In the second episode of the More Than number podcast series, Louise Cooper and guests discussed whether numbers would always be subverted and who can we depend on to stop it.
Fast forward a few months and we are in the middle of a global pandemic, the likes of which the human population has not seen in over 100 years. The public are now being bombarded with even more data than ever before, each number telling its own story depending on the context in which it is used. The situation we find ourselves in forces us to yet again question what numbers we can trust and as accountants, what ethical considerations are at play when presenting data.
ICAEW’s Richard Spencer revisits this compelling episode to discuss numbers, ethics and COVID-19 with special guests Jessica Bingham, Assistant Auditor at the NAO and Peter Morland, CEO, Unicorn Analytics.
Listen as Jessica argues harnessing people’s scepticism towards numbers can encourage them to make more informed decisions, and how multiple independent bodies should be employed to present data in an unbiased manner to encourage people to create their own narrative. At the other end of the discussion, Peter points out that Chartered Accountants have already developed the fundamental tools needed to tackle the problem, they just need to be applied to new world of data driven decisions.
Listen to the full virtual event on demand now.