Introduction

Digital technologies are developing rapidly. These developments offer opportunities. However, if organisations want to grasp these opportunities responsibly, they will need to update their integrity policy.

Digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), pose specific integrity. It is therefore important to ensure that they are used with integrity throughout the organisation. This is particularly important as regulations in this area often lag behind rapid developments. In addition to focusing on integrity risks and legal compliance, it is important to regularly discuss moral considerations involved in the use of digital technologies.

Digital technologies are used in various work processes within an organisation. Examples include:

Communication and collaboration
Document management and storage, and online collaborative environments
Project and task management
Business software such as CRM systems and ERP systems
Data analysis and reporting
AI applications for automating work processes, generating insights and preparing decision-making.

Rapid changes in the digital domain may have unintended effects. New technology is sometimes so complex that it is not always clear or known exactly how it works, or how we can recognise and rectify errors. It is also not always clear which sources digital technologies use, or where information we enter actually ends up and who can access it. This includes AI applications that use information from the internet to write text. How reliable is that information, and what about copyright? Is business information stored in the cloud being used to train AI without our knowledge?

What is an integrity violation?

An integrity violation is a failure to act in accordance with the applicable moral values, norms and related rules within an organisation. An integrity violation is referred to as wrongdoing when the public interest is at stake. This is the case if the violation goes beyond one or more individual interests and is also part of a pattern or is structural in nature, or if the act or omission is serious or broad in scope. Every case of wrongdoing is an integrity violation. The reverse is not always true. Both integrity violations and wrongdoings involving the use of digital technologies require attention.

Every instance here this brochure refers to an integrity violation, this includes both integrity violations and wrongdoings.

Examples of an integrity violation in the digital domain include failing to adequately protect personal data, basing decisions on incorrect AI-generated results or having unauthorised access to sensitive documents.

WHAT DOES HAVING INTEGRITY IN THE DIGITAL WORKPLACE MEAN?

It is important that it complies with legislation and regulations relating to integrity and digitalisation.” However, such legislation and regulations are still being developed. Even if an organisation complies with all laws and regulations, it can still cause harm. This is why it is vital to pay extra attention to the ethical aspects of using digital technologies. This means taking into account the various values relevant to management, employees and other stakeholders. In summary, an integrity-based digital workplace means:

Limited dependence on digital technologies and human oversight of digital systems.
Awareness of the negative effects and side effects of digital system use, involving a balancing of values and interests and respect for rights.
Attention to the legal and societal risks associated with using digital technologies.
Developing and updating integrity policies focused on the digital domain, including periodic risk assessments.

Legal framework

As stated earlier, the legislation and regulations governing digital innovation (particularly AI) are lagging behind the rapid pace of developments. Nevertheless, it is important to stay informed about the regulations that already exist in this area. At European level, these include the Digital Markets Act and the AI Act (for more information, see also the European AI Office), while at national level the AVG (GDPR) is crucial legislation. The next chapter provides a number of tools that provide insight into compliance with these laws and regulations.

Additional rules apply specifically to the public sector, including the Wet Digitale Overheid (Digital Government Act), the Wet modernisering elektronisch bestuurlijk verkeer (Modernisation of Electronic Administrative Communications Act), the Cyberbeveiligingswet (Cybersecurity Act) and the BIO-2-kaders (BIO-2 frameworks). You can find more information about specific rules for government organisations in the field of AI in the Government-wide Vision on Generative AI. Public organisations can also consult the Algoritmekader (Algorithm Framework), a knowledge base of current laws and regulations.