We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Luciana Duranti and Dr. Muhammad Abdul-Mageed are the co-Directors of a new SSHRC Partnership Grant, worth 2.5 million for 5 years, for their project ‘Archives 4.0: Artificial Intelligence for Trust in Records and Archives’. Dr. Richard Arias Hernandez, Dr. Jennifer Douglas and Dr. Victoria Lemieux complete the team as UBC iSchool co-applicants.
The project, commonly referred to as “I Trust AI”, is the fifth phase of the InterPARES project. Its goal is to leverage the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence to support the continuing availability and accessibility of trustworthy public records. The project aims to build a sustainable research partnership to produce original research and train students and other highly qualified personnel. It will also create a virtuous circle among public agencies, academia, archival institutions, records professionals, and industry to provide feedback and reinforce the knowledge and capabilities of each of these parties.
“I Trust AI” has four main objectives:
- Identify specific AI technologies that can address critical records and archives challenges;
- Determine the benefits and risks of using AI technologies on records and archives;
- Ensure that archival concepts and principles inform the development of responsible AI;
- Validate outcomes from Objective 3 through case studies and demonstrations.
These will allow the research team to support the records and archives community in implementing AI solutions for their most critical challenges while accounting for and mitigating the costs and risks of such solutions. This will ensure the ongoing availability of trustworthy public records to provide evidence of acts and facts, secure rights, form a foundation for future decision-making, and contribute to the preservation of history and culture.
The partners involved in this project include universities and organizations, national and transnational, government agencies and industry, in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. This international scope will ensure that the solutions developed are valid across contexts and allow to undertake effective knowledge mobilization throughout records and archives communities of varying size and composition.
For more information about this project, please visit www.interparestrustai.org.
Congratulations to all UBC iSchool faculty and partners involved in this exciting project!
About the SSHRC Partnership Grants
Partnership Grants support formal partnerships between academic researchers, businesses and other partners that will advance knowledge and understanding on critical issues of intellectual, social, economic and cultural significance. By fostering mutual co-operation and sharing of intellectual leadership, the grants allow partners to innovate, build institutional capacity and mobilize research knowledge in accessible ways. The grants may also be used to help establish partnered chairs and research centres. For more information about these grants, visit the official SSHRC website.
