ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee

As policy makers strive to update established bodies of law for the digital age, the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee provides the European Commission with both general guidance and specific suggestions for addressing product liability issues uniquely raised by the advent of artificial intelligence.

ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee's contributions to the European Commission's intermediate-range plans for a productive digital future included encouraging universal digital literacy, advancing neuromorphic computing, and realistically assessing the pros and cons of technologies intended to mitigate climate change.

In Comments submitted to the European Commission, ACM's Europe Technology Policy Committee endorses the adoption of Digital Principles to, for example: provide robust and equitable access to the internet; protect user privacy; promote e-government and e-health services; combat climate change; protect and empower children online; foster digital literacy through universal Informatics education; and promote ethical algorithm design.

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee provided Comments to the European Commission on a Proposal by the European Council and Parliament for a new regulation establishing harmonised rules for the use of artificial intelligence. Key Committee recommendations address: protecting public health and safety, assuring personal privacy, and closing the current scientific “skills gap” through informatics education while creating a diverse workforce.

In comments filed in the European Commission’s Health Data Space consultation, ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee cautioned that the pervasive deployment of AI algorithms could lead to the de-skilling of healthcare professionals, warning that “permitting a human 'the last word' in such systems is not sufficient to address this issue. What is needed are real human/AI partnerships.”

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee submitted a statement to the European Parliament's LIBE Committee on the use of proposed Digital Green Certificates to permit point-of-use access to personal health and other data of certificate holders between and among European Union Member States. Among Europe TPC's recommendations were to work with the World Health Organization to develop an international directory; and to protect EU citizens from “data inference,” or the risk that a verifier could infer secondary health data from an individual’s vaccination status alone.

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee sent comments on the Digital Services Act to the European Commission ahead of a final determination regarding its adoption. It underscored two key points: 1) the success of the DSA will depend upon the ability of platforms and other regulated entities to successfully deploy automated content moderation systems; and 2) functioning of the DSA’s proposed regulatory regime will depend upon non-governmental technical experts for the effective audit of platforms’ and others’ compliance with the Act.

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee submitted comments to the Directorate General for Climate Action of the European Commission in support of the comprehensive and ambitious sweep of the Commission’s Green Deal. ACM Europe TPC strongly concurs with the Commission’s premise that realizing true energy efficiencies in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector will be critical to Europe’s success in meeting the Green Deal’s appropriately aggressive climate targets.

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee issued detailed principles and practices for the development and deployment of contact tracing technology intended to track and arrest the spread of COVID-19. The statement calls on governments that adopt such systems to choose "only those which... respect and protect the rights of all individuals; safeguard personal data and privacy to the highest degree technically possible; and are subject to scrutiny by the scientific community and civil society before, during and after deployment." Read the statement in Italian here and in French here.

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee has formally urged the UK government to assure that its National Data Strategy provide for datasets that are open, subject to multidisciplinary expert review, protected by robust risk assessment, and compiled in consultation with marginalized communities to assure their benefit to all sectors of society.

Responding to an invitation from the European Parliament, members of the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee (TPC) Panagiota Fatourou (Chair, ACM Europe Council), Chris Hankin (Chair, ACM Europe TPC), and Bran Knowles (Member, ACM Europe TPC) wrote an in-depth white paper on Gender Bias in Automated Decision Making (ADM) Systems. The paper discusses how bias resulting from the use of machine-learned ADM systems can impact gender equality, including employment processes such as job recruitment and screening.

Michel Beaudouin-Lafon has been named Chair of the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee. Beaudouin-Lafon is Professor of Computer Science, Classe Exceptionnelle, at Université Paris-Saclay, senior fellow of Institut Universitaire de France, recipient of the CNRS Silver Medal, and an ACM Fellow. He has served as the Technology Policy Council Vice Chair, and as a member of the TPC TechBriefs Committee, and the Europe Council.

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee submitted comments to the European Commission on "Artificial Intelligence—A European approach to excellence and trust," which addresses the future of AI in Europe. The comments, submitted in questionnaire form, asked the Commission to rate priorities based on their perceived importance, such as skills and training; public/private partnerships; and financing for startups.

A new policy white paper by the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee, "Advancing Cybersecurity Research and Education in Europe: Major Drivers of Growth in the Digital Landscape," explores the important role of cybersecurity research and education in enhancing cybersecurity, and provides an overview of emerging trends and challenges, including new privacy and security concerns.

The white paper "When Computers Decide: European Recommendations on Machine-Learned Automated Decision Making" presents the views of the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee and Informatics Europe (IE) on the challenges posed by the increasing presence of Machine Learning and Automated Decision Making (ADM) systems in almost every aspect of modern human life.

Recognizing the ubiquity of algorithms in our daily lives, as well as their far-reaching impact, the ACM US Technology Policy Committee and the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee have issued a statement and a list of seven principles designed to address potential harmful bias. The US ACM committee approved the principles earlier this year, and the European ACM committee approved them on May 25.

The ACM US Technology Policy Committee and the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee have released a Statement on Internet of Things Privacy and Security addressing existing and expected privacy and security concerns in the IoT ecosystem. The principles in the statement propose policy and technical approaches to tackle privacy and security challenges while ensuring that the technology continues to move forward.

A new report on cybersecurity policy published by the European Commission’s top scientific advisers cites the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee’s White Paper on “Advancing Cybersecurity Research and Education in Europe” and the ACM US Technology Policy Committee’s Principles on Algorithmic Transparency and Accountability. Among the report’s recommendations, the scientific advisers call for global cybersecurity cooperation.