Ruth has spent her career moving between collaborative research and corporate communities, with a background in Computing and Artificial Intelligence. In the earlier half of her career Ruth was responsible for product development and R&D in five software companies, all AI or data analytics related. In more recent years Ruth has been immersed in the world of data privacy, data-related legislation and ethics. As Director, R&D and Data Integrity at Australian online learning platform company Practera, Ruth was responsible for establishing the processes and developing the necessary corporate skills and culture for the responsible use of the company’s data, and compliance with data privacy legislation. This led to a three-year collaborative research project (CRCP) to implement an ethical framework for privacy-preserving AI analytics in learning (“Learning Analytics”), and the development of skills programs for data creators, users and consumers.
She is now co-founder of “Ethical Data Works”, a data literacy and ethics education initiative at hocone Pty Ltd, where she works with organisations to develop frameworks and education programs for the responsible use of data. She has recently delivered numerous workshops on data privacy and ethics, to demystify these in the wider community, and was engaged by the NSW Government to outline an approach and framework for responsible data use across the organisation.
Ruth is also Co-Convenor in Australia for multiple international standards on AI and Data (ISO/IEC 1 / SC42/WG6) and Expert Contributor on Data Usage (ISO/IEC 1/SC32/WG6), and Identity Management and Privacy Technologies (ISO/IEC 1/SC27/WG5).
Relevant publications include:
- Enabling Diversity and Gender Equity with Human-Centered AI (draft – publication mid 2025)
- Preserving Both Privacy and Utility in Learning Analytics IEEE · Apr 25, 2024
- Implementing next generation privacy & ethics research in Education Technology, BJET 2022.
- Privacy-driven Learning Analytics, Springer 2021.