National RAS (Robotics and Autonomous Systems) Regulations Standards and Ethics Committee Workshop

Hosted by Professor Samia Nefti-Meziani, Director of the Birmingham Robotics Institute, the Innovate UK-funded workshop brought together a diverse group of fifty attendees working to set out the mandate for the National RAS (Robotics and Autonomous Systems) Regulations Standards and Ethics Committee. These included representatives from the Committee and its Industry Working Group, including regulators, standards organisations, infrastructure and industry challenge holders, and innovators. The full-day interactive workshop focused on developing mechanisms for a pro-innovation regulatory and assurance landscape for smart machines, robotics, and autonomous systems.

Professor Samia Nefti-Meziani, Director of the Birmingham Robotics Institute, said: "We are fortunate to be working with Innovate UK funding to develop the Committee's work programme by bringing stakeholders together and drawing on opportunities to federate good practices that are emerging as more and more organisations actively work to solve problems using RAS solutions within their development roadmaps. Together, we are embarking on a unique journey for RAS and regulatory approaches for emerging technologies more generally, highly relevant to the declarations we have been encouraged to see from the new Secretary of State for Science Innovation and Technology and the Government's ambitions for the UK economy."

Led by Co-Chairs Captain Panos Stavrakakis, Sector manager, The Health and Safety Executive, Co-Chair Howard Chapman, Principal Safety Consultant National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), and Academic Lead Samia Nefti- Meziani, OBE, Chair in Robotics and AI, University of Birmingham, the National RAS Regulations, Standards and Ethics Committee supports two cross-cutting themes; public procurement and regulation, as set out in the UK's Science and Technology Framework for developing innovation in the United Kingdom. Members include The Health and Safety Executive, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the National Protective Security Authority, the Rail Safety & Standards Board (RSSB), the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), British Standards Institution (BSI), UK Atomic Energy Authority, Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCGA), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, Regulatory Horizons Council, The Department for Transport (DfT), Ministry of Defence (MOD), Network Rail, and Heathrow.