“India Inc. must consider ‘Digital Ethics framework for responsible digitalisation”

India Inc. must consider ‘Digital Ethics framework’ for responsible digitalisation, according to a study by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP (DTTILLP) together with Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC). The study emphasised on an immediate need for India Inc. to introduce and adopt a “Digital Ethics framework” that would ensure a holistic view of ethics, and govern every digital intervention in the transformation journey of a business.

An accelerated pace of digital transition, consumption of goods and services via app-based interface, and proliferation of data bring numerous risks such as biased decision-making processes being transferred to machines or algorithms at the development stage by humans, a Deloitte statement said on Friday.

“These biases can be a threat to the reputation and trust towards stakeholders, as well as cause operational risks,” it said.

Partner, Deloitte India, Vishal Jain, said the pandemic compelled businesses and consumers to embrace digital technologies like artificial intelligence, big data, cloud, IoT and more in a big way.

“However, the need of the hour is to relook at the business operations layered on digital touchpoints with the lens of ethics, given biases might arise in the due course, owing to a faster response time to an issue,” he said.

Societal pressure to do “the right thing” now needs a careful consideration of the trade-offs involved in the responsible usage of technology, Jain said, adding, its interplay becomes vital to managing data privacy rights while actively adopting customer analytics for personalised service.

“All these concerns have made it crucial to have an ethical framework that would ensure effective governance and risk mitigation aspects are in place,” he added.

Chair of Young BCIC Expert Committee, Manas Dasgupta, said certain areas related to possible misuses of technologies such as privacy and security are fairly well-regulated both from legal as well as corporate governance aspects.

“However, inadvertent fallouts of technologies like autonomous machines that use AI / Robotics, etc. are yet to be fully understood,” he said.

It is the need of the hour that the industries start meaningful conversations and note sharing around good governance on these technologies and ensure that we are within our limits to stay fair to everyone in the society, remain transparent and responsible in our Digital endeavours, Dasgupta added.

The statement said the growth of digital media in India has largely been fueled by a moderate regulatory framework until now.

Given the growing concerns around information and content available over digital platforms, digital ethics is a topic of concern not only for organisations but also for regulatory bodies and individuals for immediate consideration and deliberation, it said.