Bristol Branch

We have had some challenges in organising an AGM last year, and so we propose to hold a catch up AGM for 2016 and the AGM for 2017 before the May talk.

Please come along and give support to your committee.

We are always looking for help and if you wish to become more involved in the running of the branch we would welcome your help.

Venue: Engine Shed

Speaker: Alan Winfield & Chris Holder

7.00pm Welcome
7.30pm Main Talk
8.30pm Refreshments

Please register for this event here

This second talk in the 2017 series will look at AI and Robotic Ethics. The talk will examine the how intelligent robotics has the potential for huge benefit, but is not without ethical or societal risk and where we stand legally on such matters and what this could mean for potential applications and the impact on people.

Alan Winfield is Professor of Robot Ethics at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, UK, and Visiting Professor at the University of York. He received his PhD in Digital Communications from the University of Hull in 1984, then co-founded and led APD Communications Ltd until taking-up appointment at UWE, Bristol in 1991. Winfield co-founded the Bristol Robotics Laboratory and his research is focussed on understanding the nature and limits of robot intelligence.

Alan is an advocate for robot ethics; he is a member of the British Standards Institute working group that drafted BS 8611: Guide to the Ethical Design of Robots and Robotic Systems, and currently co-chairs the General Principles committee of the IEEE global initiative on the Ethics of Autonomous Systems. Alan has published over 200 works, including ‘Robotics: A Very Short Introduction’ (Oxford University Press, 2012), and lectures widely on robotics (including robot ethics) presenting to both academic and public audiences.

Chris Holder has worked in the IT sector since qualification in 1991 and was one of the first wave of specialist IT outsourcing lawyers in the UK, having worked for both IBM UK and Shaw Pittman in this role from the mid1990s/early 2000s.

He has advised suppliers and customers alike in relation to large scale, national and international IT infrastructure outsourcing transactions around the World and has been involved in some of the largest and most complex deals completed in the UK. This includes many examples of data centre, application development and maintenance, telecoms networks and desktop service deals, either together or as separate ‘tower’ transactions.

Aside from IT Outsourcing, Chris has represented clients involved in a range of BPO transactions, including F&A, HR and logistics and is also involved in systems integration and multi sourcing agreements, hardware purchase agreements, website development and hosting, e-commerce and general commercial contacting in the IT business arena.

Chris is a Partner at Bristows since 2014 and leads the firm’s new Robotics and AI practice and has been involved in many EU and UK based initiatives to begin the development of law and practice in this area.

He has spoken widely on all of the above topics and is a current member of the Technology Committee of the IBA.