Tim Davies
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timdavies.org.uk
Tim Davies
@timdavies.org.uk
3K followers 780 following 160 posts
Director of Research & Practice at @ConnectedByData.org working on participatory and open governance of tech. Adoptive parent.
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timdavies.org.uk
If you've been thinking of sending in an abstract - please do!

2026 Timeline: short abstracts due Friday 31st October; Notifications by 5th December; final papers, posters or presentations due 30th Jan.

www.pairs.site
**Who is PAIRS for?** We seek to create a space that is equally open to contributions from civil society, academia and industry, and that welcomes both presentation of practice, and empirical or theoretical work. This call is open to all applicants regardless of geographic location or institutional affiliation. However we are especially interested in receiving applications from civil society organisations based in India; South Asia; Most Affected People and Areas (MAPA); members of the Global Majority or Global South; Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color; women, transgender, non-binary, and/or gender-diverse applicants; migrant and diasporic communities; and/or persons coming from climate displaced/impacted communities, etc. We strongly encourage all such contributors to submit an abstract. We welcome submissions that represent cross-sector and cross-country collaboration. We will prioritise work that has not been previously published or presented in research venues. Track 1: Participatory AI Development How can those designing, developing and integrating AI tools and platforms involve affected publics in systems design and development? Track 2: Participatory AI Governance How can affected communities be meaningfully involved in global, national and local governance of AI? Track 3: AI Participation, Power and Negotiation How can community refusal, contestations and questioning reshape AI development or governance?
October 27, 2025 at 11:20 AM
timdavies.org.uk
⏳Call for Abstracts for PAIRS26 - the 'India AI Impact Summit edition', closes in 5 days on Fri 31st Oct.

www.pairs.site/PAIRS26-Call...

