Digital Ethics: Can we do better?

WORKSHOP

On the 15th of June, Institut Mines-Télécom/Télécom SudParis will host an online workshop on Digital Ethics.

The programme is yet to be confirmed, but will include presentations from researchers, teachers, journalists, politicians and industry professionals to discuss the topic “Can we do better in Digital Ethics?

The workshop will also include a poster presentation by students from different European Universities.

Registration is closed

You didn't get to participate in the event? Recordings and slides are available below!

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE?

If you’re working in Higher Education, either as a lecturer, professor, researcher, or PhD student, and have an interest in Digital Ethics, this event is for you! If you are thinking of introducing Digital Ethics lectures in your modules/courses, this event will give you insights on how to do it in a pragmatic, case study based way

The workshop might also be of interest to students in Computer Science Faculties that feel Digital Ethics should be introduced in their courses or that wish to understand its importance.

ARE YOU A STUDENT?

If you are an undergraduate, graduate or postgraduate student, you are invited to submit a poster under the broad theme of “Digital Ethics: can we do better?”.

Download the competition rules and the poster template to get started!

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Alessandra Bagnato

Dr. Alessandra Bagnato is a research scientist and the Head of Modelio Research Unit in Softeam Software (Docaposte Group). She holds a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from Télécom SudParis and Université Evry Val d’Essonne, France and a MSc in Computer Science from the University of Genoa, Italy. At SOFTEAM, she leads the Softeam Software Modelio team research activities around innovative model-driven engineering methods in Modelio workbench in the area of Cyber-Physical Systems, Cloud and Big Data (like ECSEL AIDOaRt, H2020 MORPHEMIC, H2020 Databio, H2020 CPSwarm, H2020 QRapids, H2020 CROSSMINER), GDPR and Privacy (H2020 PoSeID-on) and on measuring software engineering (ITEA 3 MEASURE).

Fatiha Zaïdi

Fatiha Zaïdi received the PhD degree in Computer Science from the University of Evry, France, in 2001, and the Habilitation degree in computer Science from Paris Sud University, France, in 2010. Since 2003, she is an associated professor at Paris Sud University (newly renamed Paris Saclay University). She has been the Ph.D. advisor of more than 10 Ph.D students. Her research activities address formal methods in the software development cycle and in particular model-based testing, runtime verification, attack tolerance framework and parameterized model checking for concurrent and distributed systems. She has developed passive monitoring technique to test centralized and distributed systems. She has been and she is still involved in research projects funded by the National French Agency and also European projects. She served as Program Committee member of high ranked conferences. She has also organised several conferences.

Jim Dratwa

Jim Dratwa’s research and publications address the interconnections between knowledge, values and action. He has served in several positions of responsibility in that regard at the European Commission, as member of BEPA (the Bureau of European Policy Advisers to the President), at the EPSC (the European Political Strategy Centre) and in the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. At the European Commission he heads the team tasked with Ethics in Science and New Technologies also in charge of the EGE (the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies), he is the Secretary-General of the EC International Dialogue on Ethics and Bioethics, and the EC representative in the international organisations dealing with the ethics and governance of new technologies. He holds degrees in physics, philosophy, politics and the life sciences, received the Fulbright Scholar Award, was Harvard Boas Fellow, Ramón y Cajal Scholar, and was pre- and post-doctoral Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, with the program on Science, Technology, and Society. He has taught at the Ecole des Mines de Paris, Sciences Po Paris, Harvard University, and the universities of Brussels, where he is currently based. It is under the Obama administration that he was made Global Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center, with fellows chosen based on their record achievements as authorities in their field. He is also Distinguished Scholar in Philosophy and in Science and Technologies Studies with the Free University of Brussels (VUB). Jim Dratwa is also an award-winning game designer and author. His latest game, Robby One, on human-machine relations and human-human relations, is out now. His latest book, What world do we want to live in together?, yes that really is what it’s about, is now out in French and coming out in English this winter.

