The Brussels Privacy Hub (BPH) is organising a Doctoral Seminar series to give the opportunity to Ph.D. candidates working on privacy and data protection topics at the Law, Science, Technology and Society (LSTS) to present and discuss their work in progress. The aim of the series is to offer Ph.D. students at all research stages a training ground to refine and practice debating their scientific work, as well as receive qualified feedback and questions from their peers and privacy and data protection experts. Each seminar will include a short presentation by the Ph.D. candidate, followed by an open discussion with the audience. Seminars are also open to external participants. Find more information here.
On 16 May 2023, 12:30h - 13:30h, LSTS visiting scholar Samar Abbas Nawaz (doctoral researcher at Peace Research Institute Oslo and University of Oslo) will present his article ‘Piercing the Mundane: Safety and Security Implications of Drone Infrastructure’. This paper is part of his PhD research project, entitled ‘Regulation of Drone Autonomy: Implications for the European airspace’, focused on the regulatory challenges of autonomous civilian drones when it comes to safety and security of European civilian airspace.
Abstract: As drones are slowly being integrated in civilian airspaces, it is crucial to pay attention to their safety and security implications on civilian airspace. Such endeavors, however, often lay more emphasis on the drone as an aerial device in isolation. Whereas, drone operation is backed by various components which are not readily visible as a drone itself. Seen from such infrastructural perspective, various implications can be found which are not essentially rooted in the drone device itself. This article uses infrastructural approach, as found in the Science and Technology Studies (STS) literature, to highlight safety and security implications of civilian drones. For such purpose, I would specifically analyze the U-Space concept as introduced by the European Union through Regulation (EU) 2021/664 for the management of drones in civilian airspace. I aim to show the automation trajectory prevailing in the U-Space framework and its impact on the safety and security of civilian airspace. This paper discusses such implications emanating from three infrastructural components namely: technical, social, and individual.
The link to the event will be send out in due time to the LSTS mailing list. Interested participants wishing to take part, who are not on that mailing list, can register by sending an email to Pablo.Rodrigo.Trigo.Kramcsak@vub.be.