New America and Instituto Igarapé Announce New Global Task Force on Predictive Analytics for Security and Development

The Igarapé Institute and New America have convened a group of 15 technologists, researchers, and practitioners to develop recommendations guiding the design and deployment of predictive algorithms.

The late 2022 release of new applications such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT revealed the astonishing pace and scale at which predictive technologies are being adopted. In just over three months the platform was used by more than 100 million people. Companies, investors, and governments are all racing to develop and deploy the latest machine-learning tools.

This is also true in low- and middle-income countries, where predictive analytics are expected to unlock huge social and economic gains. But these technologies also carry serious risks. For example, they can reinforce racial profiling in law enforcement; enable autocrats and would-be autocrats to easily surveil and control their populations; and worsen inequality, exclusion, and discrimination.

To help ensure predictive technologies promote human rights and sustainable and equitable development, the Igarapé Institute and New America created the Global Task Force on Predictive Analytics for Security and Development. The task force comprises some of the world’s leading thinkers, practitioners, and advocates. Coming from five continents and representing a diversity of backgrounds and identities, they include technologists, lawyers, journalists, activists, academics, entrepreneurs, and a Nobel laureate.

“The Global South is undergoing rapid digital transformation, and public authorities need to grasp not only the promise but also the peril of algorithmically-enabled technologies,” said Ilona Szabo, co-founder of the Igarapé Institute.

The task force will meet several times throughout 2023 to prepare recommendations primarily targeting developing world governments, companies, and nonprofits. It will issue several briefs throughout the year and a public report at the beginning of 2024 with recommendations for the design, deployment, operation, monitoring, and evaluation of predictive analytics in public security and sustainable development.

“The Global Task Force will help public authorities in low- and middle-income settings critically assess the ways in which the design and deployment of predictive analytics affect security and development,” said New America CEO, Anne-Marie Slaughter.

Task Force Members

• Reuben Abraham – CEO,Artha Global
• Chinmayi Arun – Research Scholar in Law and Executive Director of the Information Society Project, Yale Law School
• Wafa Ben-Hassine – Human rights lawyer and Principal, Responsible Technology, Omidyar Network
• Tiffiniy Cheng – Co-founder, Fight for Future and Open Congress
• Rumman Chowdhury – Former Director for ML Ethics, Twitter and AI Fellow,Berkman Klein
• Haksoo Ko – Professor of Law, Seoul National University School of Law (observer)
• Ronaldo Lemos – Professor, Rio de Janeiro State University Law School
• Vukosi Marivate – ABSA Chair of Data Science, University of Pretoria
• Yolanda Martinez – GovStack Initiative Lead, International Telecommunications Union
• Nanjala Nyabola – Writer, researcher, political analyst, and activist
• Taylor Owen – Associate Professor and Founding Director of the Center of Media, Technology and Democracy, Max Bell School of Public Policy, McGill University
• Maria A. Ressa – CEO, President, and Co-Founder, Rappler and Nobel Laureate
• Fabro Steibel – Executive Director, Institute for Technology and Society Rio
• Stefaan Verhulst – Co-Founder and Chief Research and Development Officer, Governance Lab (GovLab), New York University
• Andrew Wyckoff – Director of the Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

About the Igarapé Institute

The Igarapé Institute is an independent think and action tank committed to citizen, digital, and climate security. Founded in 2010 and based in Brazil, the Institute designs and delivers data-driven and evidence-based solutions to address global challenges. The Institute oversees activities in over 20 countries across the Americas, Africa and Europe leveraging a combination of primary research, technology innovation, strategic partnerships, and global advocacy and communications. Ranked among the top social policy and environment think tanks in the world and a leading non-profit in Brazil, the Institute works with governments, the private sector, and civil society to deliver lasting social impact.

About New America

New America is a think tank and civic enterprise dedicated to renewing, reimagining, and realizing the promise of America in an era of rapid technological and social change. Since 1999, New America has nurtured a new generation of policy experts and intellectuals and pioneered bold and successful policy initiatives in areas ranging from education to open technology to political reform. As the nation’s premier idea incubator and accelerator, New America has the unique capacity to quickly innovate new programs and scale existing programs that address the most relevant problems in our society — today, and in decades to come.

For more information on the Global Task Force: https://igarape.org.br/en/digital-security/global-task-force/.

For interviews with Global Task Force chairs, contact robert@igarape.org.br.