Paul Bergin, Head of Public Safety at Sopra Steria
Insight and knowledge generated from data is policing’s lifeblood. It is the critical enabler in protecting society’s most vulnerable. Within the context of new digital solutions, powerful analytics and ever-increasing sources of data available to the police, there is immense opportunity, but also risk.
There is the opportunity to build powerful solutions that offer revolutionary insights fit for a police service that is the envy of the western world.
At the same time, there are increased risks of cybercrime, information mismanagement, error, and bias. Getting these wrong could have lasting damage on the public-police relationship.
However, it is important not to forget the often-unseen risk of doing nothing. Our adversaries, such as serious and organised crime actors, already have access to very capable data and analytics capability themselves, enabled by the commoditisation of cloud services. Police forces must act to ensure they remain a step ahead.
Society’s trust in policing has been tested in recent years, with high profile news stories challenging policing decisions and attitudes. Bridging the digital transformation gap is essential if policing is to keep pace with the evolving justice landscape, but running before it can walk is equally dangerous. Forces are faced with the challenge of marching forward with new technologies that could enrich their decision-making toolkit beyond measure, without feeling fully confident about the ethical implications of doing so.
National Policing Digital Strategy 2020-2030
Technologists like Sopra Steria have been working in partnership with police forces for decades to ensure that digital solutions are tailored to their complex needs. Just as the police turn to subject-matter experts in building technology solutions, so too should they feel that they can seek their advice on the ethics of technology.
It is our role to help forces embrace digital transformation with confidence, bolstered by approaches that lock in ethics by design. Our highly-acclaimed Digital Ethics Practice has been working to gain an in-depth understanding of the digital ethics landscape in policing today to do just that. In this report, we set out the findings of that research as grouped into five key themes:
I hope you will find reading this report as worthwhile as I did. Whether you’re a policing professional interested in tailored digital ethics support for your force or simply someone who would like to learn more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or our Digital Ethics Practice.
Paul Bergin Head of Public Safety at Sopra Steria
