Participatory Data Governance in Practice

Participatory data governance is a broad field of study concerned with institutions and mechanisms which involve communities in decisions about and use of data. Within this broader field, structural approaches to participatory data governance—such as data trusts, cooperatives, and other intermediaries—are gaining in prominence among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. However, most existing work emphasizes the legal and structural design of these models, and overlooks the most crucial factor to these initiatives’ success: the participatory methods through which affected communities are meaningfully engaged and empowered to shape data use. This workshop introduces the CHI community to this emerging field. By connecting established HCI expertise in areas such as transparency, accountability, co-design, and governance to the socio-legal frameworks and growing practice of participatory data intermediaries, the workshop seeks to build a sustained research agenda towards concrete methods for participatory governance in diverse contexts. In doing so, we aim to accelerate the adoption of participatory models of data governance.