Twente University Receives 150,000 Euro for Research on Ethical and Juridical Aspects of Drones

15 Jan 2016
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Author: HSD Foundation

Drones make a huge advance in society and we are only at the beginning of the developments. Drones can have many advantages, think of fire control or the monitoring of large groups of people. However, there is still much uncertainty on ethical and legal issues. For example, who is responsible if a drone wrongly concludes that a fire is extinguished,  what about the privacy and in what situations can drones be used in a responsible way?

Researchers of the IGS and CTIT research departments at the University of Twente have received a 150,000 euros grant from The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) to develop a ' tool ' that ethical, social and legal aspects link to the development, testing and use of drones. The researchers hope that this project is the first step towards a national centre of expertise in this area. ' In the Twente region, an important regional hub of the Dutch security cluster HSD, all relevant expertise on drones and robotics is available’, according to Irma van der Molen project leader and coordinator of the ‘Kenniscentrum Risicomanagement en Veiligheid’ at the Twente University.

The interdisciplinaire research ‘Responsible Design of Drones and Drone Services: towards an ethical and juridical tool for drone design and risk assessment’, is carried out by Irna van der Molen, Peter-Paul Verbeek, Michiel Heldeweg and Lesley Broos of Twente University in cooperation with businesses UAV international en Clear Flight Solutions. Also a large number of regional and national parties are involved, including Twente Safety & Security, the National Police, Brandweer Nederland, Ambulance Zorg Nederland, Twente Safety Campus, The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies and The Hague Security Delta.

Read the official news item (in Dutch)
Read more about Drone Test Centre in Twente

HSD Partners involved