Transparency and the Open Society

What are the benefits and risks of the increasing scale and power of data assets controlled by governments and corporations?

There are many governments around the world that express a strong commitment to being transparent, yet still fail their citizens and communities, who struggle to access the information that matters most to them.

In a time of rapid advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, if we are to make better use of the vast quantities of data produced by new technologies - from gene sequencing to driverless cars – it’s crucial to mitigate the risks as well as embracing the advantages of Big Data.

Roger Taylor, writer and chair of the Open Public Services Network at the RSA, joins other key players to discuss the need to understand the scale of the information about ourselves held by governments and corporations, and to ensure that this access is constantly open to democratic challenge.