The eSafety Commissioner and RMIT University have joined forces to launch a free short course for up-and-coming tech leaders to prevent their platforms and services being unintentionally weaponised to carry out abuse.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the course would enable small or emerging tech players and students to apply Safety by Design across the service and product lifecycle, helping them to meet the expectations of an increasingly discerning and critical user base.
“The opportunities to be unleashed from generative AI and the metaverse are potentially seismic, fuelling both social good and social harms,” Ms Inman Grant said.
“People everywhere are clamouring for the tech industry to proactively safeguard their products and services from being exploited or weaponised. In Australia, for example, 82 per cent of adults have told us that tech companies have a responsibility for their online safety.
“We must learn from the mistakes of Web 2.0 and ensure that children and other vulnerable or marginalised groups don’t, once again, bear the cost of a careless rush to market.
“In collaboration with RMIT University, we’re supporting the current and next wave of online innovators and start-ups to sharpen their competitive edge by helping them to give customers what they want: safer, more positive online experiences.”
The Safety by Design Massive Online Open Course was jointly developed by Australia’s eSafety Commissioner and RMIT University’s Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation, supported by RMIT’s Digital3. It will be moderated by an RMIT academic with in-depth cyber safety and cyber security experience.
Director of the RMIT University Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation, Professor Matthew Warren, said the course was designed for a global audience working or studying in the technology space or cyber safety.
“Safer online environments are important for everyone in Australia, as well as overseas, and this course will support a range of technical designers, educators and professionals to develop products and services that are safer,” Professor Warren said.
“Throughout this course, learners will understand user safety as a fundamental design consideration for the online world. They’ll also learn that building online safety at the start of systems development, as opposed to adding it on later, is not only better for people, but also better for business.”
The 12-hour course is freely available on the RMIT FutureLearn platform and covers the below topics:
- why online safety matters
- the three principles of Safety by Design
- industry assessment tools
- a holistic approach to Safety by Design.
Register today for the Safety by Design Massive Online Open Course.
