Don’t miss the chance to be part of the conversation. The momentum from our Spring event continues with the very first virtual Town Hall Workshop this Autumn. Join us online on Friday 28 November, 2025 from 14h30-17h30 CET (13h30-16h30 UTC). This upcoming meeting offers a flexible and accessible forum for stakeholders to come together to shape the future of ethical data.

The topic of this townhall will be Recommender Systems for Public Good.

Enrol now and join a community that’s building a better, more ethical future for data. Be a part of the solution.

The Ethical Data Initiative (EDI) is evolving its stakeholder engagement by transitioning its annual Townhall Events to a new biannual format. The new schedule will feature a larger in-person event in the Spring and a virtual Townhall Workshop in the Autumn, providing more frequent and accessible opportunities for its global community to connect and collaborate.

The EDI is a non-partisan platform coordinated by the University of Exeter and the TUM Think Tank at the Technical University of Munich, dedicated to advancing data ethics in a world increasingly shaped by data. The initiative’s core mission is to foster open and inclusive discussions on responsible data governance. It aims to increase data literacy and promote a more human-centric approach to how data is collected, used, and shared, with a focus on addressing issues such as social inequity, misinformation, and privacy.

The most recent town hall meeting, titled “Shaping the Future of Data Ethics: EDI Town Hall 2025,” took place on March 31 in a hybrid format at the TUM Think Tank in Munich. The event brought together EDI affiliates, experts, and key stakeholders to discuss the initiative’s progress and to collaboratively shape its future activities. Discussions focused on the need to move beyond a narrow focus on personal privacy and instead champion the concept of a “human-centric data science” that prioritizes social and environmental needs. 

A significant development for the EDI is its growing network of partnerships. The initiative has recently welcomed several new partners, including the Research Data Alliance (RDA) and the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS). These collaborations, along with new alliances with organisations such as the Italian Centre for Supercomputing, further the EDI’s mission to build a robust, interdisciplinary, and globally connected community dedicated to ethical data practices.

With the shift to a new biannual schedule, momentum continues with the very first virtual Town Hall Workshop to be held this Autumn. This upcoming meeting will offer a flexible forum for the community to continue shaping the future of data ethics.