If you've research or practice to share on participatory approaches to AI, or you've been thinking about submitting but not got around yet, please take a look.
October 27, 2025 at 11:20 AM
timdavies.org.uk
"...we should not task machines with decisions simply because they now seem capable of making them; we should instead do so based on whether ceding those decisions expands or contracts our agency and freedoms." from HDR2025 - Chapter 2
June 11, 2025 at 10:36 AM
timdavies.org.uk
Cycled up to Hawkwood this morning to prepare Perspectives on AI course I'm running next month: a one day intro to critically engaging with AI.
www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk/our-programm...
Rainy now, but with gd weather in May we'll make most of the setting to slow down & reflect on fast moving tech
View from a Stone Window into a lush green garden with trees and hillside beyond
April 16, 2025 at 8:00 AM
timdavies.org.uk
Bookending a week of dipping back into the world of standards, a copy of Standards by Pomerantz and Griffey has arrived. Pitch perfect opening: "There is a standard for standards... because of course there is." mitpress.mit.edu/978026254949...
Book cover image. Standard by Jeffrey Pomerantz and Jason Griffey.
March 21, 2025 at 4:44 PM
timdavies.org.uk
Being at QEII conference centre and seeing a sign to the Berners-Lee room gave me flash back to stressful hour when we had Sir Tim Berners-Lee launching the first edition of the Open Data Barometer at the OGP Summit in this building back in 2013. opendatabarometer.org/1stEdition/
Sign pointing to Berners-Lee room (and Dawkins, Hawking and Turing rooms)
March 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM
timdavies.org.uk
Packed room here for our panel on Participatory Development of AI with insights from different settings around the globe. With @connectedbydata.org and @datasociety.bsky.social
Lecture theatre full of people at SciencesPo View from the back to lecture theatre full of participations.
February 8, 2025 at 9:10 AM
timdavies.org.uk
Registration is open for our in-person fringe event of the AI Action Summit. On Sat 8th Feb, we'll be hearing from over 50 different speakers on aspects of participatory AI development, governance and resistance and thinking about agendas for future research & action. Info: pairs25.notion.site
Here’s the alt text for the image: "Promotional poster for the Participatory AI Research & Practice Symposium, part of the Week of Paris AI Action Summit. The poster has a red and cream color scheme. Main text reads: 'Participatory AI Research & Practice Symposium' with the tagline 'Shaping Systems by Shifting Power.' Event details: February 8, 9 AM - 5:30 PM, SciencesPo, 27 Rue Saint-Guillaume, 75007 Paris, France. Logos of event partners at the bottom include Connected by Data, SciencesPo, Data & Society, Aapti Institute, Digital Trade & Data Governance Hub, ISWE Foundation, and Digital Good Network. The web address 'pairs25.notion.site' is at the top right."
January 20, 2025 at 11:35 AM
timdavies.org.uk
& on 8th Feb, ahead of the AI Action Summit in Paris, we'll be gathering at SciencesPo for part 2 of the Participatory AI Research & Practice Symposium. 60+ presenters sharing work & conversation on participatory shaping of AI systems by shifting power. Info & registration pairs25.notion.site
Poster for Participatory AI Research & Practice Symposium. Shaping Systems by Shaping Power. 8th Feb. 9am - 5.30pm. SciencesPo, 27 Rue Saint-Guillaume, 750007 Paris, France. With partner logos: SciencesPo, Connected by Data, Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub, ISWE Foundation, Data & Society, Digital Good Network and Aapti Institute.
January 17, 2025 at 2:03 PM
timdavies.org.uk
The first part of the Participatory AI Research & Practice Symposium (PAIRS25) is coming up on 30th Jan from 2pm - 4pm UTC via Zoom. 10+ presentations of cutting edge and critical perspectives on democratic public inputs to AI development and governance. Info and registration: pairs25.notion.site
World cloud of the contents of papers being presented at PAIRS25 online and in-person. Large words including public, participatory, governance, research, communities, systems, data and development. Smaller words include involvement, digital, design, stakeholders, processes, healthcare, accountability and deliberation.
January 17, 2025 at 11:08 AM
timdavies.org.uk
Pilots of AI can be good: but participatory pilots where judgements on impact and scaling involve workers & affected communities. This can be simple process: it doesn't need to slow things down. But if pilots led solely by growth mission not local need we risk undermining AI opportunities long-term.
Participatory pilots 1 - 2 - 3: 1. Evaluate AI Capabilities & Develop an Experiment; 2. Identify affected stakeholders and ethical issues; 3. Pilot in partnership.
January 13, 2025 at 9:11 PM
timdavies.org.uk
A lot of the opportunities and ideas of where AI should be used in the plan are 'supply side' driven rather than exploring and understanding public demand. We talked with LGA's AI Network last yr about giving communities voice across AI development & deployment connectedbydata.org/events/2024-...
Slide showing text "Legitimacy and trust", "Assuring inputs", "Setting outcomes", "Evaluating Models"
January 13, 2025 at 9:11 PM
timdavies.org.uk
Some fantastic insights in @globalvoices.org report on AI Narratives from the Civic Media Observatory: globalvoices.org/2024/12/23/a... exploring discussions from across the globe and how how "regional conversations often
miss critical connections between AI systems, data
governance, and power"
Report Cover: 2024 - Artificial Intelligence Narratives: A Global Voices Report
January 6, 2025 at 9:52 AM
timdavies.org.uk
Back from a fantastic #GlosDataDay building networks for local, creative, critical and collaborative action on data. Good to test out the Community Campaigns on Data toolkit too.
Art Gallery room with chairs, tables and around 15 people in workshop small group discussions Paper people connected by sticks: caption of 'What was the best connection you made today and why?' Workshop table with drawing activities Auditorium view from the stage
December 16, 2024 at 8:20 PM
timdavies.org.uk
Would be fantastic to see strong representation across each category from communities focussed on collective, community and public-good centred data governance. Simple application process and broad eligibility criteria (see for e.g. tech community & academic community criteria below).
Technical community eligibility criteria: Candidates must: • Be members of a technical community (collective groups of individuals, or organizations who collaborate on the development, implementation, maintenance, and governance of technical standards or digital infrastructures and their elements) actively engaged in fields relevant to data governance, including but not limited to data security, privacy engineering, internet architecture, open-source development, or information technology; • Demonstrate expertise in addressing data governance challenges and opportunities from a technical perspective; • Have a proven track record of contributions to technical projects, standards development, or community initiatives related to data governance; • Have experience with intergovernmental or multi-stakeholder processes. Academic eligibility criteria. Candidates must: • Have demonstrated expertise in fields relevant to data governance, such as data science, data policy, digital economy, digital platforms and ecosystems, internet governance, or information technology; • Have a strong and internationally recognized publication record in peerreviewed journals; • Possess a strong understanding of data governance challenges and opportunities; • Have experience with intergovernmental or multistakeholder processes.
November 26, 2024 at 2:37 PM
timdavies.org.uk
📣Participatory AI Research Symposium: Call for Papers

Join us on fringe of Paris AI Action Summit next year to explore case for, cases of, and critical perspectives on participatory development & governance of AI.

