[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"conference-blog-article-bad-data-costing-black-lives-afrotech-non-inclusive-data-technology-policies":3},{"id":4,"author":5,"authors":18,"title":20,"subTitle":14,"excerpt":21,"slug":22,"body":23,"categories":24,"tags":30,"featuredMedia":39,"publishedAt":47,"publishedAtGMT":48,"updatedAt":47,"updatedAtGMT":48,"type":49,"listicle":50,"disableContentGate":51,"disableListicleNumbers":51,"canonicalUrl":14,"socialThumbnail":14,"readingTime":52,"customFields":53,"additional":54,"acf":55},277056,{"id":6,"avatar":7,"firstName":8,"lastName":9,"displayName":10,"email":11,"username":10,"normalizedUsername":12,"description":13,"htmlBio":14,"twitter":15,"facebook":16,"instagram":14,"registeredAt":17},100,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2020\u002F10\u002FS-3-scaled.jpeg","Shanique","Yates","Shanique Yates","shanique.yates@blavity.com","shanique-yates","Shanique Liz Yates is an Atlanta-based journalist and content creator with a passion for storytelling across business, culture, entertainment, and news. Her work can be found across platforms like aspireTV, REVOLT, Madamenoire, and more!","","https:\u002F\u002Ftwitter.com\u002Fastoldbysly","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.facebook.com\u002Fshanique.lizyates\u002F","2020-08-17T14:58:23+00:00",[19],{"id":6,"avatar":7,"firstName":8,"lastName":9,"displayName":10,"email":11,"username":10,"normalizedUsername":12,"description":13,"htmlBio":14,"twitter":15,"facebook":16,"instagram":14,"registeredAt":17},"‘Bad Data Is Costing Black Lives’: Two Experts At AFROTECH™ On Who Gets Included When Technology Is Built And Tested","During the 2026 AFROTECH™ Conference, journalist Segun Oduolowu sat down with two health care professionals for a panel titled “Bad Data Is Costing Black Lives” to discuss how flawed data harms Black patients and how to push back on a health care system they say has long practiced systemic racism.","bad-data-costing-black-lives-afrotech-non-inclusive-data-technology-policies","\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">As \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fjay-z-urges-los-angeles-crowd-to-question-ai-during-final-show\">Jay-Z\u003C\u002Fa> once rapped, numbers don’t lie. But what happens when the data is skewed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">During the \u003Cspan class=\"R78TQ\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-inited=\"2\">\u003Cspan data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-inited=\"2\">HealthStack Conference portion of the\u003C!--TgQPHd|||[["https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002Ftracks\u002Fhealthstack",null,[null,null,1,null,null,null,null,null,null,[[1793886651034734,6426982,1026969445],null,null,null,null,[[2,2]]],null,null,[244939,null,2],null,null,[{"1218":[16,null,null,null,[1,1008,181,283]]}]],null,null,2,null,null,null,null,0]]-->\u003C!--TgQPHd|||[[[null,null,null,null,null,null,[[1793886651034734,6426982,1026969445],null,null,null,null,[[2,2]]],"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002Ftracks\u002Fhealthstack"],0,0],"\\u0026cHMKze_b:u9afN","\\u0026cHMKze_b:kEV45c"]-->\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C!--TgQPHd|||[["https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002Ftracks\u002Fhealthstack",null,null,[null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,[{"1218":[16,null,null,null,[1,1008,181,283]]}]],16,null,"HealthStack at AfroTech Conference 2026","FAQ 01. What is HealthStack at AfroTech Conference 2026?– 02. Can I earn CME or continuing education credits at HealthStack?+ 03. Who should attend HealthStack?+ 04. What topics does HealthStack cover?+ 05. Where can I see the full HealthStack schedule?+ HealthStack at AfroTech Conference 2026 ScheduleFirst-Time AttendeesPartner with Us Get Tickets → Open menu HealthStack at AfroTech Conference 2026 Health Tech, Clinical AI and the Future of Care Presented by Sanofi, HealthStack at AfroTech Conference 2026 brings healthcare providers, founders, operators and technologists together for two days focused on how health and technology are changing together. Programming covers clinical AI, digital therapeutics, medtech, maternal health, health equity and remote care. Eligible healthcare professionals can earn up to 6.0 hours of accredited continuing education, including CME credits, across the two-day program. HealthStack runs November 4 to 5 inside AfroTech Conference 2026 in Houston, Texas. Get Tickets →Earn up to 6.0 hours of accredited continuing education What You'll Explore * Clinical Innovation AI-powered diagnostics, clinical decision support and digital therapeutics. * Connected Health Remote patient monitoring, wearables and maternal health technology. * Strategy \\u0026 Implementation Inclusive product design, healthcare governance and the adoption of new technologies across healthcare systems. * Founder \\u0026 Career Insights Health tech investment trends, what healthcare providers need from new products and emerging career paths across medtech and biotech. Featured Sessions * HealthStack ConferenceFrom Bias Evaluation to Trustworthy Healthcare AI Implementation * HealthStack ConferenceBad Data Is Costing Black Lives * HealthStack ConferenceAI in Nursing Workflows * HealthStack ConferenceEquity by Design: How Engineers and Physicians Evaluate Bias in Clinical AI * HealthStack ConferenceRemote Monitoring \\u0026 Digital Therapeutics * HealthStack ConferenceWho's Accountable for AI? Closing Health Care's Governance Gap Why This Matters Now AI, remote care and digital health tools are moving deeper into clinical practice. That creates practical questions about bias, governance, workflow, patient trust and whether new technology improves care equally across the populations it is meant to serve. HealthStack puts healthcare professionals in the same rooms as the founders, operators and technologists building these tools, with programming designed around what can actually be applied in clinical practice and healthcare organizations. Continuing Education Build your schedule for AFROTECH™ * Get Involved First-Time Attendee Talent Interest Form Vendor Booths Media Credentials Influencer Credentials Partner with Us * AfroTech 2026 Who Attends Venue \\u0026 