The Sustainable Data focus area consists of Associate Professor Bernard van Gastel, Associate Professor Erik Poll and Project Leader Joep Bos-Coenraad. Bernard and Erik lead the focus group together, and Joep is the PEP team's project leader and software developer. Sustainable Data focuses on the privacy, security and sustainability of the data and software NOLAI works with. Due to the nature of the data that NOLAI works with, security and privacy are highly prioritised. The focus area looks at how data can be securely and sustainably deployed. Bernard: "The embedding has to be good. We look at the whole picture of privacy and security and how this can be improved. The overall perspective is important; the whole package of measures has to be right."
Focus Area: Sustainable Data
NOLAI works with schools to explore how smart technology can support teachers and students. To do this, our researchers collect data. But how do we ensure the privacy of students, teachers and schools? And how do we keep the storage of that data sustainable? We asked Bernard van Gastel, leader of the Sustainable Data focus area, and Joep Bos Coenraad, the project leader of the PEP team.
Focus Area and PEP Team
The Sustainable Data focus area works closely with the PEP team and, therefore, has a slightly different set-up from the other focus areas. The PEP team (Polymorphic Encryption and Pseudonymisation) develops technology for sharing data between different parties. As part of Radboud University, they are non-profit, and the software they develop is open source. Joep: "The PEP team develops software that is used to share data in a responsible way. We properly organise security and the privacy of the people about whom that data is about for the users."
In the Chain of Data
PEP is a connection between a data collection environment (where identification of subjects is allowed) and a data analysis environment (where identification is not allowed). The data collection environment, in the case of NOLAI, is the primary, secondary and special education schools with which NOLAI works. The data analysis environment is NOLAI itself, the researchers on the scientific team. Joep: "We provide software and support for that software. Our repository software is a 'connector' between the schools and the researchers and tool developers, and we help these parties set up and use it. This is how we contribute to secure and privacy-friendly data management in the NOLAI projects."
Data from Schools
When a school joins a co-creation project, researchers from NOLAI will conduct research on how a particular system is used at their school. Schools need to make sure that the privacy of their students is well-regulated, ensuring that data is processed carefully and is untraceable. NOLAI, therefore, has to provide these provisions for schools to be able to collaborate. Joep: "I think that if you want to use data on pupils for research, the most secure way is using PEP. Compared to the tools that are available worldwide, this is certainly one of the most secure. We hope that with this, schools are confident in how we take care of and handle data."
Sustainable Data
Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue, even when it comes to data storage and data management. How do we ensure sustainable data at NOLAI? Bernard: "It's about keeping data usable for a longer period of time. We want to avoid storing or requesting data twice, so we're looking for techniques for the long-term storage of data to ensure that you search through older data and that the quality and security are still secure. We are currently making the mould for the projects we are going to run in the next ten years." Joep: "We want to lay a solid foundation and ensure that data management at NOLAI is set up to stand the test of time."
Ethical Aspects
Data is central to NOLAI, which is essential if, like NOLAI, you are working with machine learning and AI and if you are going to train models. But, storing data often has ethical implications. Bernard: "I hope that we can find a way to ensure that we can maintain human dignity and preserve privacy, all whilst empowering students and enabling them to learn better." Joep: "And that in five and 15 years from now, our techniques still pass all the ethical tests."
Big Tech
The role of IT and AI in education will only increase, and many schools are already working with Chromebooks, Office365, Teams, Zoom, and so on. Bernard: "All kinds of different big tech companies are collecting all kinds of information. The question is to what extent are the interests of society, and especially the interests of students, included in this?" The scenario that is now emerging is that a few big, powerful parties will develop monopolies. Big Tech's interference in education is already under the microscope.
Added Value of NOLAI
Joep: "Without initiatives like NOLAI, you can be sure that we will be made dependent on those parties, which will definitely bring up ethical considerations. By making sure that we have a good foundation at NOLAI, we not only ensure that people's privacy is better protected but also that we don't become too dependent on large corporations. I see a valuable role for NOLAI here because we can ensure ethical and privacy standards and prevent monopolists." Bernard: "With NOLAI, we can offer an alternative and hopefully encourage people to choose it."
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- Organizational unit
- National Education Lab AI (NOLAI)
- About person
- Dr B.E. van Gastel (Bernard) , J. Bos-Coenraad (Joep)