From Principles to Practice: Operationalising Ethical Governance of Edge AI in UK Road Transport
Dr Georgios Hadjidemetriou (PI), AI for Sustainable Construction, Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction at University College London
Dr Kwadwo Oti-Sarpong (Co-I), Project Management, Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction at University College London
Edge Artificial Intelligence (Edge AI) is increasingly being deployed within connected and automated vehicles, intelligent traffic management systems, incident detection, and infrastructure monitoring applications. While these technologies offer significant benefits for transport efficiency, resilience, and safety, their deployment also raises important ethical governance challenges relating to transparency, accountability, fairness, privacy, and safety assurance.
This project will investigate how ethical principles are operationalised within the design, deployment, and governance of Edge AI systems in UK road transport. It aims to develop a stakeholder-informed governance framework to support the ethical design, deployment, and evaluation of Edge AI-enabled road transport innovations.
The project will adopt a qualitative and practice-oriented approach. Key outputs will include academic publications, a policy brief, and a practitioner-oriented governance framework. Collectively, these outputs, will support more transparent, accountable, and trustworthy deployment of Edge AI technologies within safety-critical transport environments while strengthening collaboration between academia, industry, and the public sector.
By translating ethical and responsible innovation principles into practical governance approaches, the project will contribute to the National Edge AI Hub’s mission of fostering responsible, trustworthy, and societally beneficial Edge AI innovation across the UK.
Impact: The project will benefit transport infrastructure stakeholders, policymakers, researchers, and technology developers by supporting more transparent, accountable, and trustworthy deployment of Edge AI technologies within safety-critical environments. Impact will be achieved through stakeholder engagement activities, including a workshop and co-design discussions involving multiple stakeholders and sector practitioners. Findings will be disseminated through policy and practitioner publications, stakeholder engagement, and academic outputs. This project adds value to the National Edge AI Hub by strengthening collaboration across academia, industry, and the public sector, while contributing practical governance-focused perspectives to the responsible adoption of Edge AI technologies in smart transport systems.