National Labs Policy

Are you interested in taking part in the BIAS research project and be part of its national labs?

Purpose of the project

The BIAS project is funded by the European Commission under the Grant Agreement no. 101070468 and seeks to identify and mitigate diversity bias that occur when Artificial Intelligence is used in a human resources management context. For this purpose, the BIAS Consortium will develop an innovative technology based on natural language processing (NLP) and case-based reasoning (CBR). More precisely, it will first consult and co-create with you and other stakeholders who have experienced diversity biases in human resources management, have overseen human resources management, and/or have worked on AI applications. In this way, it will be possible to gain a nuanced understanding of what constitutes bias, how bias has been experienced, and how it can be mitigated through both technical and non-technical means. Based on these research findings, the BIAS Consortium will then develop and validate the technology as well as develop capacity building curricula where stakeholders in the AI and HRM community can learn about the existence of AI bias, why it is important to address such bias, and some concrete tools for doing so.

Who is responsible for the research project?

The BIAS project is coordinated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) (Norway) and is composed of:

• Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) (Norway);
• Berner Fachhochschule (Switzerland);
• Haskoli Islands (Island);
• Globaz, S.A. (Portugal);
• Crowdhelix Limited (Ireland);
• Smart Venice Srl (Italy);
• Universiteit Leiden (The Netherlands);
• Digiotouch Ou (Estonia);
• Farplas Otomotiv Anonim Sirketi (Türkiye).
• All the partners equally contribute to the implementation of the project activities according to their expertise.

Why are you being asked to participate?

You have been invited to participate in the BIAS project because you have developed, used, experienced, advocated, invested, researched or, more generally, worked on AI applications and/or in the labour market or you represent a minority group. Accordingly, we would like to have you join the creation of the BIAS national lab, namely a community of stakeholders in the field of AI and HR. To this end, we expect each national lab to involve around 100 stakeholders in 7 out of 9 partner’s country, namely Estonia, Island, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Turkey. Stakeholders will be both individuals and organizations acting as:

• Key players, namely AI developers, public and private investors, organisations using AI systems to analyse data;
• Context settlers, namely policy makers, standardisation organisations, and professional networks and platforms for businesses and employees;
• Advocates, namely citizens groups, advocacy organisations, researchers, think tanks, educators, and individual workers.

What does participation involve for you?

If you accept to participate in the BIAS project and, more precisely, its national labs, you will offer your views and expertise on the identification and mitigation of diversity biases in the labour market. The BIAS project is planning many activities that will engage stakeholders in various ways. As a member of the national labs, you will be invited to take part in these activities. You will find out more information about the precise nature of the activities when you are invited to them. How many, and precisely which activities you take part in is up to you. You may also elect to participate in no activities. Some activities we currently have planned are:

• Expert interviews regarding current practices concerning AI in recruitment and HR practices, as well as existing concerns about biases;
• An online survey designed to understand how workers react to and make sense of AI in recruitment and HR practices, as well as existing concerns about biases;
• Co-creation workshops to support BIAS’s AI experts in the development of an innovative technology to detected and mitigate diversity biases in AI in recruitment;
• Co-creation workshops for the definition of the BIAS exploitation plan;
• A capacity building programme on biases in AI with an intersectional perspective including online raising awareness activities;
• Qualitative interviews in the frame of an ethnographic study that will be conducted by some of the Consortium partners;
• Professional networking opportunities organized specifically for members of the national labs.

Participation is voluntary

Participation in the project activities is pro-bono and voluntary. If you chose to participate, you can with draw your consent at any time, without giving a reason. All information about you will then be made anonymous. You can choose to be part of the national lab but not participate in any of the activities mentioned above. There will be no negative consequences for you if you choose not to participate or later decide to withdraw.

Your personal privacy – how we will store and use your personal data

We will only use your personal data for the purpose specified in this information letter. We will process your personal data confidentially and in accordance with data protection legislation, namely GDPR.

Personal information received will be stored in a secure manner on Microsoft Teams and on the CRM database ‘The Raiser’s Edge NXT’. Personal information will only be accessible to the Consortium partners and will be password-protected.

Because some of the Consortium partners are located abroad and/or outside of the European Union and the European Economic Area, you should be aware that the data processing is still lawful and secure because of the presence of an adequacy decision between the EU and Switzerland, as well as the signature of a bilateral agreement with our Turkish partner, Farplas Otomotiv Anonim Sirketi.

What will happen to your personal data at the end of the research project?

The BIAS project is scheduled to end on 31st October 2026. Your personal data will be retained for two years after this date because of the audits the European Commission could conduct within this timeframe. The BIAS Consortium will then proceed to the permanent erasure of all the personal data, in the sense that all of them will be made unusable and it will no longer be possible to restore them.

What gives us the right to process your personal data?

We will process your personal data based on your consent.

What rights do I have?

Besides receiving all the information included in this document, you specifically have the right to:

• Withdraw your consent at any time and without negative consequence;
• Obtain from us the confirmations as to whether or not your personal data are being processed. If this is the case, it is possible for you to access them;
• Have your personal data, which are incorrect, incomplete, and/or misleading, rectified;
• Have your personal data been erased;
• Have the processing of your personal data been temporarily restricted;
• Receive all your personal data and eventually have them transmitted to another data controller;
• Object to the processing of your personal data;
• Not to be subject to automated decision-making;
• Lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority;
• Bring a complaint before the competent national court;
• Claim damage for any damage suffered due to unlawful processing of your personal data.

Where can I find out more?

If you have questions about the project, or want to exercise your rights, contact:

• NTNU via Project leader Roger A. Søraa, roger.soraa@ntnu.no or Project Administrator Mark Kharas, mark.w.kharas@ntnu.no

Yours sincerely,

Roger A. Søraa
Project Leader