WMG Professor appointed to UK Government's Expert Advisory Panel
WMG Professor appointed to UK Government's Expert Advisory Panel
Professor Siddartha Khastgir, Head of Safe Autonomy at WMG at The University of Warwick, has been appointed as a member of the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV)Expert Advisory Panel (EAP).
Along with another 11 panel members, Professor Khastgir will advise and inform on the implementation programme and policies within the UK's Automated Vehicles (AV) Act.
Professor Khastgir said: “I am very honoured to join the CCAV EAP and contribute my expertise by providing scientific evidence for the upcoming policy decisions enabling the safe and responsible development and deployment of self-driving technology in the UK.
'' The UK is the home of some of the world's finest self-driving technology developers; now, with the UK's ground-breaking AV Act, we have the opportunity to revolutionise transport on our roads. Recently, many service providers have expressed interest in bringing their technology to the UK market. While this is encouraging, we must introduce a robust and rigorous set of engineering requirements for a safe and responsible roll-out. The EAP will provide independent scrutiny of these requirements to uphold the safety standards the public expects.
''Having represented the UK in various international standardisation and regulatory discussions, my aim is to help the government to ensure our AV regulations are globally aligned. The UK has an opportunity to lead the harmonisation of the self-driving technology rules globally by sharing our regulatory and scientific experience.
''To ensure inclusivity of this policy development process, it is essential that the concerns of wide-ranging stakeholders are heard and addressed to build public trust and acceptance. As the co-founders of the Partners for Automated Vehicle Education United Kingdom (PAVE UK), we believe the public is paramount to AV developments, and the technology will only succeed if the public trusts it. We have been engaging with the public in two-way conversations to understand their thoughts on this new technology.”
Find out more about WMG’s Safe Autonomy research here: Safe Autonomy Research Group | WMG | University of WarwickLink opens in a new window