Article by P. Alison Paprica et al: “As the volume and variety of data about people increases, so does the number of ideas about how data might be used. Studies show that many people want their data to be used for public benefit.
However, the research also shows that public support for use of data is conditional, and only given when risks such as those related to privacy, commercial exploitation and artificial intelligence misuse are addressed.
It takes a lot of work for organizations to establish data governance and management practices that mitigate risks while also encouraging beneficial uses of data. So much so, that it can be challenging for responsible organizations to communicate their data trustworthiness without providing an overwhelming amount of technical and legal details.
To address this challenge our team undertook a multiyear project to identify, refine and publish a short list of essential requirements for responsible data stewardship.
Our 15 minimum specification requirements (min specs) are based on a review of the scientific literature and the practices of 23 different data-focused organizations and initiatives.
As part of our project, we compiled over 70 public resources, including examples of organizations that address the full list of min specs: ICES, the Hartford Data Collaborative and the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training.
Our hope is that information related to the min specs will help organizations and data-sharing initiatives share best practices and learn from each other to improve their governance and management of data…(More)”.