Travel FAQs Sponsors Speakers Fractional Directory Official Event Partner Application * More Conference News Core Memories Attendee Housing Employer Sponsorship","https:\u002F\u002Fencrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com\u002Fimages?q\\u003dtbn:ANd9GcT13nqWmsD49qumEnrWcxpX3XPgm-ZIRjUF0O-1-CuAjqd52uItkbw1IKjyTi-Ff0716i1V-k5Pwk_-jAw","AfroTech Conference 2026","https:\u002F\u002Fencrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com\u002FfaviconV2?url\\u003dhttps:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\\u0026client\\u003dAIM\\u0026size\\u003d128\\u0026type\\u003dFAVICON\\u0026fallback_opts\\u003dTYPE,SIZE,URL",[[1793886651034734,6426982,1026969445],null,null,null,null,[[2,2]]],null,"32a1c9b4-1371-49df-98d4-b5c4d33fa5d8"]]-->\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fin-ai-era-timnit-gebru-says-not-to-accept-the-devaluing-of-black-people\"> 2026 AFROTECH™ Conference\u003C\u002Fa>, journalist Segun Oduolowu sat down with two health care professionals for a panel titled “Bad Data Is Costing Black Lives” to discuss how flawed data harms Black patients and how to push back on a health care system they say has long practiced systemic racism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>The AFROTECH™ Conference is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Houston. The conference runs through Friday, Nov. 6, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F\">tickets are still available\u003C\u002Fa> for the rest of the week.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"4\">How has bad data affected the Black community in the past?\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“I’m not sure if people remember during the early days of the pandemic, the issues that came up with the pulse oximeters,” said Dr. Uché Blackstock, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity. “So, those are the devices that are used in every physician’s office, every hospital, that measure the oxygen level of people’s blood, and so what’s interesting is that the FDA had known for around 30 years that these pulse oximeters were not accurately measuring oxygen levels in people with melanated skin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">She added, “As a practicing physician, I was not informed of that. So essentially, what we found during the early days of the pandemic was that people with melanated skin were denied care because their oxygen levels did not qualify them for treatment, and that was because the data that has been used to calibrate this technology was not inclusive. Essentially, [only] using white skin, and so we saw how using non-inclusive data cost people’s lives.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Dr. Charles R. Rogers, founder and chief advisor of Rogers Solutions Group, echoed that sentiment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“Black people were dying because they had essential worker jobs. Historically, Black folks tend to live in multi-generational homes, so people had to go to work,” Rogers said. “They came home bringing COVID to their families, wiping out, you know, generations, and there was such an eager urge to restart America. The term that was being used back then was to make sure our economy could get put back on track, where instead the correct data should be used to put the funds and the policies made to actually put those funds toward more public health interventions and more pandemic mitigation strategies, so all that, alone, confirms that essential workers’ lives were never essential in the first place, and in order for policy to actually make a difference, we have to make sure that the data is disaggregated, or not clumped, by race and ethnicity, actually changed in terms of being put forward at the state and county levels, because otherwise the resources are not going to go into Black and brown communities to literally help us live longer lives.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"4\">How do we get into the testing?\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">In the pulse oximeter example Blackstock described, the technology was calibrated using data from white skin. So how do Black people get included in testing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“That’s definitely the question of the hour, and I think that there’s no simple answer to that; there are many layers to it,” she said. “I always talk about the framework for thinking about trust in organizations and institutions. And so one aspect of that is the fact that trust is not only about messaging, but it’s part of infrastructure about how we think about how organizations function, and one is access.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“Making sure that people have access to the services, the resources that they need. Another piece of it is dignity; people want to know when they’re interfacing with the healthcare system, whether it’s for a clinical trial or whether it’s going to get checked out – that they feel seen and heard, and that their concerns are not minimized. And then another piece is accountability. Who will be held accountable? Finally, thinking about reliability, like if I do this multiple times or interface with this healthcare system or I go into this trial, am I going to be treated well every time?” she continued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[25],{"id":26,"name":27,"slug":28,"description":14,"image":29},46,"Technology","technology",null,[31,35],{"id":32,"name":33,"slug":34,"description":14,"image":14},16112,"Afrotech 2026","afrotech-2026",{"id":36,"name":37,"slug":38,"description":14,"image":14},8304,"AfroTech Conference","afrotech-conference",{"url":40,"thumbnail":40,"credit":41,"title":42,"alt":14,"type":43,"width":44,"height":45,"mimeType":46},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FIsmaelQuintanillaIII_BadData_ATC26_Halo-8338-scaled.webp","Ismael Quintanilla III\u002F Halo Creative Studios for AfroTech","IsmaelQuintanillaIII_BadData_ATC26_Halo-8338","image",160,107,"image\u002Fwebp","2026-11-05T08:57:15-05:00","2026-11-05 13:57:15","default",[],false,3,{"disableConnatixPlayer":51},{"disableAd":51,"disableConnatixPlayer":51,"enabledComments":51,"headScript":29,"hidePhotoAttribution":51},{"reviewer_name":14}]