Press Release

The Responsible Technology Institute is delighted to announce that it has received funding for its project RoAD (Responsible AV Data) as part of the Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub’s Pump-Priming funding call. Led by Professor Jirotka, the RoAD project will investigate the ethical, legal, and societal challenges of using data from autonomous vehicles. 

RoAD will investigate the type of data that automated vehicles (AVs) should collect in order for their data recorder (‘black box’) to be useful in any possible enquiry after an accident. The project will:

• Investigate the ethical risks and legal implications related to the collection, access and use of data. 
• Test the legal usefulness of data sets. 
• Evaluate public acceptance of data recorders (‘black boxes’) for AS.

Professor Jirotka commented: “It is crucial that we are able to access, explain and understand data around failures or accidents involving autonomous vehicles, which we believe will be a fundamental requirement for ensuring that they are safe and worthy of public trust.”

The project includes other members of the RTI, Drs Lars Kunze and Pericle Salvini, who are joined by Dr Jo-Ann Pattinson from Leeds University’s Institute for Transport Studies and Professor Paul Luff of Kings College London.

The Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub is a UK-wide initiative investigating the rollout of autonomous systems in many different fields of operation.

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Image: Self Driving Car Sensor by Berkah Icon from the Noun Project