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AAIP Year in review 2021 - our busiest year yet

Posted on 2 February 2022

Our Year in review 2021 considers how our assuring autonomy team and community are guiding the safe development of autonomous systems through the translation of our significant body of research into guidance and training


The front cover from the Year in review 2021

Read the Year in review 2021

2021 was our busiest year yet. We strengthened our position as a provider of independent, practical guidance on the safety assurance of autonomous systems, with the launch of our methodology for the Assurance of Machine Learning for use in Autonomous Systems (AMLAS). This has been downloaded around 700 times by colleagues in numerous sectors in 18 countries.

Our team in York continued to expand. We strengthened our expertise in software safety assurance, assistive robotics, continuous assurance and cobots, and welcomed a new project manager to support our demonstrators.

Our work with regulators has developed, and their interest in our work and the guidance and expertise we offer has resulted in such organisations being a core part of many of our new demonstrator projects. While creating change in standards and regulations will take time, we are already ensuring that our guidance is considered by those regulating the incoming technologies.

We have also bolstered our work in education and training through bespoke courses, educational webinars and our own Advanced Topics in Safety MSc module. This helps to ensure that the people who are or will be developing and regulating autonomous systems are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to put safety at the forefront of their work.

The AAIP team and community have come together again this year despite the ongoing impact from COVID-19. I’m proud of them all and of what we have achieved. I look forward to more in 2022.

Professor John McDermid OBE FREng
Programme Director