Data ethics are often perceived as hindrances that slow down processes when it has not been implemented correctly, but organisations must ensure solid data ethics are ingrained and adhered to all while improving business operations. Efficiency is one of the biggest aspirations for all organisations as it impacts costs, resources, time, satisfaction and quality – but the overriding question remains “how do we ensure our actions are always ethical?”.
The data team at Heathrow airport, led by Andy Isenman, Head of Technology: Cloud and Data, have been working on developing and integrating an ethical framework to ensure the highest ethical standards to any approach utilising data for business operations.
“The first hurdle was to identify what sort of business we identify ourselves as and how we can ensure our ethical approaches promote this identity,” said Isenman. “We need to address how we want to use the data and how this impacts the processes and customers to achieve our ultimate goal of providing the best customer experience.”
One of the first focuses was on utilising available data to drive customer service opportunities for Heathrow, but making sure it was done so in a way that guaranteed ethical use of data and aligned with the vision the operation had set for itself. For example, there are some customer service practices that do not specifically use personal identifiable information, but use the information provided to sell products and services back to people, and this was something Heathrow wanted to avoid.
“This is the reason why Amazon’s Alexa makes suggestions to you, despite the fact you have not actively searched for it, and we do not want to be seen as that,” said Isenman. As Heathrow itself is not a retailer, the organisation worked with its partners to better understand the use of data for retail operations.
Driving business value at Heathrow
Ultimately, businesses need to improve their value with data, but must do so in a way that is ethical and accountable. One issue that often arises is that a data ethics framework can slow down the time to value and return on investment as it can seemingly hinder the speed of the process – but it is an essential aspect of being a sustainable and trusted business. So how can businesses incorporate a clear ethics framework that does not impact developing business value?
“One symptom of undertaking projects that need data protection and consent is that without a clear ethical framework is that you can have 101 opinions on everything that is which is right or wrong,” said Isenman. “In the time it takes to examine, understand, and mediate between these parties, you are not actually driving value for the business.”
Isenman believes that the purpose of a working ethical framework is to provide staff with a very clear understanding of the ethical framework across the business which in turn becomes the foundations for future value growth. Once the framework is in place, the policies and procedures derived from the framework will provide a clear view from the centre of the organisation and its views on data ethics outside of a particular opportunity that has presented itself.
When this is clear and widely understood, and the question of “whether this is an ethical thing to do” has been addressed, the organisation then deals with a question of whether it falls within their ethical framework. If it does, the teams can carry on and start driving value from the opportunity. If it does not, then that is a clear sign that the conversation must end, and the resources can be allocated to the next opportunity.
“It is about using an ethical framework as a way of ensuring that speed to market is gained for the ideas that are generally going to work, and then the ones that are not going to work are stopped quickly so that you can get on with driving other types of business value,” explained Isenman.
Understanding your core business is essential in realising the most effective way to ethically use data. In Heathrow’s example, the core business is not data or related to data, and the diversity of the activities undertaken by the different facets of the organisation mean it operates more like a small city model than a traditional business.
“Our teams have had to become generalists at a number of topics,” said Isenman. “In other organisations, the focus would be on the core business, but this is difficult for us to do due to the nature of our business. For example, some businesses would solely focus on understanding the footfall of customers for retail, but we also must consider international operations, infrastructure expansion, or other niche disciplines required for an airport.
“High street retailers can understand retail to a much greater depth than we can, so our system, architecture, and data use must be as efficient and ethical as possible so that we can achieve our goal of providing the greatest customer experience. I am certain this is also the case for DataIQ members who also have to negotiate a narrow vertical in their business sphere.”
Learning from others
When embarking on a journey such as installing a data ethics framework, it pays dividends to follow the lead of others that have embarked on the transformations before you. Heathrow has spent time researching the topic and has examined international businesses, such as Lego, which are required to publicly publish their ethical standards by their respective national laws. The idea is to understand which businesses are ahead of Heathrow in this journey, and which actions can be utilised to facilitate the swift and efficient implementation of effective data ethics within Heathrow as an organisation.
“This led us at Heathrow to question if this is our ethical framework for the wider organisation, what is the ethical framework specifically for data within our organisation?” said Isenman.
