Archive for category: Press

Pisa, October 2024—The LeADS Project (Legality Attentive Data Scientists) hosted its final three-day meeting at the LeADS beneficiary Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies. The event featured a diverse range of activities, from an innovation challenge on the AI Act to intensive panel discussions.

The event opened with an innovation challenge on the AI Act. External participants of the challenge needed to create a solution that helps developers or deployers of AI systems navigate the AI Act’s risk classification system and understand which requirements apply to them.

The third day focused on the final LeADS Conference, named “Legally compliant data-driven society,” which explored how a multidisciplinary approach to governance can reap the benefits of new technologies while guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms. The conference had outstanding speakers across three panels, each addressing critical facets of a data-driven society.

The first panel included an introduction by Giovanni Comandé from Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, followed by a keynote from Giovanni Pitruzzella, Judge at the Italian Constitutional Court, who discussed regulatory challenges and opportunities in data markets. Giuseppe Turchetti of Sant’Anna School then explored innovation ecosystems fueled by data, while Antonio Buttà from the Italian Competition Authority reflected on the evolving competition landscape shaped by data flows. The panel concluded with a lively discussion on fostering innovation while preserving market fairness.

The second panel focused on the topic of “Research and Secondary Use of Data.” Comandé introduced the session, followed by Paul de Hert from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, who addressed the ethical and legal frameworks supporting secondary data use in research. Regina Becker of Luxembourg National Data Service presented a European perspective on data stewardship, and Piotr Drobek from Poland’s Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) emphasized the challenges of privacy in secondary data applications.

Finally, the third panel explored the topic of “Data Society and Technological Sovereignty,” and featured an introduction by Michelle Sibilla from Université Toulouse III. Jorge Maestre Vidal from Indra Digital Labs explored the relationship between data sovereignty and security, while Giovanni Comandé provided insights on the legal implications of emerging data technologies. Nicola Lattanzi from IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca concluded the panel with a reflection on how data policies can foster technological independence.

During the engaging three-day event, ESRS had the opportunity to participate in a productive and enlightening discussion. The conversation emphasized the crucial need to harmonize technological progress with the fundamental principles of sovereignty and security.

 

Contact details:

Veronica Virdis, LeADS Project Manager

pm@legalityattentivedatascientists.eu

 

Pisa, Italy, July 2023. The culmination of months of dedicated interdisciplinary research conducted by the group of our 15 Early-Stage-Researchers (ESRs) has resulted in the publication of six cutting-edge working papers. For more than a year have our ESRs been working together in the Legality Attentive Data Scientist project (LeADS) that brings together aspiring researchers with diverse academic (law, economics, computer science) and cultural backgrounds. The objective: finding answers in a collaborative effort to pressing and emerging questions of today’s data economy and to effectively bridge the existing gaps between law and computer science.

By fostering collaboration between legal scholars and computer scientists, the project demonstrates that research conducted at the intersection of law and data science is a rich, complex and yet necessary task which ultimately yields innovative solutions to complex challenges. The melding of these disciplines allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the legal implications of rapidly advancing technologies. In their working papers, our scholars dived into and explored divers topics such as the definition and implementation of fairness in automated decisions, transparency and relevancy of consent policies, case studies on data access and re-use of vehicle data, or how technology might facilitate the creation of ‘data collaboratives’ where data can be shared in a privacy-friendly way.

The findings have already been presented to a wider scientific audience at prestigious conferences, such as the annual ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency 2023 (FAccT) which this year was held in Chicago. Furthermore, the ESRs will present their research at a conference organised by the LeADS consortium that will take place at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in January 2024.

 

Kraków, Poland, September 2022 – On the 21^st September 2021 the LeADS consortium organised a conference on “Designing Human Rights Attentive AI – an Interdisciplinary Perspective” that took place at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. The conference was organised as part of the fifth training module of the LeADS project which aims at training 15 Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs) as Legality Attentive Data Scientists that are capable of working within and across law and data science.

The conference strictly adhered to this interdisciplinary approach by bringing in the perspectives of both computer scientists and lawyers. Salvatore Ruggieri, a full Professor at the Computer Science Department of the University of Pisa, elaborated on whether or not we can trust ‘fair-AI’. The legal perspective was brought in by Andrea Parziale and Agnieszka Jablonowska who talked about ethical and legal issues in accessing biobank data as well as privacy-attentive AI in consumer markets.

Finally, the conference did not only create bridges between law and computer science but also between academia and the business sector. Marco Antonio Sotelo from Indra, one of the partners of the LeADS project, brought in the perspective of a global technology and consulting company in his talk on “Explaining AI in Cyber Defence”. All perspectives together amplified the importance of a robust regulatory framework for the data economy is necessary. At the same time, however, it was agreed that this is a very difficult task with which regulators worldwide have been struggling. The conference, therefore, again showed the relevance of the LeADS project which with its interdisciplinary approach aims to contribute to finding innovative solutions to solve these difficulties.