A friend of mine I went to high school with came round to visit me over the long weekend. A lot has changed since we finished high school back in 2007. We were reminiscing about our time together playing school sport, when we were so excited to get the latest Nokia 7210 mobile phone that had colour and camera, some vintage laptops we were using in our IT classes that would be prehistoric in todays & overarching, the learning challenges we used to encounter in those IT classes!
This is not a story about why we had those challenges, however the thought created a correlation, not causation, for the now and world we live in. The very first class we had, our teacher wrote the definition of data: raw quantitative inputs that were gathered through research or review of events. This definition was very different to another important fundamental of our class, information: a meaningful organisation of data that has been subjected to analysis, review, subjectivity & decision-making. 2 different principles that measured the past. Fast forward 13 years where 5 billion gigabytes are being recorded every 10 seconds and my location can be tracked through a device I rely on, the question now begs: Does an IT class in high school in 2021 teach students about the importance of data ethics?
The field of data ethics has emerged due to the fact that we have more connected data-garnering devices on the planet than there are human beings. IT classes over a decade ago were preparing students for what was to come. The advancement in technology, flying cars, virtual computer games and robotics becoming part of our every day life. Through a variety of forms, be it opportunity data or administrative data, our curriculum was centred on the positivity that technology will bring to our future. No doubt, it has delivered on that…but at what cost?
As DJ Patil, former US data scientist once said ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. Data driven practices in todays era can assist both aspects of life. For example, for the individual data driven approaches can help manage health and well being on a more proactive basis, reducing the risk of curable disease being cause of prolonged illness. Publicly, it can help regulate industries and improve competition and ethical practices. Banks can make better credit decisions based on insights like never before. But here is the catch: if these practices can help inform a bank of an individual, access their spending & lifestyle habits, to their detriment the individual will unlikely be ineligible for credit, even though they are fully employed, have steady income and a strong financial overall position. The ethics that surround an every-day scenario is questionable.
In high school, subjects are broad and are applicable to many industries that create our livelihoods. Real estate, construction, medicine, financial services just to name a few. All industries that have designated jobs, careers, a reputation, a contributor to the greater good, case studies that have shaped its history, therefore knowing what's right and wrong and required for success. What about data? An industry of its own that is rapidly evolving each second of the day with responsibility and accountability becoming greater and greater. How does one get a job in the data industry? What ethics and compliance policies are organisations within the industry bound by? We often see banks in the news for the wrong reasons due to poor practices relating to lending and a royal commission was formed. Is the data industry exempt?
My friend and I wrapped our conversation with a reflection. He was holding his son who was not even 1 year old. I said to my friend, ‘mate you think today we have it tough in this complicated world, imagine the world your son is going to be navigating through in 20 years time’. 13 years on from my first IT class, the distinct principles of data has changed and led to dramatic complications. As political & legal layers continue to intervene, we can only hope that ethics and morality are at the core curriculum of the students of tomorrow for the better of our future.
