Protecting Minority Ethnic Communities Online (PRIME)
Lead Research Organisation:
Heriot-Watt University
Department Name: Sch of Energy, Geosci, Infrast & Society
Abstract
The PRIME project will broaden understanding of online harm and how it can be mitigated through new systems, tools and processes by focusing on Minority Ethnic (ME) communities' experiences of digitalised services, particularly in the areas of housing, health and energy. We will draw on knowledge, methods and skills from social policy, cyber security and privacy, data mining and machine learning; human computer interaction, applied linguistics and educational technology. Working closely with REPHRAIN, we will engage with a wide range of individuals from ME communities, community organisations, public agencies and energy suppliers to identify and categorise the nature of the harms experienced, and assess the adequacy of existing systems and processes to counter them. We will translate this knowledge into the co-design and co-production of novel, effective and scalable social and technological harm-mitigating solutions through a Citizen-led Race Equity Living Lab (CREL). The outputs will include policy guidance in the fields of housing, health and energy as well as cross-cutting recommendations for improving online services more generally; educational resources for harm mitigation to enable individuals and organisations to more effectively protect themselves; as well as better privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) that counter discriminatory processes in digitalised services. We will also produce benchmark datasets, tools and models to enable organisations to address ethnic inequalities in service provision and demonstrate more accountability to the public in terms of greater transparency and equitable service outcomes.
Organisations
- Heriot-Watt University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Department of Transport (Collaboration)
- Audit Scotland (Collaboration)
- Public Health Scotland (Project Partner)
- NHS Race & Health Observatory (Project Partner)
- Mental Health Foundation (Project Partner)
- Energy Systems Catapult (Project Partner)
- Scottish Government (Project Partner)
- Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (Project Partner)
- CaCHE (Project Partner)
- CEMVO Scotland (Project Partner)
- BRAP (Project Partner)
- Muslim Council of Britain (Project Partner)
- COSLA Strategic Migration Partnership (Project Partner)
Publications
| Title | Graphic Recording of Co-Design Workshops |
| Description | We created four sets of graphic recording of the discussions taken place during one of our research activities, the co-design workshops. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | It provided live feedback to the participants of the workshop about the results and insights arising from the workshop. |
| Description | Energy sector Service Provider Perspectives, PRIME Project, Energy workshop 12/7/2023 organised by Professor Nazmiye Ozkan (Cranfield University) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/protecting-minority-ethnic-communities-online-prime-workshop-tickets-... |
| Description | Health sector PRIME workshop (19/9/2023) organised by Professor Nazmiye Ozkan (Cranfield University) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/protecting-minority-ethnic-communities-online-prime-health-workshop-t... |
| Description | Ofcom call for evidence |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | As a result of the submission to evidence, three of the contributors the submission were invited by Ofcom to attend a meeting with senior and other officials at Ofcom, and was then invited to present their research in Ofcom's internal seminar, attended by more than 140 civil servants and officials at Ofcom. |
| Description | PRIME Cross-sector Workshop: Housing, energy & health (5/10/2023) organised by Professor Nazmiye Ozkan |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Description | Response to Ofgem consultation on Consumer Standards Statutory Consultation (23rd August 2023) by Professor Nazmiye Ozkan (Cranfield University) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account awarded to Yingfang Yuan for his collaboration with SMARTLEARN STUDIO Ltd |
| Amount | £6,893 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2022 |
| End | 06/2022 |
| Title | Quantifying the Intersecting Discrepancies within Multiple Groups using Latent Class Analysis Towards Fairness |
| Description | We proposed an novel and generic approach to quantify the intersecting and cross-sectoral discrepancies. Basically, we run latent class analysis (LCA) on the target dataset at first, then the results of LCA are used to calculate the differences between every pair of user-defined group iteratively. Meanwhile, we systematically investigated three datasets and tested our approach on them, one from the PRIME project, and other two public datasets (EVENS and Census 2021) which are reputable and authoritative in the UK. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | It is worth noting that bias stemming from the data plays an essential role in achieving fairness, as it can potentially trigger a cascade of other biases, exacerbating fairness issues. Data bias may also reflect various forms of social inequality in the real world. Meanwhile, the discrepancy can be considered as a type of bias. Therefore, we believe that quantifying the discrepancies within the data is instrumental in understanding and mitigating bias, ultimately leading to the development of fair AI systems. |
