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link Ethical guidelines

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link Ethical requirements for INFINITY software and data

In the process of developing and releasing components as part of the INFINITY ecosystem, various local and online software programs, platforms or services will be used for code generation, coding, code checking, tests, code hosting, software/service deployment, documentation and data (creation or sourcing), among other things. INFINITY developers and all contributors (also external) must be aware of how this leads to data and information being acquired by different external organisations and potentially reused for purposes outside of INFINITY’s intentions. We therefore recommend the use of open, European solutions whenever available (e.g. Codeberg instead of GitHub).

All project outputs (mKG, ontology, annotated corpus, datasets, AI training data, model, pipeline, APIs, plug-in, software, scientific report) must be accompanied by a completed Minimum Ethical, FAIR, and CARE Compliance Checklist (detailed in the Data Management Plan).

Additionally, all software submitted to the Technical Board must undergo the Digital Heritage Ethics Workflow and be accompanied by a Digital Heritage Ethics Declaration (more details in D8.1 Guidelines on Data Ethics).

This workflow should be consulted at the beginning of the development process and throughout, to assist in decision making.

The workflow is relevant to the development of all tools, services and outputs in INFINITY. It is designed as a self-reflection tool that guides developers through ethical risks and decision-making for their projects. The workflow comprises: Ethics Checklist for developers, Ethics Risks and Best Practices Tool, Full Ethics Review, and Digital Heritage Ethics Declaration. The output is a declaration submitted to the Technical Board along with each INFINITY component. The Technical Board ensures the self-reflection has been completed (note: this is not an assessment of the declaration’s content, only a check that it has been completed).

When following the workflow, developers of each use case, workflow element or INFINITY service can tailor the workflow to their project.

Although developers take the lead on technical implementation, ethical considerations should be discussed by the whole team.

The Digital Heritage Ethics Declaration should be submitted to the Technical Board along with any new release (i.e. a whole new version).

link How to use the Digital Heritage Ethics Workflow

You will need to complete step 1 OR step 2 OR step 3, and always steps 4 and 5.

1. Read the Ethics Checklist for developers (below) throughout the development process and assess whether all checks have been met.
   • If yes, when ready for submission to the Technical Board, proceed to Step 4.
   • If some checks have not been met, proceed to Step 2.
2. Visit the Ethics Risks and Best Practices Tool (below) throughout the development process and assess whether all checks have been met.
   • If yes, when ready for submission, proceed to Step 4.
   • If no, proceed to Step 3.
3. If it is determined that unacceptable ethical risks persist, or solutions to mitigate risks cannot be found, a Full Ethics Review is required — escalate the concerns to the Executive Board for assistance. Sign-off from the Executive Board is needed. Proceed to step 4.
4. Complete the Digital Heritage Ethics Declaration (below) and submit it to the Technical Board along with the INFINITY component. Proceed to step 5.
5. When ready to submit the component to the Technical Board, revisit the Digital Heritage Ethics Declaration, make sure it is up to date, and submit it along with the INFINITY component. Submit an updated form with each new version of the component.

link Step 1: Ethics Checklist for developers

This checklist provides a set of questions to be considered before each step in the creation of software and tools for use with cultural heritage data. It is not an exhaustive list, but a set of questions to be revisited throughout the design and implementation process. At minimum, consult it during the system design phase and again during the user testing phase, to ensure no unintentional harms result from the designed tool. We strongly suggest documenting your responses as paradata about the tool, for future accountability and to demonstrate your thought process.

Before each workflow step, ask these 12 questions:

link Step 2: Ethics Risks and Best Practice Tool

Link to the tool: infinity-ethics.designinformatics.org

The Ethics Risks and Best Practice Tool provides ethical risks, best practices and a checklist across six ethical principles: Participation and Inclusivity, Transparency, Accountability, Trustworthiness, Sustainability (of Preservation), and Feasibility and Balance. For each principle, read the associated risks. If you judge a risk to be medium or high for your project, check the associated best practices.

The tool helps you identify the relevant checklist for the risks you indicate. Use this checklist as a starting point for discussion with colleagues and revisit it throughout the development process. Document your responses in paradata for future accountability and to demonstrate your thought process.

link Step 3: Email template for Full Ethics Review (if required)

If steps 1 and 2 do not sufficiently address all ethical risks, use the following email template to request ethical approval from the Executive Board:

Dear [insert name/s of Executive Board],

After having followed the Digital Heritage Ethics Workflow, there are still unresolved ethical risks associated with [insert name of INFINITY ecosystem component].

[describe risks and potential harms]

[describe proposed actions for risk mitigation]

We are escalating this issue in order to gain approval to go ahead with the project.

Please indicate whether we have your approval.

From [name of champion]

link Steps 4 and 5: Digital Heritage Ethics Declaration

All components must complete the ethical risk and best practices process before being accepted for release. Indicate completion of the Digital Heritage Ethics Workflow by filling in the following form and submitting it to the Technical Board along with your software release:

link INFINITY Digital Heritage Ethics Declaration v1.0

Name of INFINITY ecosystem component: ________

Champion: ________

Date declaration submitted: ________

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Step 1 — The component satisfies the Checklist for Developers by meeting all six ethical principles.

• Yes
• No — if No, complete Step 2

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Step 2

• Yes   /   [ ] No — After consulting the Ethics Risks and Best Practices Tool, potential risks were identified.

  Description of risks and how they will be mitigated.

  Example: The software is intended for use with contested heritage where different descriptions exist. The software enables parallel description.

• Yes   /   [ ] No — After consulting the Ethics Risks and Best Practices tool, a trade-off was justified between competing best practices.

  Description of trade-off.

  Example: Best practice to mitigate the risk of elusive narratives is to allow for parallel descriptions. The software does not allow for this, so one set of descriptions was chosen and the metadata states which set of descriptions was used, why it was chosen, and indicates that other descriptions exist.

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Step 3

• Yes   /   [ ] No — A Full Ethics Review is required.

  Outcome of Full Ethics Review, including name of authority who granted approval.

  Example: The ethical risks identified for this project were communicated to the Executive Board, who have given us approval to go ahead with our proposed software. [Name of authority who granted approval.]

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