scholarly journals How Completely and Similarly Do Safety Authorities Address Hazards Posed by New Technology? A Paradigm from Small-drone Operations

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasios Plioutsias ◽  
Nektarios Karanikas ◽  
Maria Mikela Chatzimichailidou

<p class="Default">The continuous increase of accident and incident reports has indicated the potential of drones to threaten public safety. The published regulatory framework for small drones is not visibly based on a comprehensive hazard analysis. Also, a variety in the constraints imposed by different regulatory frameworks across the globe might impede market growth and render small-drone operations even more complicated since light drones might be easily transferred and operated in various regions with diverse restrictions. In our study we applied the Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) method to small-drone operations and we generated a first set of Safety Requirements (SR) for the authority, manufacturer, end-user and automation levels. Under the scope of this paper, we reviewed 56 drone regulations published by different authorities, and performed (1) a gap analysis against the 57 SRs derived by STPA for the authority level, and (2) Intra-Class Correlations in order to examine the extent of their harmonization. The results suggest that the regulations studied satisfy 5.3% to 66.7% of the SRs, and they are moderately similar. The harmonization is even lower when considering the range of values of various SRs addressed by the authorities. The findings from the drones’ case show that regulators might not similarly and completely address hazards introduced by new technology; such a condition might affect safety and impede the distribution and use of products in the international market. A timely and harmonized standardization based on a systematic hazard analysis seems crucial for tackling the challenges stemmed from technological advancements, especially the ones available to the public.</p>

2021 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-107095
Author(s):  
Charalampia (Xaroula) Kerasidou ◽  
Angeliki Kerasidou ◽  
Monika Buscher ◽  
Stephen Wilkinson

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing healthcare and the practice of medicine as data-driven science and machine-learning technologies, in particular, are contributing to a variety of medical and clinical tasks. Such advancements have also raised many questions, especially about public trust. As a response to these concerns there has been a concentrated effort from public bodies, policy-makers and technology companies leading the way in AI to address what is identified as a "public trust deficit". This paper argues that a focus on trust as the basis upon which a relationship between this new technology and the public is built is, at best, ineffective, at worst, inappropriate or even dangerous, as it diverts attention from what is actually needed to actively warrant trust. Instead of agonising about how to facilitate trust, a type of relationship which can leave those trusting vulnerable and exposed, we argue that efforts should be focused on the difficult and dynamic process of ensuring reliance underwritten by strong legal and regulatory frameworks. From there, trust could emerge but not merely as a means to an end. Instead, as something to work in practice towards; that is, the deserved result of an ongoing ethical relationship where there is the appropriate, enforceable and reliable regulatory infrastructure in place for problems, challenges and power asymmetries to be continuously accounted for and appropriately redressed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (21) ◽  
pp. 7400
Author(s):  
Lei Chen ◽  
Jian Jiao ◽  
Tingdi Zhao

ISO26262: 2018 is an international functional safety standard for electrical and/or electronic (E/E) systems within road vehicles. It provides appropriate safety requirements for road vehicles to avoid unreasonable residual risk according to automotive safety integrity levels (ASILs) derived from hazard analysis and risk assessment (HARA) required in the ISO26262 concept phase. Systems theoretic process analysis (STPA) seems to be designed specifically to deal with hazard analysis of modern complex systems, but it does not include risk evaluation required by most safety related international standards. So we integrated STPA into Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) template to form a new method called system theoretic process analysis based on an FMEA template, STPAFT for shot, which could not only meet all the requirements of the concept phase in ISO26262, but also make full use of the advantages of the two methods. Through the focus of FMEA on low-level components, STPAFT can obtain more detailed causal factors (CFs), which is very helpful for derivation of safety goals (SGs) and the functional safety requirements (FSRs) in the concept phase of ISO26262. The application of STPAFT is described by the case study of fuel level estimation and display system (FLEDS) to show how the concept phase of ISO26262 could be supported by STPAFT.


