Name:Simon Burton

Bio:

Professor Simon Burton, PhD, holds the chair of Systems Safety at the University of York, UK. He graduated in computer science at the University of York in 1996, where he also achieved his PhD on the topic of the verification of safety-critical software in 2001. Professor Burton has worked in various safety-critical industries, including 20 years as a manager in automotive companies. During this time, Simon managed research and development projects, and led consulting, engineering services, product, and research organizations. More recently, he was Scientific Director for Safety Assurance at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cognitive Systems (Fraunhofer IKS) until December 2023.

Professor Burton’s personal research interests include the safety assurance of complex, autonomous systems and the safety of machine learning. He has published numerous academic articles covering a wide variety of perspectives within these fields, such as the application of formal methods to software testing, the joint consideration of safety and security in system analysis and design, as well as regulatory considerations and addressing gaps in the moral and legal responsibility of artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems. He is also an active member of the program committees of international safety conferences and workshops. Professor Burton is convener of the ISO working group ISO TC22/SC32/WG14 “Road Vehicles—Safety and AI” and currently leads the development of the standard ISO/AWI PAS 8800 “Safety and AI” scheduled for release in 2024.

Affiliation:Centre for Assuring Autonomy, University of York, UK