Chaired by Orange chairman and CEO Stéphane Richard, the Ethics Council will draw up guidelines for the responsible use of data and AI at Orange, and monitor its implementation within the group’s entities.
It will be tasked with studying "concrete scenarios" involving the ethical use of data and AI, and will put forward recommendations that will be submitted to Orange’s Executive Committee for approval. It will work on the instruction of Orange itself, people outside the company, customer representatives or Orange employees. It will also issue prospective opinions on the use of data and AI technologies within the Group.
In a release announcing the news, Orange said the council would ensure AI-based systems developed by Orange have incorporated the principles of non-discrimination and equality in their design, and that they do not run the risk of invading privacy when they analyse network data "to detect the causes of a failure in the video over fibre service".
The 11 members have been selected on their "independence and neutrality, their expertise on these topics and the diversity of their backgrounds". They are:
- Raja Chatila, Professor of AI, Robotics and Ethics at the Sorbonne University, France,
- Cécile Dejoux, University Professor at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, France,
- Lê Nguyên Hoang, Researcher and Computer Science Mediator at the École Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne, Switzerland,
- Mark Hunyadi, Professor of Moral and Political Philosophy at Louvain University, Belgium,
- Etienne Klein, Laboratory Director at the CEA (Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), France,
- Jean-Noël Lafargue, Lecturer at the Paris 8 University, France,
- Caroline Lequesne-Roth, Teacher and Researcher at the Cote d’Azur University, France,
- Claire Levallois Barth, Lecturer in Law at the Télécom Paris engineering school, France,
- Winston Maxwell, Director of Legal Studies at the Télécom Paris engineering school, France,
- Sasha Rubel, International expert in responsible AI and open data,
- Françoise Soulie-Fogelman, Consultant in AI; ex-university professor and start-up manager.
