Abstract
The relationship between robots and policy development is complex. Technology and regulation evolve, but not always simultaneously or in the same direction. At the same time, robot developers struggle to find suitable safeguards in existing norms applicable to them. This often results in disconnections between both worlds. New robots and applications may not fit into existing (robot) categories (a robotic garbage collector or a robotic wheelchair with a robotic arm with a feeding function). Also, regulations may be hard to follow for developers who are concerned about their particular case because legislation (private and public policy making) may be outdated and with confusing types (such as ‘personal care robots’ not for medical purposes from ISO 13482:2014), and technology-neutral. Since legal responsiveness does not always follow as a consequent step in response to technology’s dramatic pace, we initiated the LIAISON Research Project. LIAISON follows the ideal that lawmaking ‘needs to become more proactive, dynamic, and responsive’ to achieve its desired policy goals and explores to what extent compliance tools could be used as data generators for robot policy purposes to reduce the complexity in emerging robot governance, and unravel an optimal regulatory framing for existing and emerging robot technologies.
This contribution was written as part of the PROPELLING project, an FSTP from the H2020 Eurobench project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 779963.
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This contribution was written as part of the LIAISON project, an FSTP from the H2020 COVR project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 779966.
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Drukarch, H., Calleja Ahmad, C.J., Fosch-Villaronga, E. (2022). LIAISON: Liaising Robot Development and Policymaking to Reduce the Complexity in Robot Legal Compliance. In: Grau Ruiz, M.A. (eds) Interactive Robotics: Legal, Ethical, Social and Economic Aspects. INBOTS 2021. Biosystems & Biorobotics, vol 30. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04305-5_37
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