not-for-profit sector lacks the budget and skills to develop these capacities in-house.

If the humanitarian sector continues working with private sector data partners (which it certainly will), it’s urgent to put in place an ecosystem for doing this responsibly, including policies, procedures, capacities, and accountability mechanisms that ensure that core humanitarian principles, human rights standards, and data regulations govern these partnerships.

Please RSVP now to join these noted thought leaders for a lively discussion on the ethics of sharing humanitarian data:

Laura Walker McDonald, Global Alliance for Humanitarian Innovation
Nathaniel Raymond, Jackson Institute of Global Affairs, Yale University
Linda Raftree, Consultant, Responsible Data

Please RSVP now to discuss how the humanitarian sector should improve its frameworks and standards for data partnerships with the private sector, and how concerned parties can raise and tackle these issues from inside humanitarian organizations.

Key questions up for debate include:

Why are humanitarian organizations creating data analysis partnerships with private companies? What is the political economy behind these partnerships?
What are the operational, legal, and ethical challenges to these partnerships? What can humanitarian organizations due during the negotiation process to reduce risk to vulnerable individuals and groups?
What responsibility does the sector have in preemptively mitigating potential harms? How can we hold all organizations accountable in these partnerships? What strategies can we use to improve or, if necessary, call off partnerships that are problematic?
How can we ensure that both paid and ‘in kind’ donations receive the same treatment when it comes to due diligence, scrutiny, and data sharing?
How can the wider sector work together to move forward with standards, frameworks, and greater accountability for humanitarian data partnerships?

We'll have hot coffee and breakfast treats for a morning rush. Seating is limited so please RSVP now. Once we reach our 35-person capacity there will be a waiting list!

Ethics of Humanitarian Data
February Technology Salon
9:00-11:00am
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Manhattan, New York, NY

About the Technology Salon

The Technology Salon™ is an intimate, informal, and in person, discussion between information and communication technology experts and international development professionals, with a focus on both:

technology's impact on donor-sponsored technical assistance delivery, and
private enterprise driven economic development, facilitated by technology.

Our meetings are lively conversations, not boring presentations, and frank participation with ideas, opinions, and predictions is actively encouraged.

It's also a great opportunity to meet others motivated to employ technology to solve vexing development problems. Join us today!