| Description | Meeting with Head of vehicles stats team at DfT |
| Organisation | Department of Transport |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | I held a meeting with the vehicles stats team at DfT with a view to identify data sources that we could use to analyse whether ethnicity is impacting the adoption of electric vehicles. This has informed us to make a data access request to DVLA to access vehicle registry database. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We have made our data request and waiting to receive the outcome. |
| Impact | We have made our data request and waiting to receive the outcome. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Meeting with chair of Audit Scotland Equalities and Human Rights Advisory group |
| Organisation | Audit Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | I shared the aim and scope of the PRIME research and offered to continue to engage with Audit Scotland to inform their audit on how well public bodies are tackling digital exclusion. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Audit Scotland agreed to keep us informed of their audit in this area which was currently at an early stage and explore possibilities for working together. |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | All Hands Meeting (REPHRAIN) at University of Bristol |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 50 professionals attended a two-day meeting for REPHARAIN in June 2023. Throughout the event, we received several presentations on research related to security, privacy, and harm reduction, followed by productive discussions. We observed a growing interest in topics concerning AI's role in security, privacy, and harm reduction. Simultaneously, we introduced our project PRIME, showcasing how AI methods are employed to identify online harms targeting ethnic minorities. The majority of individuals I spoke with provided positive feedback and demonstrated keen interest in utilising AI to address social science challenges. Additionally, we actively participated in discussions regarding the selection of topics for upcoming funding calls. Overall, over the span of two days, I gained valuable insights from other researchers, especially in the field of privacy-related technologies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Blog post for Digital Poverty Alliance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Based on our interviews with 100 minoritized ethnic individuals living in England and Scotland, the post discusses how digital poverty, limited digital literacy, and inadequate language support are hindering access to digitalized services for minoritized ethnic communities. It highlights the challenges faced by these communities, such as lack of access to technology, the internet, and digital skills. The post emphasizes the need for tailored support and solutions to bridge this digital divide and ensure equitable access to essential services for all members of society. It also calls for collaborative efforts between government, organizations, and communities to address these issues effectively. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://digitalpovertyalliance.org/events/digital-poverty-limited-digital-literacy-inadequate-langua... |
| Description | Blog post on limitations of data and AI and what this means for Minoritised Ethnic people |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The PRIME project Research Associate, Dr. Aunam Quyoum, has written a blog post discusses how data systems are embedded in existing patterns of social and racial inequality, and can therefore reproduce discriminatory outcomes. The blog post has been cited and shared with more than 150 policymakers and civil servants in talks that Dr. Quyoum and Dr. Mark Wong conducted in 2022. This includes: 1) the Ofcom internal academic seminar Quyoum and Wong presented at, attended by more than 140 civil servants and officials of UK government's communications regulator, Ofcom, and; 2) the REPHRAIN policy salon session attended by the UK Government's National Crime Agency, Ofcom, and National Police Chiefs Council. The blog post, hosted by the University of Glasgow, outlines a new and more nuanced understanding on the limitations of data and AI and what this means for Minoritised Ethnic people. The piece concludes by critiquing and inviting the readers to question: how reliable is this system, what level of bias might it contain, how fair is this outcome and what inequalities could this perpetuate? The texts of the blog have also been reproduced in a roller banner and leaflets that are displayed in the University of Glasgow's Advanced Research Centre, and have been distributed through interactions and exchange with third sector/community organisations, professional practitioners, public members, and other academics within and outside of our institution. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://sway.office.com/GWCelQvl03sfGQBu?ref=Link |
| Description | Engagement with public at East London Mosque (community partner on PRIME) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Team member Mehdi Rizvi visited the East London Mosque (ELM) in Tower Hamlets. ELM is one of PRIME's partner organisations. The aim of the visit was to engage public, inform them about PRIME, and invite them to participate in PRIME's online survey. ELM also continued with this engagement after the activity/visit, by distributing flyers and annoucing about the survey during Friday congregation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Input to the NHS RHO Digital Data and Innovation Working Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Attend the NHS RHO Digital Data and Innovation Working Group and introduce the PRIME project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.nhsrho.org/ |