Author(s):  
Nanda Anugrah Zikrullah ◽  
Hyungju Kim ◽  
Meine JP van der Meulen ◽  
Gunleiv Skofteland ◽  
Mary Ann Lundteigen

A safety-critical system comprising several interacting and software-intensive systems must be carefully analyzed to detect whether new functional requirements are needed to ensure safety. This involves an analysis of the systemic properties of the system, which addresses the effect of the interaction between systems and system parts. The paper compares two hazard analysis methods, which are often considered well-suited for such software-intensive systems: the Functional Hazard Analysis (FHA) and Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA). The focus is on the selection and improvement of the best methods, based on the lesson learned from the comparison of FHA and STPA. The analyses cover the hazard analysis processes, systemic properties, and the criteria of requirements. The paper concludes that STPA is the better choice over FHA. Insights are obtained to align both STPA and FHA methods with the broader topic on risk management, that is, hazard analysis method improvement, cautionary thinking, uncertainty management, and resilience management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-38
Author(s):  
Temitayo O. Olaniyan ◽  
Samuel O. Ekundayo

We revisited the effects of government bonds for the growth on the Nigerian capital market. Utilising time-series data obtained from the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) annual reports for the period from 2010 to 2017, this study through the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) regression estimator found that the value and the number of listed government bonds’ positively and significantly affect capital market growth in Nigeria. Furthermore, low capitalisation of government bonds negatively affects the growth of the market. The null hypothesis of the Hansen J-statistics is accepted; hence this implies that the IVs used in the GMM model is valid. We concluded that government bonds have positive and significant effects on the growth of the Nigerian capital market, thus government bonds have made the NSE All-Share Index grow over the period under investigation. Following the findings from the study, it was recommended, inter alia, that there should be more issuance of government bonds to the public and further to enhance the efficiency of the capital markets, both primary and secondary, while the funds raised from the capital market through government issuance should be channelled towards Nigeria’s productive sectors to promote an all-inclusive growth in the Nigerian economy.


Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Enric Casanova-Batlle ◽  
Antonio J. Guerra ◽  
Joaquim Ciurana

Bioresorbable cardiovascular applications are increasing in demand as fixed medical devices cause episodes of late restenosis. The autologous treatment is, so far, the gold standard for vascular grafts due to the similarities to the replaced tissue. Thus, the possibility of customizing each application to its end user is ideal for treating pathologies within a dynamic system that receives constant stimuli, such as the cardiovascular system. Direct Ink Writing (DIW) is increasingly utilized for biomedical purposes because it can create composite bioinks by combining polymers and materials from other domains to create DIW-printable materials that provide characteristics of interest, such as anticoagulation, mechanical resistance, or radiopacity. In addition, bioinks can be tailored to encounter the optimal rheological properties for the DIW purpose. This review delves into a novel emerging field of cardiovascular medical applications, where this technology is applied in the tubular 3D printing approach. Cardiovascular stents and vascular grafts manufactured with this new technology are reviewed. The advantages and limitations of blending inks with cells, composite materials, or drugs are highlighted. Furthermore, the printing parameters and the different possibilities of designing these medical applications have been explored.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Houwaart

Abstract End-user (e.g. patients or the public) testing of information material is becoming more common in the German public health care system. However, including the end-user (in this case patients) in an optimisation process and thus enabling a close collaboration while developing PIMs is still rare. This is surprising, given the fact that patients provide the exact perspective one is trying to address. Within the isPO project, a patient organization is included as a legal project partner to act as the patient representative and provide the patient's perspective. As such, the patient organization was included in the PHR approach as part of the PIM-optimisation team. During the optimisation process, the patients gave practical insights into the procedures of diagnosing and treating different types of cancer as well as into the patient's changing priorities and challenges at different time points. This was crucial information for the envisioned application of the individual PIMs and their hierarchical overview. Moreover, the developed PIM-checklist enabled the patients to give detailed feedback to the PIMs. With their experience of being in the exact situation in which the PIMs will be applied, their recommendations, especially on the wording and layout of the materials, have been a valuable contribution to the PIM optimisation process. In this part of the seminar, we will take a closer look at the following skill building aspects: What is gained from including patients as end-users in the development and optimization of PIM?How can we reach patients to contribute to a PIM optimization process? Which requirements and prerequisites do patients have to provide to successfully work on an optimisation team?How to compromise and weigh opinions when different ideas occur? Altogether, this part will construct a structured path of productive patient involvement and help to overcome uncertainties regarding a collaboration with patient organizations.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1220
Author(s):  
Chee Wei Lee ◽  
Stuart Madnick

