If new technologies are to provide solutions that are not only technically successful, but also ethically acceptable, it is vital that ethics and governance of the technologies are considered at the very early stages of development.
i-sense have teamed up with the Department of Philosophy at UCL and the National Centre for Infectious Disease Surveilance to provide an analysis of the key ethical and regulatory challenges for early warning sensing systems for influenza.
They will also examine how to build and maintain trust in these systems from two interlinked perspectives. The first is that of the patients and citizens whose data (test results, internet searches and social networking activities) will feed into the proposed geographically-linked dashboard display. The second is from a systems perspective, examining the kinds of incentives necessary to reassure citizens that their trust in i-sense's systems is well placed.
Our ultimate goal is to ensure that we balance privacy against the public good. The project will inform decision-making about the regulation and future development of the point-of-care technologies produced by i-sense and a proposed ethical and regulatory framework for point-of-care tests in the UK.
People: James Wilson, Benedict Rumbold, Rosanna Peeling, Rachel McKendry, Richard Pebody, and Ingemar Cox
Collaborating institutions: UCL, PHE, LSHTM
