The following principles form the substantive guideline for the work of the Knowledge Centre Data & Society (KCDS). They constitute the lens through which the KCDS achieves its mission and objectives.
Principles
- Innovation is not just about technological progress or economic growth, but also about the way people live and work. Technology only has true value when it also contributes to societal progress.
- People and technology are strongly intertwined. Therefore, the KCDS looks not only at what a technology can do, but above all at how people and technology are best aligned.
- The success of an innovation depends on both economic and societal factors. The KCDS is convinced that innovations that are legally and socially responsible often yield more value, both for the organisation and for society.
- Innovations are not neutral: their benefits and risks are not always distributed fairly. Therefore, the KCDS also considers those who are less heard during the development of new applications (such as employees, vulnerable users or smaller organisations) and provides companies and policymakers with ways to incorporate those perspectives.
- Ethics operates on multiple levels. The KCDS looks not only at an application itself, but also at the context in which it is used: the organisation, the policy or the underlying infrastructure.
- Ethics is not just a matter for experts. The KCDS creates materials and tools that enable non-specialised employees and organisations to engage with ethics in innovation themselves.
- Ethics is not a checklist or a quality mark that concludes the discussion, but an ongoing conversation with colleagues and stakeholders. The same logic applies to the KCDS’s measurement scales and assessments: resources that open and structure that conversation rather than act as a final judgement.
- New technologies create new possibilities, but no ready-made answers. With high-impact technologies such as AI, consciously choosing how they are used is also a moral responsibility. The KCDS helps organisations and policymakers make well-considered choices.
- The future is not set in stone. Therefore, the KCDS is already exploring today what the handling of data and AI might look like in the future, to help guide policy and innovation.
- The KCDS takes a critical yet constructive approach to innovations. It does not approve or reject, but uses a constructive mindset to seek improvement.
- The KCDS is committed to digital regulations that are not only well-substantiated, but also understandable, feasible in practice, and aimed at sustainable solutions.