Urban mobility is in the midst of a revolution, driven by the convergence of technologies such as artificial intelligence, on-demand ride services, and Internet-connected and self-driving vehicles. Technological advancements often lead to new hazards. Coupled with the increased levels of automation and connectivity in the new generation of autonomous vehicles, cybersecurity is emerging as a key threat affecting these vehicles. Traditional hazard analysis methods treat safety and security in isolation and are limited in their ability to account for interactions among organizational, sociotechnical, human, and technical components. In response to these challenges, the cybersafety method, based on System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA and STPA-Sec), was developed to meet the growing need to holistically analyze complex sociotechnical systems. We applied cybersafety to coanalyze safety and security hazards, as well as identify mitigation requirements. The results were compared with another promising method known as Combined Harm Analysis of Safety and Security for Information Systems (CHASSIS). Both methods were applied to the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) and Internet of Vehicles (IoV) use cases, focusing on over-the-air software updates feature. Overall, cybersafety identified additional hazards and more effective requirements compared to CHASSIS. In particular, cybersafety demonstrated the ability to identify hazards due to unsafe/unsecure interactions among sociotechnical components. This research also suggested using CHASSIS methods for information lifecycle analysis to complement and generate additional considerations for cybersafety. Finally, results from both methods were backtested against a past cyber hack on a vehicular system, and we found that recommendations from cybersafety were likely to mitigate the risks of the incident.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiferaw Feleke ◽  
Steven Michael Cole ◽  
Haruna Sekabira ◽  
Rousseau Djouaka ◽  
Victor Manyong

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has applied the concept of ‘circular bioeconomy’ to design solutions to address the degradation of natural resources, nutrient-depleted farming systems, hunger, and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Over the past decade, IITA has implemented ten circular bioeconomy focused research for development (R4D) interventions in several countries in the region. This article aims to assess the contributions of IITA’s circular bioeconomy focused innovations towards economic, social, and environmental outcomes using the outcome tracking approach, and identify areas for strengthening existing circular bioeconomy R4D interventions using the gap analysis method. Data used for the study came from secondary sources available in the public domain. Results indicate that IITA’s circular bioeconomy interventions led to ten technological innovations (bio-products) that translated into five economic, social, and environmental outcomes, including crop productivity, food security, resource use efficiency, job creation, and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Our gap analysis identified eight gaps leading to a portfolio of five actions needed to enhance the role of circular bioeconomy in SSA. The results showcase the utility of integrating a circular bioeconomy approach in R4D work, especially how using such an approach can lead to significant economic, social, and environmental outcomes. The evidence presented can help inform the development of a framework to guide circular bioeconomy R4D at IITA and other research institutes working in SSA. Generating a body of evidence on what works, including the institutional factors that create enabling environments for circular bioeconomy approaches to thrive, is necessary for governments and donors to support circular bioeconomy research that will help solve some of the most pressing challenges in SSA as populations grow and generate more waste, thus exacerbating a changing climate using the linear economy model.


Author(s):  
Jitendra Singh ◽  
Vikas Kumar

Regulatory compliance is equally binding on small and medium business groups. Owing to the small scale and limited budget, such SMBs are unable to seek expert advice. To adequately guard the SMBs in regulatory compliance, the present work proposed a third-party managed-end user-driven approach that renders the list of regulatory acts applicable in one's case according to the country of one's residence, services subscribed, and type of the operations to be carried out in subscribed cloud paradigm. The list of applicable regulatory acts are rendered at the subscriber's end only. In addition, the proposed method notifies the present state of compliance of under-considered cloud providers. Based on the recommendation received, the subscriber can proceed with his decision to subscribe or not to subscribe in the event if desired compliances do not exist. This technological assistance will eliminate the need to possess the required knowledge in regulatory acts or seeking advice from the regulatory expert.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (Supp01) ◽  
pp. 2140005
Author(s):  
L. Sai Ramesh ◽  
S. Shyam Sundar ◽  
K. Selvakumar ◽  
S. Sabena

Usage of the internet is increasing in the daily life of humans due to the need for speedy task completion for their daily services. Most of the living time is spent in some indoor environment which provides WiFi which is the basic need of internet connectivity using Wireless Access Points (WAP). Nowadays, most of the devices are IoT-based ones, which connect with the outer world through the access points in the existing environment. The wearable IoT devices may be misplaced somewhere and we need a specific scenario which helps to identify the misplaced mobile devices based on access points where they are connected by their unique identity such as MAC address. Most of the time, unrestricted WiFi access provided in the public environment is used by the end-user. In that scenario, the tracking of misplaced mobile devices is creating an issue when the WiFi is in switch-off mode. This paper proposes a technique for tracking a mobile device by using a location-aware approach with KNN and intelligent rules by tracking the channel accessed by the user to find the misplaced path by examining the device connected WAP positions.


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