To understand what an ethical framework for data should look like, Heathrow examined as many open cases as possible from other organisations – even those outside of Heathrow’s primary sectors – to see if there were any teachings that could be incorporated into their new ethics architecture.
“We had to ask ourselves, ‘does that framework fit Heathrow?’ or ‘can that framework be adapted in order for us to be able to achieve what we need to achieve?’,” added Isenman.
This means the solution most suited is often not an off-the-shelf product, but a combination of multiple well-trodden paths that can be moulded to fit the needs of the organisation. There will be the need for some off-the-shelf products for areas such as recruitment strategies or learning programmes, but the work and effort needs to be put in to create something suitable for the organisation and its data needs.
“Data leaders need to ask themselves the question, ‘without a data ethics framework in place, how do you know that everyone in your organisation is working towards something that you would be proud to associate with your own work amongst your peer group?’,” said Isenman. This is a question that all organisations – particularly those that are focused on providing a service – should endeavour to ask themselves frequently.
Isenman explained how this process begins with data literacy and a top-down approach to understanding data ethics. When this type of project is administered with a bottom-up approach it can easily fragment businesses – particularly legacy businesses – and miss its target of becoming a holistic data ethics approach for the organisation.
Installing a framework
When a plan for a framework has been identified and agreed, the next challenge is implementation. “There is a level of corporate data literacy that needs to take place in order for the senior managers within the organisation to be able to articulate where their data ethics starts and stops,” explained Isenman.
Business leaders need to be able to understand the risks involved with commissioning outside organisations and subcontractors who may not have strict data ethics protocols. It requires a certain level of data literacy and data culture to be able to identify where third-party businesses may not have the same high level of ethical standards as required and understanding the damage this can cause.
A third-party organisation cannot be monitored effectively without an integrated and well-accepted ethical framework from the central business, “This is not something that can be self-managed,” explained Isenman.
Following installing a system for monitoring outside work, it is imperative that internally there is a process to check that team members are following the set process and not just ignoring it. This can be difficult, particularly within larger organisations, which is why a strong data culture that appreciates ethics is required.
“The best way of managing it as a whole is not through some process that you have got to go through where an answer is pushed out the other end,” said Isenman. “It is a bit like data protection – the best way of dealing with it is making sure that the people in question are thinking about data use cases and ethics in their own right in in the first place.”
Furthermore, decision makers in a business need to have a level of understanding about the need for investment in data infrastructure and tools to be able to achieve improved return on investment and efficiency. This can be difficult to achieve as there are often unclear connections between data and tangible sales, which can obscure the quality of return on investment for those that lack data literacy and culture.
Making the calls
The big question that remains is who gets to decide what is or is not ethical when the situation arises? Isenman explained that, more often than not, the decider was the person bringing the problem to the table.
“Typically, we found that we do the right thing, and doing the right thing is a part of our core values, meaning that everyone comes to the same conclusion about whether it is the right or wrong thing to do,” said Isenman. “We reached a stage where everybody is doing the right thing and thinking about whether this is the right thing to do, which ultimately makes it very difficult to do the wrong ethical things within the organisation.”
Isenman explained that the bigger concept is that having a data ethics framework is not necessarily about managing the risk of doing something unethical, but it is about creating speed to insight. A solid ethics framework allows an organisation to make better decisions about taking certain actions or focusing on specific markets.
Conclusion
Many organisations have the joy of being able to focus on one specific thing for an extended period of time – sometimes indefinitely – whereas other organisations, such as Heathrow, must keep multiple plates spinning with finite resources in order to achieve their business goals. This is why a speed-conscious data ethics architecture is required to ensure there are minimal hurdles and speed traps when trying to extract the maximum value for the business.
As Isenman stated, “From our experience, the lack of an ethical framework and the lack of the policies and procedures around it fundamentally stifles innovation.”
Data ethics should “fall under the banner of the Chief Data Officer, or equivalent,” said Isenman. “Data leadership should be considered in the same way as cyber leadership or sustainability leadership – ultimately, it is there to drive the business and it will not drive the business until it is considered a corporate responsibility.”
With all this in mind, it is clear that Heathrow has a firm idea of its ethical obligations to its customers and how to implement these checks across the wider organisation. This process will allow the business to achieve its objectives faster and in a more transparent manner than ever before which will further improve customer experiences.
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