AI (Artificial Intelligence) products are ever present and gaining speed. These are often complicated products and it can feel like we’re running to catch up; either to make the most of the opportunities, or to add some restraint to the chase.

Over the last year, LOTI has worked with the Local Government Association (LGA), the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), to develop the resource, Responsibly buying AI: A guide for councils in England.

This guide addresses the growing need for practical support in implementing responsible AI principles within council operations. It provides practical steps and recommendations for best practice in compliance with data protection law and the Public Sector Equality Duty when taking steps to procure or commission AI -based technologies.

It’s written to support commissioners and project managers, procurement officers and contract owners, to help ensure that appropriate actions are taken throughout the procurement, implementation and ongoing use of AI-based technologies. 

The guide also aims to help information governance and equalities officers to engage with these stakeholders. The underlying aim of all my work is to make the lives of information governance teams and Data Protection Officers easier. In this case, by encouraging council officers to incorporate good information governance holistically through council procurement and contract operations.

As one of the lead authors, I’ve enjoyed working closely again with Annie Radcliffe and Jenny McEneaney at the LGA, and I want to give recognition to their leadership and hard work in this space. 

Cllr Abi Brown, chair of the LGA Improvement and Innovation Board, said: “We were excited to collaborate with LOTI, the EHRC, the ICO and other partners on this crucial guidance for responsibly buying AI. At the LGA, we are dedicated to supporting councils and providing them with the tools to deploy AI safely and responsibly. The public sector equality duty and data protection law considerations are foundational to that safe and responsible deployment. This guidance provides practical tools to help officers confidently address these issues. By following this guidance, councils can navigate the complex AI landscape and deliver vital services responsibly and effectively for the communities they serve.”

While the guide focuses on procurement of AI, much of the content is relevant to any procurement. It provides:

• An overview of what data protection law and equality duty says and how it applies to purchasing AI. 
• Questions for different roles to ask through each stage of the procurement process, including what to ask bidders.
• Guidance to inform decision making and to support councils to make appropriate commissioning and procurement decisions based on a supplier’s suitability, compliance with data protection laws and the Public Sector Equality Duty.

An important part of the guide is focus on ongoing contract management, especially given the speed at which some AI products change. You can also find that a supplier adds AI capabilities into their products during a contract term, and the guide will help you identify the actions you may need to take to safely manage this.

The other lead authors, Declan McDowell-Naylor at the ICO and Claire Lesko at EHRC, incorporated both regulatory and practical actions. Claire Lesko of the EHRC said, “Most councils buy the AI technologies they are using. Both equality and data protection need to be considered early on in the commissioning process as well as at key stages of the procurement process and post contract. Thus, it was important for us at EHRC to work with others on this guidance. It provides questions and prompts that relevant officers can easily use to better inform their equality and data protection thinking, work with others involved in buying AI technologies and hopefully grow their confidence in asking AI providers questions around equality and data protection that will enable the responsible use of AI.”

At LOTI, we continue to identify needs and support London boroughs with the responsible use of AI, information governance, and data ethics. Those activities influenced the LOTI input to the guide, along with conversations with my colleague, Sam Nutt, Data Ethics & Emerging Technologies Manager, and work completed as part of a group from Information Governance for London (IGfL), a forum of the information governance officers at London borough councils. IGfL developed questions and guidance for London boroughs, to cover data protection and cyber security requirements during procurement, many of which are incorporated into this guide. 

I encourage commissioners and project managers, procurement officers and contract owners to download the guidance from the LGA website, and incorporate it into policy and process at their organisations.