Data and AI public engagement

As part of our project on ‘Giving communities a powerful say in public sector data and AI projects’, we’re interested in supporting practitioners – particularly in the public sector – who are engaging the public on data and AI. To that end, we’re setting up a community of practice. This is funded until the end of March, which gives us the chance to set an agenda for a pilot period and see how well it works.

We’re keen that it complements and brings together existing networks (such as PADAI, PEDRI and the cross-government participatory methods forum). Our working hypothesis is that an online meeting every two months; bringing together interested parties from central, devolved and local government, the wider public sector, and civil society, academia and the private sector; allowing people to share their work and also providing a space to work through common challenges, would be a good place to start.

The network is meeting on a Chatham House basis (nothing attributed unless you want it to be, anything confidential excluded altogether), with notes circulated within the network. We do something similar with an existing data and AI civil society network, and have lots of existing links with public engagement practitioners. We’re also keen to explore offering you a public outlet for work going on in government, through blogposts or even a podcast.

Past and future meetings of the Community of Practice can be seen below. We will be meeting once a month from December 2024 - March 2025.

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