In a project like SmartAgriHubs with many partners and data exchange between them, potential ethical issues can arise. You can think of issues like surveillance, transparency and data sharing. Also a fair distribution of benefits and power, and the distribution of responsibility and liability can lead to ethical questions. As many innovators have a background in ICT, or in farming or a farming-related business, it is not always easy for them to become aware of the ethical questions that come forwards and deal with them appropriately.

To provide guidance on these issues, the project SAH has appointed an Ethics Advisory Board (EAB). This board consists of George Beers (chair), Simone van der Burg (ethics expert), Bojan Gavrilović (practical expert), and Hennie van der Veen (Secretary). The EAB has a number of responsibilities. First of all, we will provide you with information (e.g. training, core values, documents) through the Innovation Portal and during partner events. Secondly, the EAB can be consulted for any ethical questions concerning data collection or any other ethical issues that might arise. And in case it is foreseen that the data collection concerns trials or experiments on human beings or animals, the EAB has to give ethical clearance.

You can contact the EAB through Hennie.vanderveen@wur.nl. 

We all hope to meet you later this year in Bucharest where interactive workshops on ethics will be organized!