Over the last few years, new cars have increasingly been gaining automated driving features to support the human driver and it is widely accepted that in the not-too-distant future cars will be fully self-driving. For a vehicle to recognise the various features of its environment so as to safely travel down the road, the vehicle’s software is required to make perceptive decisions - which are easy for a human to make but much less so for a computer.

This free to attend webinar on 25 January 2023 at 12.00 - 13.30 GMT intends to give engineers a better appreciation and understanding of the ISO 39003 standard that gives guidance on ethical considerations with regards to road traffic safety of autonomous vehicles.
The newly developed standard: ISO/DIS 39003 Road Traffic Safety (RTS) — Guidance on ethical considerations relating to safety for autonomous vehicles will be discussed by key contributors.

The webinar focuses on the work and main objective of the newly developed ISO standard: to lay out a framework for the development of a standard for ethical and societally accepted driving policy (e.g., those relating to fairness and equity with respect to other road users, the public space, and the environment).

Speakers from key stakeholder organisations including academia, car manufacturers and regulators will discuss their thoughts on the issues faced by automated vehicles and their societal acceptance in the light of the new ISO standard.
The audience will be encouraged to contribute comments and questions as the webinar will include a substantial moderated panel discussion where some of the points raised can be explored in more depth.

Speakers

Asaf Degani is a Technical Fellow at General Motors R&D. His research focus is on the analysis and design of human-machine interaction with special emphasis on autonomy. He supports several major projects at GM concerning transfer of control in automated vehicles and leads research work on the implications of this technology on driver/occupant psychology as well as public acceptance and ethics. Prior to joining GM, he was a senior scientist at NASA Ames Research Center working on the design of autopilots for commercial aircraft, visualization of spacecraft telemetry, and checklist procedures for flight operations.

Dave Conway has more than 40 years’ experience working in highways maintenance and construction, the last 20 focusing on management systems and standards. Dave is a passionate advocate of ISO 39001 and committed to promoting its adoption by other organisations. His hard work led to him being invited to join the British Standards Institution’s road safety committee and represent the UK in developing ISO 39002 and 3. In 2017, he was elected chair of the committee, and he still works tirelessly to promote the benefits of road safety management systems.

Paula Palade holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and works for Jaguar Land Rover as an Artificial Intelligence Ethics & Standardisation Manager and in parallel research the topic of Ethics of Connected and Automated vehicles in collaboration with Bradford University. Paula has published as part of an independent group of experts a report commissioned by the European Commission on Ethics of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs). Paula is a BSI delegate representing Jaguar Land Rover and Automotive Group Expert on the ISO TC241 Road traffic safety management systems WG6 - Guidance on safety ethical considerations for autonomous vehicles, contributing to the future requirement standard ISO 39003.

Panellist

Elizabeth Hofvenschioeld is a professor of strategic management and corporate development at the ESB Business School in Reutlingen, Germany. In addition to strategy, she teaches futures thinking and business and technology ethics. Before Elizabeth joined the academic world in September 2022, she worked at Mercedes Benz Group AG and was responsible for the ethics of automated vehicles. At Mercedes Benz, Elizabeth developed an ethics by design approach for AVs and other autonomous systems and integrated it into the existing technology governance process. She has a PhD. in futures research from the University of the West of Scotland and an MSc. in Human-Computer Interaction from University College London.

Moderator

Jamie Hodsdon works in the Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, a policy unit split across the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy. He is Head of Future AV Regulation, a team responsible for developing a legislative framework following the Law Commissions’ three-year review of driving legislation for the safe and lawful introduction of AVs. This review is due to complete in 2021. The Future Regulation team also sponsors a project by the CDEI that seeks to make recommendations on how to embed ethical due diligence in a future regulatory framework for AVs. Previously, he worked at the Department for Education.