| Description | Interview for BBC Scotland on Launch of Protecting Minority Ethnic Communities Online project |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interview was broadcast as part of daily news programme on BBC Scotland |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Invited talk at Algorithmic Dwelling Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I (Mark Wong) was invited to be a speaker at the Algorithmic Dwelling Symposium at the University of York. I increased awareness and understanding of the PRIME project's aims, particularly in addressing inequalities and harms experienced by Minoritised Ethnic people in digital services, in housing, health, and energy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Invited talk at University of Almeria |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I (Mark Wong) was invited to be a speaker at the XXIV Summer School "Online harm and hate crime" module of the University of Almería, Spain. I increased awareness and understanding of using co-design methods to address harms and racism experienced by Minoritised Ethnic people in digital services in the UK. 30 participants attended the talk and were engaged in discussions and Q&A about the project. The professional practitioners, policymakers, and postgraduate students attended showed increased understanding of experiences of racism and the importance of centering the voice of Minoritised Ethnic people in the design of digital services. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Meeting with Data Communications Company (DCC) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Professor Nazmiye Ozkan (Cranfield University) attended a meeting with DCC to inform them of PRIME project objectives and research programme and discuss how we could have access to smart metering data to see if ethnicity has an impact on different digital energy services. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Member of Digital Primary Care Evaluation and Research Network, NHS |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Engaged with others interested in the use of digital technology in primary care in the NHS |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Member of NHS Race and Health Observatory Digital, Data and Innovation Working Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Regular meetings with others with a professional interest in creating more equitable digital environments in the NHS |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.nhsrho.org/what-we-do/creating-fair-and-equitable-environments/ |
| Description | Ofcom internal seminar series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | 140 Ofcom civil servants and policymakers attended a talk given by me (Dr. Mark Wong) and project Research Associate, Dr. Aunam Quyoum, both at University of Glasgow. The talk was part of the Ofcom internal/academic seminar series. Our presentation introduced how our multi-institutional PRIME project examines online harms and bias of AI and data systems on Minoritised Ethnic people in digital health, housing, and energy services in the UK. Wong and Quyoum discussed the impact and potential inequalities arising from digitisation (such as use of data and algorithmic decision-making). We also discussed the potential of co-design approach to develop fair and inclusive AI & digital tools with Minoritised Ethnic communities and multi-stakeholders to mitigate discriminatory bias. The talk sparked questions and lively discussions in the form of Q&A and messages in Teams. There were also individual follow-ups from Ofcom staff who were interested to learn more about the findings of the project and collaborate in the future. We were invited to present about our project findings in the future, and Ofcom indicated interests in collaborations and will reach out when academic expertise is required, such as by their online safety team, taking charge of the implementation of the Online Safety Bill, who were present at the talk. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | PRIME Website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A temporary website for the PRIME project has been available since the beginning of the project, however it did not collect any analytical data. More recently we have engaged a web designer to create a website as well as a logo and branding. The website will collect visitor numbers and we will be able to report on them next year. At the moment the website aims to be a useful resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the project, in particular for participants who take part in the project's online survey and interviews. Later on, resources that are developed through the project will be available there. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| URL | https://www.primecommunities.online/ |