Thomas Baudel

Thomas Baudel is research director at the IBM France development laboratory, and a member of the STIC doctoral college of University Paris-Saclay. Besides his work in Human-Computer Interaction for decision engineering, he teaches the class on Research Integrity, Research Ethics and Information Ethics for the doctoral school, which is now made available as an online MOOC: https://www.fun-mooc.fr/fr/cours/ethics-stics-scientific-integrity-research-ethics-information-et/ and has certified over 2000 students over the past few years.

AGENDA (all times displayed in CET)

14:00 Welcome – Paul Gibson & Stephane Maag (Télécom SudParis) & Dympna O’Sullivan (TU Dublin)

14:15 New Frontiers in decision engineering: Information Ethics as an engineering discipline – Dr. Thomas Baudel (IBM)

We present the motivation, design, outline and lessons learned from an online course in scientific integrity, research ethics and information ethics provided to over 2000 doctoral and engineering students in STEM fields, first at the University Paris-Saclay, and now expanded to an online MOOC available to students across the world, in English. Unlike a course in scientific domains, meant to provide students with methods, tools and concepts they can apply in their future career, the goal of such a training is not so much to equip them, but to make them aware of the impact of their work on society, care about the responsibilities that befall on them, and make them realize not all share the same opinions on how should technology imprint society. While we provide conceptual tools, this is more to sustain interest and engage students. We want them to debate on concrete ethical issues and realize the difficulty of reconciling positions on contemporary dilemma such as dematerialized intellectual property, freedom of expression online and its counterparts, the protection of our digital selves, the management of algorithmic decision, the control of autonomous systems, and the resolution of the digital divide. As a bold shortcut, our course is about introducing and motivating Hegelian dialectics in STEM curricula, usually more bent on an Aristotelian perspective.

14:35 Teaching Critical-Safety systems considering Digital Ethics – Dr. Fatiha Zaïdi (University Paris-Saclay)

In this talk, Fatiha will share her experience in teaching and research in formal methods and how ethics are to be considered. For critical-safety systems, how industry have to use formal methods in order to avoid life’s lost and to take into account ethical issues to leverage the efforts in driving formal methods and earn money. In case of attack tolerance systems, how ethical issues have to be considered as the system has to continue to work in presence of an attack. Moreover, in financial systems such as blockchains, how verifying smart contrats can help to avoid financial losts due to a flaw which can conduct to vulnerability. Is it ethical to earn money because of a flaw? Can we consider that in this case we are facing an attack?

15:00 Coffee break

15:15 What world do we want to live in together? Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and the Question of Europe – Dr. Jim Dratwa (European Commission)

Developing key themes of his latest book on Digital Ethics, Professor Jim Dratwa will take us on a collective thought experiment to unpack the twin transitions of ‘Green’ and ‘Digital’ in our context.

15:35 Digital Ethics in H2020 projects preparation – Dr. Alessandra Bagnato (Softeam)

For all activities funded by the European Union, Digital Ethics is an integral part of research from beginning to end. The talk will go through the different aspects to be taken into consideration from the conceptual stage of a project proposal through the whole project lifetime with examples from running projects.

16:15 Panel and Q&A – Dr. Fatiha Zaïdi, Dr. Thomas Baudel, Dr. Alessandra Bagnato, Dr. Dympna O’Sullivan, Dr. Jim Dratwa, Dr. Emma Murphy (TU Dublin)

16:35 Presentation of students’ posters

16:50 Voting for the best posters and winners announcement

17:00 End of the event

You didn't get to participate in the event? Here are the recording and slides!

Bagnato, A., “Digital Ethics in H2020 projects preparation”, Digital Ethics: Can we do better?, 15^th June 2021, Paris, France. Download slides

Zaïdi, F., “Teaching Critical-Safety systems considering Digital Ethics”, Digital Ethics: Can we do better?, 15^th June 2021, Paris, France. Download slides

Dratwa, J., “What world do we want to live in together? Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and the Question of Europe”, Digital Ethics: Can we do better?, 15^th June 2021, Paris, France. Download slides

Baudel, T., “Digital Ethics as an engineering discipline. Why do engineers & researchers now need to care about ethics?”, Digital Ethics: Can we do better?, 15^th June 2021, Paris, France. Download slides

Digital Ethics: Can we do better?