At Insight, we have almost 500 members with a diversity of skills, abilities, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, responsibilities and resources. Our strength lies in our diversity.
We know, however, that the tech sector globally has a diversity problem and there are still too many structural constraints, both obvious and hidden, that result in uneven representation in our sector and in our Centre. These constraints lock out skills and perspectives and limit our potential to realise our research mission.
With this in mind we have established an EDI committee within Insight to examine how we can identify and eliminate structural constraints in our sector and in our Centre through research, dialogue and targeted action.
EDI Committee Members
Targeted EDI Action at Insight
Across the four Insight partner sites of DCU, UCC, UCD and NUI Galway, there is a wide range of activities targeted at diversifying our campuses and fostering inclusion and equality at all levels. Programmes such as Athena Swan accreditation provide Insight members with the opportunity to contribute to EDI development on the ground in our partner universities.
At the level of our Centre, we are increasingly providing platforms for the development of EDI measures to support our members and examine our recruitment processes. As the EDI Committee gets to work, we will see more opportunities for Insight members to examine and tackle obstacles to equality, diversity and inclusion in AI research, and we will highlight these initiatives here. For now, here are some recent examples of Insight EDI activities at the Centre:
Feminist AI and Data Feminism – Event
Neurodiversity and Postgraduate Employment – Event
EDI Research at Insight
The AI research community has a responsibility to ensure that we do not contribute to AI systems that reinforce inequality and exclusion. At Insight we are concerned with how data science research serves communities beyond our Centre and our sector. See below for some examples of current Insight research that is focused on producing more inclusive AI systems.
Cardamom – Comparative Deep Models for Minority and Historical Languages
Crowd4Access – Mapping the Accessibility of our Cities and Towns
Moving Well Being Well – A nationwide AI-supported physical literacy programme for primary schools