| Description | Participate in the healthcare technology workshop at University of Strathclyde |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr Wei Pang attended the healthcare technology workshop at the University of Strathclyde on 16 February 2024. Participants of the workshop include researchers from several Scottish universities and people from industry. He proposed the topic of responsible AI for healthcare and protecting ethnic minority groups to be discussed during the workshop. A more generic topic (responsible AI for healthcare) was adopted as one of the four topics discussed towards the end of the workshop. The topic has attracted a group of researchers for discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Participation in an online seminar relating to engagement between Scottish Government and academics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I (Prof Gina Netto, PI of the PRIME project) was invited as one of three speakers to share my experiences of engaging with the Scottish Government in an online seminar organised by Scottish Policy Research Exchange for the Scottish Government titled 'Unpacking 'impact' in academic-policy engagement.' As part of my contribution to the event, I shared my experience of engaging with government in multiple ways including through research projects commissioned by Scottish Government, as a member of various advisory groups, as an expert witness to parliamentary enquiries by the Scottish Government's Equal Opportunities and Human Rights Committee and through a conference I had organised at the Royal Society of Edinburgh titled 'Brexit, Migration and Labour Market Participation in Scotland. This long history of engagement was helpful in securing the support of governmental bodies for the PRIME Project, including the Scottish Government Housing Directorate, the Equalities Division and close partner organisations such as Public Health Scotland and the Convention for Scottish Local Housing Authorities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Poster Presentation at the SICSA Cyber Security, Privacy, and Trust Research Showcase |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The PRIME team members presented a poster focusing on analysis of Ethnic Minorities' Sentiment and Trust in Online Services within the Cyber Security, Privacy, and Trust Research Showcase, organised by SICSA at University of Edinburgh on 26/02/2024. The poster presented the work done so far in PRIME on this topic as well as on-going and future work. The PRIME team members who contributed to the poster were Ghosh S, Chen K, Rizvi M, Yuan Y, Edmondson A, Baillie L, Pang W, Shahandashti SF, and it was presented by Chen K and Edmondson A. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.sicsa.ac.uk/events/cyber-security-privacy-trust-research-showcase/ |
| Description | Poster Presentations for The National Robotarium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The PRIME team (Medhi and Yingfang) presented two posters introducing the PRIME project. Many people expressed interest in the posters, which clearly introduced how machine learning methods can be helpful for social science research, including a machine learning research framework. From our perspective, we were able to raise awareness among more people about what machine learning can do for those without deep knowledge of AI and ML. Some attendees engaged in detailed discussions with us, and through those discussions, we explained the motivations behind PRIME in detail and how different machine learning methods (such as text mining and graph neural networks) can be used to address various problems. Based on the feedback we received on-site, we learned that most people found our research question valuable and were intrigued by the use of machine learning in the PRIME project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation at REPHRAIN Showcase 2023 (19 Jan 2023) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation about the PRIME project to delegates from industry, academia, government bodies and regulators. The government and regulator delegates included representatives from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the National Crime Agency, Ofcom, the National Cyber Security Centre, and the Home Office. The presentation and the subsequent Q&A session sparked a debate regarding the conceptualisation of online harms. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.rephrain.ac.uk/rephrain-showcase-january-2023/ |
| Description | Presentation at REPHRAIN Showcase 2023 (19 Jan 2023) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation about the PRIME project to delegates from industry, academia, government bodies and regulators. The government and regulator delegates included representatives from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the National Crime Agency, Ofcom, the National Cyber Security Centre, and the Home Office. The presentation and the subsequent Q&A session sparked a debate regarding the conceptualisation of online harms. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.rephrain.ac.uk/rephrain-showcase-january-2023/ |
