e-Flyer - SAFETY-CRITICAL SYSTEMS CLUB (SCSC)

Hello Guest,

A big welcome from the SCSC team. We hope you are not affected by any faulty AI systems!

Welcome to the SCSC’s November 2023 e-flyer, keeping you up-to-date with details of upcoming events, publications and activities which may be of interest to you. 

AI safety continues to make the news with big announcements from the US and the UK government's AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park. Both should start new initiatives including a new UK AI Safety Institute. At SSS'24 in February we have a special AI session with talks and a panel of experts; all our 2024 1-day seminars are AI-themed too.

Upcoming Events - See the SCSC - Events diary 

What makes Good Evidence for a Safety Case?
Thursday 30 November, 2023 - London, UK
Wellcome Collection, Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE

This seminar will examine the role of evidence in supporting a safety case. What makes strong, compelling evidence - and what is weaker evidence?
If evidence is not available or is of poor quality what can be done to make up the gaps? If evidence is continually evolving or being updated how should this be handled? 

Speakers are:

• Paul Hampton, CGI - 'Assurance Evidence for a Satellite Datacomms to Civil Aircraft System'
• Norina (Popa) Ratiu and Rebecca Wilford, Oxa - 'Autonomous Vehicles and Safety Case Evidence'
• Sarah Tovey, MOD - 'Confessions of an auditor'
• Andy Whalley, BAE Systems - 'Keeping an Operational Safety Case Alive and Well'
• Sean White, NHS England - 'Addressing the Challenges of Evidence in Healthcare IT'
• Helen Wright, ARC Ltd - 'Safety Evidence: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'

For further details and to make your booking please see: https://scsc.uk/e1043

Safety-Critical Systems Symposium SSS’24

The next Safety-Critical Systems Symposium will be held in Bristol, UK, 13 - 15 February 2024.

Early-bird delegate bookings are now open https://scsc.uk/sss

This features keynote speakers, talks selected by submitted abstracts and alsoinvited presentations. There will be a panel discussing ‘Can we make safe AI?’. The keynote speakers are:

• Adiac Aguilar, Volvo Cars
• Dewi Daniels, Software Safety Ltd
• Mikela Chatzimichailidou, Imperial College London & UCL 
• Simon Davies, Vertical Aerospace Group Ltd.
• Phil Koopman, CMU 
• Alessio Lomuscio, Imperial College London and Safe Intelligence
• Hayat Zerkani, Crossrail Ltd

Poster presentation

If you would like to present a poster at SSS’24 please contact mike.parsons@scsc.uk 

On Wednesday 14th February there will be a special session on AI and safety, looking at some of the new systems and models and how we might assure them. This will feature short talks and a panel session.

The "How to make safe AI?" panel comprises:

• Phil Koopman, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
• Alessio Lomuscio, Imperial College London and Safe Intelligence
• George Mason, Frazer-Nash Consultancy
• John McDermid, Assuring Autonomy International Programme
• Helen Monkhouse, HORIBA MIRA
• Mark Sujan, Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB)

The after-dinner speaker on Wednesday will be Simon Davies, Test Pilot, Vertical Aerospace Group Ltd.

Exhibiting at SSS'24

If you are interested in sponsorship or exhibiting at the Symposium please contact alex.king@scsc.uk.

The exhibition package includes, 6ft trestle table with cloth, Symposium pass for two members of staff, 13-14 Feb 2024; logo in the event brochure, buffet meal and drinks.

Sponsorship of SSS'24

If you are interested in sponsoring a particular aspect of SSS’24 please contact alex.king@scsc.uk in the first instance.

If you have any questions relating to SSS’24 please contact office@scsc.uk

Working Groups 

Kevin King is now the Service Assurance Working Group (SAWG) lead and James Inge is now leading on the Systems Approach to Safety of the Environment (SASEWG). Thanks to both James and Kevin!

Working Groups will be producing posters for SSS’24. This is a great opportunity to see what the groups are up to and chat to members.

For a list of all upcoming Working Group meetings please see the Events Diary (https://scsc.uk/events?tab=working) If you would like to participate in one or more of these please contact the group leader.

Newsletter

The latest edition of the SCSC newsletter is available at: https://scsc.uk/newsletter

Contents include:

Article: Reflections on Ada Lovelace Day - Wendy Owen

Following on from her article in the May 2023 edition in the run-up to International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), in this edition, Wendy Owen showcases Ada Lovelace Day – celebrating the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) – which this year falls on Tuesday 10th October 2023. In this article, Wendy describes how Ada is an important part of STEM history, in particular computing, and talks about a few of the modern-day ‘Adas’ in our midst at SCSC.
View the article

Article: Software in Railway Applications - Lucia Capogna
In this modern era, software is embedded in all aspects of our life. Without software, our lives would be completely different.

Can you imagine your typical day without a smartphone or laptop? Even in our cars and trains, software is essential to functions and services for both drivers and passengers. So, what is software? How do we ensure it is fit for its intended use? And, how do standards help us do this?   
View the article

Article: The Data Risk Zoo - Mike Parsons and Paul Hampton

In the October 2022 edition of the SCSC Newsletter, the authors introduced the concept of a “Data Risk Cygnology” that categorised types of data safety risk. Here they discuss further ideas in this area and work towards a more formalised taxonomy of terms.  
View the article

Article: How Do I Get Into Safety?

How Do I Get Into Safety?
It is sometimes difficult to plan a career: so many things have to align together for each step on the ladder to take place, whether it is the correct training, organisation, job or assignment, or simply just being in the right place at the right time. We are sometimes asked: "how do I get into safety?” 
View the article

Advertising in the SCSC Newsletter.  
The club publishes its newsletter Safety Systems three times a year in February, May and October.  The newsletter is distributed to paid-up members and can be made available in electronic form for inclusion on corporate members' intranet sites.
Half or full page advertising space is available.
If you would like to advertise in the SCSC Newsletter, please contact office@scsc.uk for further information.

eJournal

Vol. 2 no. 2 of the SCSC eJournal, featuring high-quality peer-reviewed articles, is available here: https://scsc.uk/eJournal

Full SCSC Membership

Why not become a full member of the SCSC? This gives you discounts on events and access to all website content, and gives you a say in the running of the club. Full membership details are here:  https://scsc.uk/membership

Alex and Mike

alex.king@scsc.uk

mike.parsons@scsc.uk 

scsc.uk

thescsc.org