Welsh Government Digital Ethics Report

The Chief Digital Officer of the Welsh government is in an ideal position to become a point of expertise on the ethical design and use of public sector technology projects in Wales. Under the heading of ‘Digital Well-being,’ the Chief Digital Officer can align a general mandate to do digital and data ethics within Wales with the legal and moral imperatives of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. This Act, however, is ‘missing’ any significant reference to technology and its interaction with society. Nonetheless, in conjunction with its moral antecedent, the UN Sustainability Development Goals, it provides a clear set of norms and values by which to ethically guide technology projects being developed and launched by Welsh public bodies and Local Councils. This report distils those norms and values into a set of technology governance imperatives and practical guidance for the Chief Digital Officer to use in its interactions with public bodies, Welsh Ministers, and the Future Generations Commissioner.