| Description | Presentation at REPHRAIN by PhD student/research team member Eunice Anteh |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This presentation was delivered to REPHRAIN as part of their Showcase and covered the aim, rationale, scope and methods which Eunice Anteh has designed with her supervisors as part of her doctoral research into the experiences of African refugee women in digital mental health services. Attendees showed a high level of interest on the topic through many questions and asked to be kept updated on the progress of the research through further participation. Some attendees shared some resources and helpful suggestions for the research. The presentation also inspired interest in future collaborations and initiatives. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Press release by Heriot Watt University on start of the Protecting Minority Ethnic Communities Online Project |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Announcement of the award; aim of the research; its scale, multidisciplinary nature, significance, academic, community organisation partners and other stakeholders |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Protecting Minority Ethnic Communities Online: Presentation to Tower Hamlets GP Care Group CIC |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ozkan gave a presentation to Tower Hamlets GP Care Group CIC on 21/11/2022. There were over 10 general practice managers attending the meeting. In my talk, I emphasized what PRIME project was aiming to do, which included advancing understanding the challenges they have been experiencing through increased digitalisation of services. This sparked discussions about how the PRIME project outputs can contribute to addressing these challenges and informing policy making. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | REPHRAIN policy salon invited talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | 15 civil servants and representatives of government/public sector organisation attended a talk given by me (Mark Wong) and our project Research Associate, Aunam Quyoum, both at University of Glasgow, about the project. The talk was part of a series of REPHRAIN's monthly hour-long "Policy Salons" held online, as part of a new initiative aimed at encouraging knowledge exchange and open discussions between policy makers, law enforcement agencies and REPHRAIN, the national centre of excellence on cybersecurity based at University of Bristol. In attendance of the talk were representatives from UK Government's National Crime Agency (social-techncial group, cybersecurity), Ofcom (research team on violence against women and girls), National Police Chief's Councils (Violence against women and girls taskforce), and REPHRAIN (deputy director). The talk was followed by a Q&A about the project's research and how it engages with Minoritised Ethnic people and community organisations in co-design of data and AI. Questions and discussions were also had around the role of trust in digital services and underlying systemic racism in such systems. Further information on co-design and engagement with marginalised communities were requested by civil servants/policy representatives in attendance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Spotlight Podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | I (Mark Wong) was interviewed for a podcast series, Spotlight, hosted by the University of Glasgow. I discussed the harms and bias in AI and data on Minoritised Ethnic people, with podcast host, Prof. Graeme Roy (Dean of External Engagement, College of Social Science, University of Glasgow). In the podcast, I also added new understanding to the importance of how we collect ethnicity data and information to inform public policy - and how the methods we use to collect and process information can themselves lead to biases in decision-making. The podcast is available on major podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast. The podcast series is widely listened to by Scottish policy makers, civil servants, and general public, with on average more than a hundred listeners per episode. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://open.spotify.com/episode/2pAXbvVrdl8wNUoo3QUtzN |
| Description | Workshop on findings of housing research findings in England |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I (Gina Netto, PI of the project) organised the workshop in collaboration with the Manchester-based Caribbean African Health Network, one of the community partners of the PRIME project. 50 participants attended the workshop to share their views and responses to the project's research findings on access to social housing. The participants included practitioners from housing associations and community organisations. Follow the workshop, many participants reported increased awareness of issues relating to the engagement of minority ethnic communities and actions which they could take in their own organisations to help individuals from these communities increase access to their services and demonstrate accountability. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop on housing research findings with stakeholders in Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I (Gina Netto), PI of the project, organised an online workshop with Shelter Scotland and the Caribbean and African Health Network to raise awareness of the project findings relating to access and use of digitalised social housing services. Participants included representatives from Government, local authorities, housing associations, homelessness charities and researchers. Discussion focused on measures which were already in place to increase access to such services among minoritised ethnic communities as well as further actions which could be taken either singly or in collaboration with others. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | meeting with Data Communications Company |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I attended a meeting with DCC to inform them of PRIME project objectives and research programme and discuss how we could have access to smart metering data to see if ethnicity has an impact on different digital energy services. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |