Book Launch Presentation and Panel Discussion

At the Faculty of Advocates, High Street, Edinburgh

The Internet of Things raises interesting future questions about the ethical, societal and legal issues surrounding new technology. This book lauch will give an opportunity for Dr Guido Noto La Diega to unpack some if the critital issues facing a modern society that is fully embedded within new digital technologies.  This event is led by the RSA MCICH Network, which expresses grateful thanks for support for this publishing event from the Faculty of Advocates, SCRIPT, SSCL, CRISP, RSA Scotland and the Italian Institute of Culture. Dr Guido Noto La Diega will present his book and the research which led to its publication, after which there will be responses from the panel shown in the biographies below, and a Q&A session with the audience.

Dr Guido Noto La Diega is an academic with a passion for the legal issues in new technologies. He is Associate Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Privacy Law at the University of Stirling, Faculty of Arts and Humanities. He is involved with the IP and Media Law modules, and carries out research at the Centre for Research into Information, Surveillance, and Privacy [CRISP]. His main expertise is in Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, and blockchain. Holder of a PhD (Unipa), a post doctorate (QMUL), and an HEA Fellowship, Dr Noto La Diega has published in leading international journals such as the European Intellectual Property Review and European Journal of Law & Technology. His works – published in English, Italian, Russian, and Korean – have been widely cited by the EU Court of Justice's Advocate General, the House of Lords, the World Economic Forum, the European Commission, and the Council of Europe. He is a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on AI and Data in Education and Training, chairs the Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Network SCOTLIN (Scottish Law and Innovation Network) and is a Director of ‘Ital-IoT’ Centre of Multidisciplinary Research on the Internet of Things.

Panel

Iain Mitchell was called to the Scottish Bar in 1976 and took silk in 1992. He was called to the English Bar in 2012. Amongst other appointments, he is Chairman of the Scottish Society for Computers and Law, is a member of the IT Committee of the CCBE, and is a past chairman of the CCBE Surveillance Work Party. He was accredited by the Mediation Bureau (Scotland) in 1997 and by the Mediation Forum Ireland in 2007. He holds an Honorary Lectureship in IT Law at the ITM Institute, Wilhelms Universitat, Munster, Germany. Iain Mitchell chairs the legal panel of Whistleblowers UK. He has taken part in RSA events before, such as “Internet Economics and Society” and “Media Faith and State” and was also a speaker at the 6th April event on Surveillance (with Professor Kirstie Ball and Brian Plastow).

Dr Daria Onitiu joined the University of Edinburgh Law School as a Research Associate within the UKRI Research Node on Governance and Regulation at the Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) project, which is a collaborative effort combining technical, legal, social science, and humanities research to shape the governance of autonomous systems. Her work intends to understand the socio-legal implications of these AI techniques and to contribute to new perspectives within the project that promote the regulation and trustworthiness of autonomous systems. She is keen to address pressing societal problems caused by novel technologies. A former Research Assistant at the Northumberland Internet & Society Research Interest Group (NINSO) she engaged with academics and experts outside her research area. She has also lectured at the University of Cumbria.

Dr Lachlan Urquhart is a Senior Lecturer in Technology Law and Human-Computer Interaction, University of Edinburgh. He is Co-Director of SCRIPT. He also has involvement in CRISP and will shortly become its Co-Director. His main research interests are in the socio-technical aspects of designing, living with, and regulating emerging information technologies. He has a multidisciplinary background in computer science and law and studied at the Universities of Edinburgh, Strathclyde, and Nottingham. Dr Urquhart is (a) the Law School lead for the Centre for Data, Culture, and Society (b) on the Design Informatics Institute management board and (c) is research associate at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. A longer biography is on the University website, showing some of the 50+ papers he has published. 

Registration for the event:

Registration is free, but you must register via the Eventbrite page found here.

Further information about the book, the Internet of Things (Routledge 2023), can be found here.