Trustworthy Technical Implementations of Children’s Online-Offline Experiences

The intersection of technology and children is an area of high impact in terms of reach and scope. Innovations in technology are fueling its use in many aspects of child centricity, from education to the gamification of the play and recreational space, and there is an increasing merging of online and offline spheres through connected toys or social networking services. There are possibilities to enhance inclusion, opportunity, and flourishing of children, but also risks relating to privacy, safety, and security. The current landscape is unmanaged and unregulated, with high-level principles having emerged but a lack of technical specificity in standardization or certification, to govern and promote better practice for the use and implementation of innovative technology. As such, there seems to be a real danger that innovative technology moves from the betterment and advancement of children-centric applications, to that of invasive and exploitative uses of surveillance-capable technologies that lose the focus on respecting children’s dignity.

The goals of the program will be to create specifications with key industry, government, and policy stakeholders for certification and marking processes that advance the positive and safe interactions between children and technology, and to create a safe ecosystem that engages and enables children to participate in the development cycle.

The activity will serve as a hub for ideating and coordinating inclusive and trustworthy children-centric technologies. Key deliverables include:

• Prototypes—framework for the certification and deployment toolkit
• Sandbox for toolkits and child ecosystem build

The certification program will focus on layers such as, but not limited to:

• Data
• Algorithmic systems
• Applications

We welcome new participants from large and small corporations, academia, industry, and government agencies that are interested in Trustworthy Technical Implementations of Children’s Online-Offline Experiences.

To learn more about the program and how to join the Trustworthy Technical Implementations of Children’s Online/Offline Experiences activity, please express your interest by sending an inquiry to the activity chair whose information can be found in the Contacts section.