In the latest Brunel Policy Brief, Dr S Asieh H Tabaghdehi recommends targeted government support to complement market-driven solutions to enable SMEs to innovate and harness the power of AI and smart data responsibly.
The UK government is committed to promoting the responsible development and deployment AI as a key driver of economic growth and innovation, whilst also acknowledging that the landscape is complex and difficult to navigate, particularly for SMEs.
Dr Tabaghdehi reports that as SMEs adopt AI, they are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of weak data governance, leading to ethical risks including bias and privacy infringement. Drawing on her analysis of smart data governance and the ethical challenges associated with the use of smart data, she recommends that policy makers should:
- Establish a unified smart data and AI governance regulatory framework that integrates data protection, AI ethics, and digital economy standards
- Support capacity-building in SMEs for ethical data management
- Align UK standards with global best practices
Read the full policy brief here