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Study on Safety and Liability Related Aspects of Software

The study provides an analysis of safety and liability aspects associated to software and software-enabled products and services and provides guiding principles as well as possible regulatory options for action at EU level with regard to future regulation of software.

This Study supports the reflection on regulation of safety and liability aspects of software (including AI-based software), following the publication of the “Report on the safety and liability implications of Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotics” published together with the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence in February 2020.

The study is divided into seven main sections.

The introductory part provides an executive summary and guiding principles with regard to regulation of safety and liability aspects of software.

Section 2 provides a broad overview of regulatory issues linked to software and software-enabled products and services, including on definition of software and software lifecycle. 

Section 3 is dedicated to a comprehensive description of risks associated with software and the elaboration of a safety risk matrix. 

Section 4 provides an analysis of regulatory responses to risks identified and a risk-response matrix. 

Section 5 contains an analysis of the regulatory status-quo of software, notably with regard to product safety and liability legislation and other relevant frameworks and initiatives on new technologies.

Section 6 provides key options for action at EU level, with regard to both software in general and specifically AI software. 

Building on Section 6, Section 7 provides key recommendations to policy makers.

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Study on Safety and Liability Related Aspects of Software (.pdf)
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