Rethinking Certification for Higher Trust and Ethical Safeguarding of Autonomous Systems

Dasa Kusnirakova, Barbora Buhnova

2023

Abstract

With the increasing complexity of software permeating critical domains such as autonomous driving, new challenges are emerging in the ways the engineering of these systems needs to be rethought. Autonomous driving is expected to continue gradually overtaking all critical driving functions, which is adding to the complexity of the certification of autonomous driving systems. As a response, certification authorities have already started introducing strategies for the certification of autonomous vehicles and their software. But even with these new approaches, the certification procedures are not fully catching up with the dynamism and unpredictability of future autonomous systems, and thus may not necessarily guarantee compliance with all requirements imposed on these systems. In this paper, we identified a number of issues with the proposed certification strategies, which may impact the systems substantially. For instance, we emphasize the lack of adequate reflection on software changes occurring in constantly changing systems, or low support for systems’ cooperation needed for the management of coordinated moves. Other shortcomings concern the narrow focus of the awarded certification by neglecting aspects such as the ethical behaviour of autonomous software systems. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, we discuss the motivation for the need to modify the current certification processes for autonomous driving systems. Second, we analyze current international standards used in the certification processes towards requirements derived from the requirements laid on dynamic software ecosystems and autonomous systems themselves. Third, we outline a concept for incorporating the missing parts into the certification procedure.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Kusnirakova D. and Buhnova B. (2023). Rethinking Certification for Higher Trust and Ethical Safeguarding of Autonomous Systems. In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Evaluation of Novel Approaches to Software Engineering - Volume 1: ENASE, ISBN 978-989-758-647-7, SciTePress, pages 158-169. DOI: 10.5220/0011971500003464

in Bibtex Style

@conference{enase23,
author={Dasa Kusnirakova and Barbora Buhnova},
title={Rethinking Certification for Higher Trust and Ethical Safeguarding of Autonomous Systems},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Evaluation of Novel Approaches to Software Engineering - Volume 1: ENASE,},
year={2023},
pages={158-169},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0011971500003464},
isbn={978-989-758-647-7},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Evaluation of Novel Approaches to Software Engineering - Volume 1: ENASE,
TI - Rethinking Certification for Higher Trust and Ethical Safeguarding of Autonomous Systems
SN - 978-989-758-647-7
AU - Kusnirakova D.
AU - Buhnova B.
PY - 2023
SP - 158
EP - 169
DO - 10.5220/0011971500003464
PB - SciTePress