In order to reinforce European leadership in safe and secure AI technology, we are proposing a virtual center of excellence on safe and secure AI that will address major challenges hampering the deployment of AI technology. These grand challenges are fundamental in nature. Addressing them in a sustainable manner requires a lighthouse rooted in scientific excellence and rigorous methods. We will develop a strategic research agenda which is supported by research programmes that focus on “technical robustness and safety”, “privacy preserving techniques and infrastructures” and “human agency and oversight”. Furthermore, we focus our efforts to detect, prevent and mitigate threats and enable recovery from harm by 3 grand challenges: “Robustness guarantees and certification”, “Private and robust collaborative learning at scale” and “Human-in-the-loop decision making: Integrated governance to ensure meaningful oversight” that cut across 6 use cases: health, autonomous driving, robotics, cybersecurity, multi-media, and document intelligence. Throughout our project, we seek to integrate robust technical approaches with legal and ethical principles supported by meaningful and effective governance architectures to nurture and sustain the development and deployment of AI technology that serves and promotes foundational European values. Our initiative builds on and expands the internationally recognized, highly successful and fully operational network of excellence ELLIS (European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems). We build ELSA on its 3 pillars: research programmes, a set of research units, and a PhD/postdoc programme, thereby connecting a network of over 100 organizations and more than 337 ELLIS fellows and scholars (113 ERC grants) committed to shared standards of excellence. We will not only establish a virtual center of excellence, but all our activities will be also inclusive and open to input, interactions and collaboration of AI researchers and industrial partners in order to drive the entire field forward.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

The UK has a unique opportunity to lead the way in the rapidly growing fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital healthcare. To consolidate its position as a global leader in this field, the UK needs to ensure regulation is optimised to accelerate innovation ('pro-innovation') whilst also ensuring these technologies are cost-effective, safe, equitable, and sustainable ('responsible innovation'). Regulatory science brings scientific methodology to support this optimisation process, but most regulators currently lack this expertise 'in house', especially for novel and advanced technologies. Ensuring regulators strike this balance will be the remit of the UK Regulatory Science and Innovation Network for AI and Digital Health Technologies. The Network will bring together experts working in different sectors to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, safety, fairness, and sustainability of regulation and innovation. It will do so by connecting experts and supporting their ability to work together on pressing scientific questions which will streamline regulatory policy and facilitate a faster translation of these technologies from concept to consumer. The Network brings together for the first time the UK's leading regulatory partnerships addressing the urgent questions of AI and digital healthcare, and builds on an existing UK community of over 200 experts through the NIHR Incubator for AI & Digital Healthcare focused on Regulatory Science and Responsible Innovation (launched in 2023), and which is supporting this bid. The Network will convene experts to identify and prioritise regulatory science questions, understand existing expertise and where gaps remain, and where scientific opportunities lie for advancing innovation. We will support new research areas and collaborations, facilitate consensus-building and translation of evidence into regulatory policy, and co-create educational resources and training programmes for regulatory professionals. By adopting a regulatory science approach, the network aims to instil confidence in innovators, regulators, the NHS and patients that innovation and regulatory processes are pro-innovation and pro-patient safety. The Regulatory Science and Innovation Network in AI & Digital Healthcare will empower innovators to create products that benefit patients and the healthcare system, while also streamlining the process for innovators and businesses. It will be the critical 'innovation optimiser' to unlock the opportunity of AI and digital healthcare for the health and wealth of the UK.

Sustainable and safe materials for a green future The world has been focusing on better organisation and novel solutions to help fight climate change. Sustainable and safe-by-design materials (SSbDs) and products are more important than ever as they are in line with the full-circle strategy of the EU Green Deal and other similar policies. In this context, the EU-funded IRISS project aims to help industries, with a specific focus on SMEs, utilise SSbDs and materialise their goals. To achieve this, the project plans to create a state-of-the-art SSbD ecosystem that will enhance the development and implementation of SSbD. Objective The IRISS project aims to connect, synergize and transform the SSbD community in Europe and globally towards a life cycle thinking where there is a holistic integration of safety, climate neutrality, circularity and functionality of materials, products and processes throughout their lifecycle to meet the EU Green Deal, EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, and UN SDGs. The uniqueness of IRISS is that the consortium is built of core and network partners that represent the top components needed to build an EU-led permanent network (i.e. policy, industry, applied science, innovation and research & education), and that is self-sustaining and international in scope. IRISS responds to the work programme with the following objectives: 1. To develop a state-of-the-art SSbD ecosystem that is supportive for the uptake and utilization of safe-by-design (SbD) and sustainable-by-design (SusbD) strategies by industry, especially SMEs. 2. To contribute to criteria and guiding principles for SusbD development driven by the application of life cycle thinking in materials and product design and in line with ongoing work in European and international initiatives. 3. To establish a structure for a permanent, gender balanced, inclusive, international and sustainable experts? network accessible for all relevant stakeholders. 4. To develop SSbD roadmaps encompassing 3 agendas identifying: 1) scientific research needs, 2) skills, competences and education needs, and 3) knowledge and information sharing needs. The roadmaps will be developed in a co-creation and inclusive process for the implementation of SSbD in industry and society including prioritised steps within research, innovation, skill demands, management and governance. 5. To develop a monitoring and evaluation programme that systematically scans for state-of-the-art knowledge, information gaps and translates these into specific R&D questions and governance needs that feed into systematic roadmap updates.

HydroFlex Mainline Testing The Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE, part of the University of Birmingham) and Porterbrook (train leasing company) formed a partnership in September 2018 to develop the UK's first operating hydrogen train ('HydroFlex'). In 9 months we will have progressed from an initial idea to operating the HydroFlex demonstrator during the Rail Live trade show in June 2019 at the Quinton Rail Technology Centre (QRTC). Following the demonstration of our technology prototype at the QRTC facility, our next phase of development is to undertake mainline testing of HydroFlex on Network Rail infrastructure. This project will plan and deliver HydroFlex mainline testing in late 2019 and early 2020 on Network Rail mainline infrastructure. From our base at QRTC, we will take HydroFlex out onto the mainline via the Long Marston branch line. Mainline routes under consideration for this testing include the North Cotswold line and the Alloa to Dunfermline line (in conjunction with ScotRail). All mainline testing will require full vehicle approval and we propose to adopt a Common Safety Method (CSM) approach to managing risk. The aim of this project is to undertake the first mainline operational testing of a train equiped with hydrogen fuel cell technology. Out testing programme will gather evidence and data to inform our on-going development of hydrogen fuel cell and battery technology deployed on a converted electric train. The testing will also generate significant political and media interest in the developing clean energy technologies that can imminently replace diesel in order to deliver the decarbonisation of the railway, without recourse to complete network electrification (which will not be delivered in the desired time frame). This project is submitted under the Infrastructure Resilience theme - optimised on-board & lineside energy storage technologies. It impacts upon 3 of the 4 Cs as it provides a cost effective network extension for electric trains without the significant infrastructure cost, it provides zero emmissions operation and therfore improves the customer experience with clean and quiet transport. BCRRE lead the project with additional work subcontracted to Porterbrook, Rail Operations Group, QRTC and Jeff Vehicles. We are also working with innovative hydrogen industry suppliers to transfer their solutions into the rail environment, such as Luxfer Gas Cylinders and Fuel Cell Systems. We will also be working very closely with ScotRail (train operator), Network Rail (infrastructure operator), an independent third party approvals body, the Office of Rail and Road (regulator) and the Rail Safety and Standards Board.