The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has grown tremendously, and contemporary research and use reports its increasingly impressive technical capabilities. Related to this, the role of government as a data collector and provider has emerged as a leader in this data-centric world. In related matters, recent data assessments have brought to light ethical concerns regarding information that is collected, used, stored, and distributed by the government. Studies, and even news stories, have uncovered possible limitations and thought gaps in its management.

Though government is regularly reviewing and reinforcing protocols that protect it citizens, it needs to be vigilant and accountable in its policies and standards for data ethics and for the appropriate use and management of emerging technologies. This starts with acquiring the right products and personnel with foresight of the “right thing to do”, and considerations of transparency, fairness, and accountability in analytical processes, data, and computing power.

We need a better expertise in the foundational understanding of privacy and data protection laws and practices, with specializations in jurisdictional laws, regulations and enforcement models, rules and standards, and the concepts, principals, and legal requirements for handling and transferring data. This includes advocating the need for the use of data ethics as a foundational topic in the areas of data storage environments, information collections for machine learning, and the current and future applications of autonomous intelligent systems.