Mastercard To Launch Online Course On Digital Ethics, Privacy And AI

A partnership between The University of Oxford, Saïd Business School and Mastercard will launch an online education program to teach business leaders about the strengths and perils of the modern day internet.

Called the Oxford Cyber Future Program, the six-week class will cover artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, threat analytics, data privacy and digital ethics, a press release states.

The class partners with a number of experts related to each of those fields and aims to “reframe” the world for business leaders, teaching them to navigate the cybersecurity landscape that grows more convoluted and intricate as the internet grows up.

The program will make use of artificial intelligence combined with neuroscience and cognitive science, along with some new defense simulations and other tools provided by digital pioneer Esme Learning Solutions, which will generate “dynamic real-time capabilities,” the release says.

Some of the experts on hand include several renowned professors, including Pinar Ozcan, who teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Luciano Floridi, who teaches Philosophy and Ethics of Information, Andrew White, who teaches Executive Education, Ivan Martinovic, who teaches Computer Science and visiting professor Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland. Program Director David Shrier will also contribute.

Ajay Bhalla, Mastercard’s president of cyber and intelligence solutions, said it was the responsibility of current leaders to be on top of the current landscape and to keep customers’ information safe, protect against any risks and make sure regulations are in place. The class, he said, was a way of ensuring that this was done with a measure of public trust.

White, who teaches at Saïd Business School, said the demand for online learning was high and he looked forward to being part of a new initiative like this to engage in terms of leadership and management.

The course should be topical due to the number of threats against privacy that crop up in the news, including a spike recently associated with the continuing pandemic.

Shrier said the program’s combination of the experience of the instructors with new cutting-edge technology should provide an experience unlike anything anyone considering taking the course has had before.