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Introduction to the Starter Kit
While there is a growing interest in the subject, organisations are often stuck getting started. This is exactly why we created this CDR Starter Kit, a practical resource for all who want to get started or are early on in exploring Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR). It is designed to work whether you have two hours a week, or the budget to hire an entire team and is just as useful for small organisations as it is for large ones.
What is Corporate Digital Responsibility?
Corporate Digital Responsibility is a relatively new field that is gaining momentum as more aspects of our lives at work and beyond involve digital technologies. While digital technologies offer great benefits, they raise difficult ecological, social and ethical questions that need to be addressed. Corporate Digital Responsibility provides a framework to do just that and ensures that digital technologies are developed and used in a beneficial way for organisations, users and society at large.
Corporate Digital Responsibility as understood for this Starter Kit can be defined by four dimensions:

Social
The social dimension of CDR looks at an organisation’s relationship to people and society. Topics include data privacy protection and aspects related to digital diversity and inclusion such as bridging the digital divide between geographies, social classes, age demographics and abilities.

Economic
The economic dimension raises questions about responsible management of the economic impacts of digital technologies. Topics include replacement of existing jobs by robots and the creation of the new digital-era jobs that are enriching and fulfilling. Questions also include how firms share the economic benefits of digitalisation with the broader society.

Technological
The technological dimension is directly linked to the responsible creation of the technologies themselves. For example, biased or inaccurate AI decision-making algorithms can lead to unfair or discriminatory practices. Other technologies such as deepfake videos can have harmful effects on society.

Environmental
The environmental aspect in CDR concerns the connection between digital technologies and the physical environment. It raises questions about responsible recycling or the disposal of old computer equipment as well as power consumption.
Why organizations embrace their digital responsibility
CDR typically goes beyond the legal requirements. The discussion on principles can give organisations a competitive advantage and help them navigate a changing regulatory environment as they can foresee regulatory development. Such was the case with the groundbreaking privacy regulation GDPR, where organisations proactively engaging with data privacy had an easier time adjusting to new hard law. A similar development will likely be seen with future legislation such as the Digital Markets Act, the Digital Services Act, or the AI act.

“We claim that the deployment of technology must be based on a humanistic system of values. That’s why people –with all of their facets, roles, and needs –are our focus. I call this ‘human-centered technology’.”

Claudia Nemat
Board of Management, Technology and Innovation, Deutsche Telekom
“People’s trust is crucial if we want to seize the opportunities offered by digital progress and minimize the risks. We have therefore developed the Code of Digital Ethics and established the Digital Ethics Advisory Panel that guide our work.”

Jean-Enno Charton
Director Digital Ethics & Bioethics, Merck
“Having cooperative roots, our organization thinks about the long-term. We have earned a solid reputation amongst our customers who entrust their data with us as an insurance company. We recognized that if we spoiled that reputation by doing something untrustworthy with data or AI, we may block all future opportunities, whatever they may be."

Karin Lange
Product Owner & Head FutureLab, Die Mobiliar
“Digital responsibility is a joint topic between IT and business. Those teams work closely together to explore and understand how machine learning can be managed in a responsible way."

Martha Raus
Head Group Data Operations & Governance, SwissRe
"Our values framed what we wanted to do in the digital world, where we set our own limits, where we would go or not go. This helped us identify how we want to advance our digital transformation initiatives in a responsible way."

Jakob Wössner
Manager Organizational Development and Digital Transformation, Weleda
Common Challenges
Now you know what CDR entails and how and why you can benefit from embracing the concept. Before you start the CDR journey, take a look at some of the common challenges organisations can face when trying to implement CDR practices.

Not understanding the importance of taking responsibility
Leaders don't see the urgency
CDR is seen as counterproductive to a companies success
Being overwhelmed by CDR
Failing to transfer theory into practice
Solutions to common challenges
While implementing CDR is a challenge, there is also a lot of inspiration from leading organisations. Explore the following approaches and solutions to see what might support your mission.

How to make CDR accessible
Getting started with limited resources
Starting small and starting early
Leveraging external support
How to integrate CDR into daily business

How to get started
The journey towards digital responsibility varies greatly – there is no single right way to start. Different goals and priorities heavily influence each digital responsibility roadmap. Start small and iterate, iterate, iterate. The digital space is constantly evolving, just like your ideal CDR practice.

Find an entry point
Get clarity on your digital exposure
Get management buy-in & engage the whole organisation
Set up clear governance structures
Invest in digital knowledge
Get involved with industry and government associations
Get in touch
Do you have an inspiring example about implementing CDR in your organisation? A helpful resource that you would like to share or a suggestion on how to improve this website?

Additional Ressources
Public Documents by Organisations
- Deutsche Telekom Privacy and Security Assessment Process
- Deutsche Telekom Supplier Code of Conduct
- Merck Code of Digital Ethics
CDR Initiatives and Resources
- Ethos Study on CDR 2021
- CDR Initiative
- BVDW CDR BuildingBloxx
- CDR Austria
- CDR Manifesto
- CDR Online Magazine
- CDR Lab
- Centre for Digital Responsibility
Further Information on Digital Trust as element of Digital Responsibility
Involved organisations
