Global Data Ethics & Governance Symposium | 18-19 September [Hybrid] CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS  

GLOBAL DATA ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE SYMPOSIUM

Hybrid (In-person & Virtual)

 

18-19 SEPTEMBER 2025

 

THE RIVERSIDE HOTEL, Duban, SOUTH AFRICA

 

THEME:

BUILDING TRUST, PROTECTION, AND ETHICS IN GLOBAL DATA: TOWARDS IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CAPE TOWN GLOBAL ACTION PLAN FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

 

Trust in the integrity of science is dependent on ethical creation, use, and sharing of data. In response to this critical reality, the Committee on Data (CODATA) of the International Science Council (ISC) established a Working Group in 2021, now the Data Ethics Task Group (DETG) committed to steering technology toward benevolence and ensuring its enduring benefits to humanity. The DETG  is a global multi-disciplinary data ethics stakeholder with the aim of raising awareness about contemporary data ethics issues. The DETG works towards promoting the UNESCO recommendations on open science sets out the foundations for an international standard for open science, by defining shared values and guiding principles. It also seeks to identify "a set of actions conducive to a fair and equitable operationalization of open science for all at the individual, institutional, national, regional and international levels".  The DETG promotes the notion that Individual, family and community data rights such as for privacy and rights of representation must be respected throughout the research process; and that data distribution must ensure equal access for researchers in every context, including low resourced contexts and recognizing the importance of fostering equitable partnerships, diversity and inclusion among researchers for achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); in particular SDG 16 and SDG 17.  The increasing use of computational techniques including Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, by academic researchers demand consideration of data ethics issues that this raises, especially around bias and privacy. 

 

The  Global Data Ethics and Governance Symposium will convene a diverse, international group of scholars from across disciplines with interest in data ethics to sensitize and raise awareness about ethical issues among early career and emerging researchers from low and middle-income countries related to building trust, protection and ethics in global data.  The symposium will also introduce and launch final versions of policy briefs developed by the DETG in response to the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and invite wider contributions and engagement around the importance of safeguarding data ethics at the global level. Details at  https://codata.org/codata-data-ethics-working-group-policy-briefs-available-for-comment-and-feedback/

Sub-themes:

We invite individual paper abstracts and panel proposals under following sub-themes: 

1. Data Ethics and Scientific Integrity
2. Data Privacy
3. Data Ethics and Structural Inequities in Science
4. Ethics of Indigenous Data Governance 
5. Ethical Data Stewardship and Data Colonialism

6. Data Ethics and Artificial Intelligence
7. Data Sovereignty and Intellectual Property Protection.

 

 

REGISTRATION

Click the following link  https://forms.office.com/r/feuvsKNZF3  to register to participate in-person or virtually.  

 

See attached call for abstracts for more details

 

Deadline to register: Monday 15 September 2025.

 

Participation is FREE: In-person participation spaces are however limited.

 

ABSTRACT AND PANEL PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS

We invite  abstracts and panel proposals for the following submission types:

• Abstracts of not more than 300 words and a bio-sketch of the authors (50 word limit).
• Fully constituted panel proposals ( of not more than 5 panellists) should describe the topic and relationship between papers in no more than 500 words. Additionally, include 300-word abstracts for each paper on the panel. 

 

We particularly welcome contributions from Junior/Emerging Researchers and Practitioners  from Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) including data regulators, policy institutions, and civil society organizations. 

 

Click the following link  https://forms.office.com/r/j3Quk24unc  to submit abstracts and/or panel proposals.

 

Deadline to submit abstracts: 1 September 2025.

 

Further Details