Blog 1.10.2020

We need to work towards a more human, sustainable, and ethical digital world

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We Goforeans are experts in all things digital, and we want to make sure that digitalisation is a force for good. We want to build ethical, human-centric solutions, and work towards a digital future that is human and increasingly sustainable.

The greatest impact together with our customers

We aim to act as responsibly as possible (you can read about our choices on the Responsibility page), but we understand that the biggest, most positive impact is made by helping our customers make decisions that benefit both their business and society at large.

For almost 20 years, we have been helping our clients achieve good growth in the public sector in Finland, one of the most digital and ethical societies in the world. That work has given us expertise and insight we can leverage when we help our clients identify and develop the capabilities they need in building a sustainable digital business.

Of course, no one can know what the future will hold and what the ethical digital world will mean in practice. But when digital services are designed and built around people and the environment, we can equalise access, democratise information, preserve our planet, and more.

Pioneering an ethical digital world

According to my colleague Pasi Lehtimäki, legislation is currently unable to react fast enough to what artificial intelligence can and cannot do. Companies that develop algorithms have been given a great deal of responsibility for the direction in which society is evolving and how technology affects it. Facebook, for example, has a significant impact on our society in facilitating conversations and what we can say.

Through other examples, we need to encourage individuals and organizations to engage in these discussions, because decisions that seem to make sense now can have long-term consequences.

In addition to doing our very best in using technology to strengthen our society, we would like to invite our customers and other industry players to discuss ethics and to make ethical choices. It’s not going to be easy or unambiguous, but a culture of experimentation is part of the pioneering spirit that drives us.

As the ethicist Anna Seppänen says, there are no sure truths or latest facts in ethics. Indeed, in her opinion, ethics is similar to the nature of a negotiation, with different views on what is right and what is wrong. And together we need to decide which view to act on in the given situation.

Our new brand promise Pioneering an ethical digital world will be launched today. It will initially appear on our website and it will be applied gradually in all of our materials. Hopefully soon also in other blog posts and media.

Welcome to the journey towards an ethical digital world!

sustainability

vastuullisuus

Petra Sievinen

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