50248 - EMERGING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND THE LAW

Emerging digital technologies (EDTs) e.g. Internet of Things and of Services (IoT/IoS), Artificial Intelligence (AI), advanced robotics and autonomous vehicles (AV), can lead to fundamental discoveries, opening up new possibilities, and significantly improving the lives of many – in particular by bringing major benefits to our society and economy through better healthcare, more efficient public administration, stronger democratic processes, safer transport, a more competitive industry and sustainable farming. Machine-learning, for example, can be used to make more accurate and faster medical diagnoses and surgeries, carry out dangerous and repetitive tasks, and free up valuable time. This scenario has its drawbacks. In particular, it raises challenges for regulators and policymakers that have to face the ontological difficulty of foreseeing and possibly controlling the impact of EDTs on economy and society, to make sure that they are human-centric, ethical, explainable, sustainable and respectful of fundamental rights and values. Against this background, the mission of the course is to provide an understanding of the legal implications of EDTs and how the current legal framework is facing the challenges that they raise.

The course focuses on specific topics related to the EDTs, at EU level and offering, when possible, a comparison with the North-American developments.

It is structured in 4 main modules:

• EDTs, features and challenges
• Liability issues
• Smart contracts
• Data-driven technologies and data law