🌍 pairs25.notion.site
📅 30 Jan (online) 8 Feb (in-person)
✍️ Abstracts by 8 Dec!
Logos of the organising partners: SciencesPo, Connected by Data, Digital Trade and Governance Hub, ISWE, Data & Society, Digital Good Network,. Public Voices in AI, Aapti Institute.
November 14, 2024 at 3:26 PM
timdavies.org.uk
Q2: What infrastructures do we need for public *voice* in AI? The paper notes need for participatory process to direct development goals & decisions, but examples of how to achieve this are limited. I'd love to see distinct category/row in the diagram below for 'voice' (4/
Diagram 1: Examples of private and public alternatives across the AI ecosystem covering: data, compute, models, hosting, modifications, applications, tools, labour, accountability.
October 1, 2024 at 11:00 AM
timdavies.org.uk
2. It's not just about data subjects

Data affects people who are not included in the dataset. In connectedbydata.org/resources/in... we explore this as 'data from me', 'data about me' and 'data that affects me' (2/5)
Image from blog post including the text: For public sector organisations that may emerge as three questions: “Who is this data from?” - and what rights do they have over it? “Who is this data about” - and how might we engage with them? and “Who does this data affect?” - and do we understand those effects and impacts?
September 24, 2024 at 2:59 PM
timdavies.org.uk
Chair of the IPPC talking now, reflecting on 30 years of bringing scientific voice to the debate: "Did we conclude the work? No, there is a gap. Implementation is not all coming from research, it comes in part from movements." GCA as a transmission link from science to action.
Panel of three women and one man. Panelled room. Photo over head of audience.
September 23, 2024 at 10:52 PM
timdavies.org.uk
Rich Wilson outlining the three components of the GCA: core assembly ("anyone on earth can be selected"); community assemblies ("anyone on earth can participate"); campaign: culture, media, influence, power.

Seeking to create People's COP; impact at conference; legacy.
Presenter (Richard Wilson) speaking in a panelled room with slides that say 'A global citizens assembly for people and planet'. Photo taken over the head of audience. Local and Global Impact: institutional actors; citizen actions; solidarity; learning at scale; inclusion.
September 23, 2024 at 10:29 PM
timdavies.org.uk
Opening remarks from southernvoice.org highlighting the challenge of this moment, and the legacy of Rio Earth Summits in Brazil that pushed for new models of cooperation between states, citizens and other stakeholders. But in current geopolitics citizen voices squeezed out.
Speaker addressing audience in wood panelled room
September 23, 2024 at 10:12 PM
timdavies.org.uk
Powerful closing panel contribution challenging complicity of global north, the narratives of #growth and Pact for the Future as legitimation of status quo: a real counterpoint on #degrowth in particular to #growth mission narratives coming from labour party conf in the UK today.
Close up of panelist speaking under Global People's Assembly banner.
September 23, 2024 at 2:42 PM
timdavies.org.uk
At #PeoplesAssembly session on Financing for Development. Striking and important critique from speakers on Summit of the Future process picking on how process invited tech titans to the table to develop Global Digital Compact.

FfD as much about systemic shifts as finance.
Conference room at Church Centre United Nations opposite UN HQ. Row of heads from audience and panel at the front under "Global People's Assembly" banner
September 23, 2024 at 1:42 PM
timdavies.org.uk
In UN SotF side event on "The Power of the Commons".

Struck by how the most powerful examples are not vast 'common pools' of data, but richly textured local info commons frm Global Voices or local lang Wikipedia.

Commons in original social regulated form: not as 'unowned' resources for extraction.
UN HQ conference room facing a panel of speakers.
September 21, 2024 at 3:56 PM
timdavies.org.uk
A good view for my last fringe #summitofthefuture event of the day on Implementation of the Global Digital Compact in Latin America.
View of new York skyline from 33rd floor
September 20, 2024 at 8:11 PM