The Importance of Diversity and Inclusion in AI Strategy Implementation

DataKirk Cyber Resilience Workshop

Guest blog from Chuks Ododo Community Connecting Manager - DataKirk

Diversity and Inclusion in the Business Landscape

In March this year, the Scottish AI Summit brought the tech ecosystem and academia together, to digest the issues around AI, and developing a more ethical, trustworthy, and inclusive approach to AI that embraces diversity.

I had the opportunity to share my thoughts about diversity and inclusion, and how this can help the growth of the AI strategy to be inclusive of everyone. My hope is that these ideas will be ultimately adopted so that underrepresented communities can have the chance to become involved in the implementation of AI strategy.

Diversity and inclusion have been a part of business development for decades now, although it could be argued that putting it into practice has not been fully implemented yet. While equal opportunities schemes such as Investors in People have been adopted by businesses, this has arguably not been integrated meaningfully into their codes of practice. The developing world of AI provides an opportunity to review this.

Reports have shown that 44% of companies have deployed AI in their day-to-day operations, and there is little doubt that AI will drive growth in economic and service delivery. However, it must be questioned what chance is being given to underprivileged groups, many of whom are struggling to overcome digital poverty, to participate in this world of AI.

The Data Kirk Team

Diversity and the Digital Skills Gap

What does AI mean to people from deprived communities, where the harsh realities of putting food on the table or heating homes are prioritised over digital participation such as broadband and device access, and access to skills and education? The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, reported in 2021 that nearly half of the children from ethnic minority backgrounds in Scotland live in poverty, with ethnic minority communities facing unequal access to secure well-paid work and apprenticeship opportunities.

The reality of this is that many people do not have an understanding of the importance of AI in their lives. This lack of access has knock on effects. According to Diversity in Tech only 15% of the tech workforce are from BAME backgrounds. Gender diversity is also an issue with women accounting for just 19% of tech roles.

There is a desperate need for a culture shift. For example, according to the recent survey published in the Guardian, 71% of employees from a black background reported feeling overlooked for opportunities owing to their identity; 66% from Asian backgrounds and 65% of those who identified as LGBTQ+ also had the same experience.

This is a situation that needs to be addressed to ensure diversity within the tech and AI space. Scotland’s diverse community offers an opportunity to rectify but we must put into practice a better way of utilizing talent within the country and open up access to AI for all.

In our ambition to become the digital capital of Europe, Scotland increase its chances by offering employment opportunities from skilled people from a variety of diverse backgrounds. By focusing on the skills and talent gap, the AI strategy could ensure a more inclusive tech sector.

I hope the current appetite to recognise and discuss diversity and inclusion will translate into meaningful action in developing and implementing of AI that would benefit everyone across the country.

The Way Forward

In order to properly respect diversity and inclusion, key areas need to be addressed in recruitment and skills. Ensuring that recruitment processes acknowledge the importance of diversity is a great start and changing hiring practices to become more attractive to underrepresented candidates would be encouraging. Acknowledging the benefit of a good attitude, soft skills, curiosity, and willingness to learn over hard skills and qualifications can open up opportunities to diverse communities. Alongside this, encouraging more flexible working opportunities, will make workplaces more accessible to diverse communities.

Developing training and work programmes for underrepresented communities in the tech industry will help identify talent and develop an inclusive, skilled workforce, rather than relying on outside expertise. I recommend that training and work programmes are incentivized for organisations and participants in order to stimulate adoption. This should be coupled with close monitoring to weed out bad faith organisations and supported by organizational diversity KPIs. It is important that such a scheme does not become just another tick box exercise.

We should improve the development and adoption of AI across Scotland by ensuring meaningful partnerships across public, private and third sectors. The primary focus of these partnerships should be to drive engagement and participation in all sectors of society, particularly the underrepresented.

Organizations who want to improve diversity and inclusion should connect with community focused companies such as DataKirk who are working at bridging the gap by providing access to up-skilling and the re-skilling of the underrepresented BAME community through the provision of internships or apprenticeship opportunities.

Lack of diversity leads to a lack of new ideas, so diversity and inclusivity should be a direct reflection of organizational culture. This can make companies stand out as champions of diversity and hubs of innovation. Also, create a scheme that will encourage employers to hire and train people from underprivileged groups.