Summary of the Principles
This section summarises the Principles for Collaborating with Residents on the Use of Automated Decision-Making Systems.
Working closely with residents will be vital for ensuring that Automated Decision-Making (ADM) systems are used appropriately.
Guiding Values
To achieve this, public sector organisations should follow our Guiding Values
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Human-Centred. And is shaped by the awareness that: Humans, technologies, and organisations are fallible and may be prone to bias.
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Fair, Equitable and Just. Automated decision-making systems can incorporate, automate, and accelerate bias.
Read the full Guiding Values
Core Requirements
To achieve this, public sector organisations, and organisations working on their behalf, need to:
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Ensure There are Clear Governance Processes and Lines of Accountability. Ensure there are clear procedures for making sure ADM systems are used responsibly. Clearly define who is accountable for ensuring ADM systems are used appropriately and for ensuring reliable governance processes are in place.
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Ensure Human Oversight and Scrutiny. Use governance processes to make sure there is proportionate human oversight and scrutiny over how ADM systems are being used, and how these systems work.
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Be Transparent. Publish clear, accessible and understandable information about how ADM systems work, and why they are being used, whenever they have a significant impact on decisions with a ‘public effect’*.Also publish this information about algorithmic tools in general that interact directly with the public. Make clear at the point that individuals interact with algorithmic systems that these systems are automated.
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Use Proportionate Public Engagement. Use proportionate public engagement, and apply learnings from it, to ensure ADM systems are employed appropriately. Whether public engagement is necessary, and the level of engagement required, will vary based on what is at stake.
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Enable Residents to Raise Concerns and Appeal Decisions. Put in place mechanisms for raising concerns about ADM systems, and appealing decisions, wherever algorithmic tools have a significant impact on decision-making with a ‘public effect’ (this wording has been chosen to conform with the UK Government’s Algorithmic Transparency Standard).
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Grow Awareness Across Teams. Grow awareness across teams about the benefits and risks of ADM systems, the need to think carefully about how they are used, and the role of public engagement within this.
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Ensure Organisations Partnered With, or Commissioned by, the Public Sector Play Their Part. Ensure other organisations partnered with, or commissioned by, the public sector are aware of their responsibilities under these principles, and have the support necessary to live up to these.
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Evaluate Practice. Reflect on a regular basis on how well the standards laid out in these principles are being met, including how well public engagement is being used as part of this.
Read the full Core Requirements
What Public Engagement Should Look Like
Public sector organisations should ensure that public engagement lives up to the following values:
9. Understandable and Relatable. Make these potentially complicated and abstract technologies understandable for those targeted by engagement activities. Show how their use is relevant to people’s lives.
10. Inclusive. Design proportionate engagement activities to reach a wide range of people who may be affected by these technologies.
11. Accessible and Empowering. Tailor engagement towards target audiences.
Support communities to advocate for themselves.
12. Two-Way. Set clear expectations of how insights from public engagement will be considered and responded to.
Publish clear responses to points raised. Make clear what will change based on what was heard.
13. Designed to Strengthen Collaboration. Use an appropriate mix of different ways of hearing from, or working with, residents. Consider how different approaches will provide residents with different levels of influence or control.
Read the full What Public Engagement Should Look Like values
Organisations who would like to implement and practice these principles, and to work towards ensuring that these technologies are used safely and effectively for the benefit of local areas and communities, can sign up by emailing ConnectedGM@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
