MONITOR
2019 will also be an exciting year for CALM and “RIO” – their AI-enabled machine learning triage service.
They continue to seek matched funding for the project but the seed funding from WCIT has allowed them to
hit the ground running. The project is already moving forward, and they have now successfully appointed a
Project Manager.
The next 12 months will focus on data analysis, technical assessments and the creation of the hugely
important ethics framework, rules engine and conversational flows – this activity is imperative to ensure the
service provided to CALM’s vulnerable beneficiaries is both appropriate and of the highest quality. This year
will also see RIO put through its paces during rigorous testing in preparation for the phased live launch which
is planned for early next year.
Simon Gunning, CEO of CALM, comments “We’re delighted to be working with the WCIT to develop RIO, a
product with AI at its core that will radically improve helpline services in the UK and, without question, save
many lives. We couldn’t have got to this point without the WCIT members, and now we must push forward
while also seeking the necessary matched funding.”
The WCIT AI/ML Learning Exchange
To support not just the two Charity Award winners, but also, any other charities embarking on the use of
Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning but willing to share their learnings, WCIT has decided to create
a Learning Exchange.
Charged with the mission “To assemble and dissemble best practice in the AI/ML technological area for
the benefit of the Charity Sector”, the WCIT AI/ML Learning Exchange for Charities was born.
Essentially our purpose is to call upon internal WCIT and external experts to provide practical advice and thought leadership to
support charities, in particular CALM and Missing People, the two winners of the WCIT Charity IT Award. Furthermore it will harness
the experiences and lessons learnt by these projects, and those of other charities, for the wider benefit of the charity sector.
Things got off to a cracking start in November with an opening workshop to
define the nature, activities, targets, priorities and governance of the
Learning Exchange. Sixteen great minds came up with some 200
statements that will help to shape what the Learning Exchange is and does
in the coming months and years (not bad in 90 minutes).
Since then other charities, including AbilityNet, The Brain Tumour Charity,
Family Fund and Cancer Research UK, have joined. In addition to meeting
regularly, we are planning a series of events to meet the charities’ priorities and challenges, starting with a debate on AI Ethics with
Prof. Richard Harvey (WCIT-sponsored Gresham College IT Professor) and Liveryman Chris Rees, Chair of the Ethics and
Spiritual Development Panel, taking the stand. Work is also starting on providing a repository of information, a place to collaborate,
and a forum to exchange ideas/problems and offer help.
It's not too late if you would like to join in - if you think you could help the charities with their AI/ML challenges, please contact
Maxine Ricketts Chairman of the WCIT AI/ML Learning Exchange for Charities at [email protected].
The WCIT AI/ML Learning Exchange provides a sales-free, vendor-neutral and technology-agnostic environment for charities
embarking on AI/ML.
BOOK NOW: AI ETHICS DEBATE - 2nd April 2019, WCIT Hall
In what promises to be a battle of the titans, Prof. Richard Harvey, representing Academia, will
debate the motion “There is no such thing as AI Ethics - just Ethics” with Liveryman Chris Rees,
representing Commerce.
The event aims to cut through the hype on AI Ethics and provide thought leadership to the six
charities that have so far joined the AI/ML Learning Exchange. Prof. Richard Harvey and Chris
Rees jointly commented: “This debate is not a battle between blow-hard politicians. We both hope to present cases that are
Reasonable; our genuine desire at the end of the debate is to have heard some powerful and convincing truths.”
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Tickets: £25 - WCIT Members and Guests; £10 - Journeymen.