DAVOS: The World Economic Forum announced on Wednesday the launch of the Center for Trustworthy Technology.
To be based in Austin, Texas, in the US, it will focus on promoting a “responsible production and use” of new and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, blockchain, virtual reality, and quantum computing.
Jeremy Jurgens, the WEF’s managing director and head of its Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, said: “When it comes to the application of technology in society, people have legitimate concerns over how their data is used, whether what they are reading and seeing is real, and whether their jobs are safe.
“Societal trust in and acceptance of technology is dependent on the technologies in question being designed in an inclusive, ethical, and responsible manner. We are proud to launch the Centre for Trustworthy Technology to tackle exactly that,” he added.
The center’s role will be to develop tools and frameworks that promote ethical technology development and use and understand how new technology can be implemented to advance the UN sustainable development goals.
The Center for Trustworthy Technology will become part of a global consortium of 17 centers that lead the conversation around emerging technology and its ethical implementation and commercial potential.
The network aims to facilitate the shared knowledge between technology leaders across the public and private sectors, publishing insights to raise awareness about the importance of trustworthy technology.
Created in collaboration with Deloitte and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, the center will engage government, business, academia, and society to shape its agenda and scale responsible, ethical, and safe technology through projects and activities at national and international levels.
Vilas S. Dhar, president of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, said: “As technology becomes an increasingly fundamental part of the human experience, our future will be defined by our ability to today build trust and define ethical societal norms around tech design, development, and deployment.
“The center promises to bring representation from across sectors and geographies to deliver on a shared vision of a human-centric, tech-enabled future.”
