Axon (Nasdaq: AXON), the global leader in connected public safety technologies, today announced the formation of a U.K.-based Ethics & Equity Advisory Council (EEAC). Following the establishment of the EEAC in the U.S. in September, Axon will be expanding its reach and reaffirming a commitment to including community voices from other countries and cultures into the product development cycle.
The council’s mission is to guide the ethical and equitable development and deployment of new products and services, including the development of AI technologies. It will work closely with Axon’s U.S.-based EEAC and will be spearheaded by Regina Holloway, Axon’s VP of Community Impact and Relations.
“At Axon, we are driven by a powerful mission to protect life and with that, a commitment to the responsible development of new technology,” says Holloway. “I look forward to working with this group of community leaders and academics with lived experience in the U.K. who will help ensure that ethics and equity are at the forefront of our product development cycle. We are committed to establishing a community voice within our technology.”
Current U.K. EEAC members include:
- Desmond Brown, Founder and Director of Growing Futures U.K., Chair of HMP Bristol Employment Advisory Board, Vice Chair of the independent scrutiny panel of police powers and use-of-force. Mr. Brown is an active advocate for racial and community justice both locally and nationally.
- Delano Gournet-Moore, M. Phil, Digital Engagement Officer at African Voices Forum. Mr. Gournet-Moore has an extensive background in community-based work to engage with young people of African descent both locally and internationally.
- Dr. Karen Graham, BAc (Hons), EdD, External Examiner at the University of Northampton and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Law. Dr. Graham has been at the nexus of education practice, academic research and scholar activism. Her research focuses on critiquing the disciplinary functions of institutions and explores the significance of race, class and gender in institutional inequalities/social injustice.
- Giles Herdale, Former co-chair of the U.K. Independent Digital Ethics Panel for Policing, Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, former Program Director for Digital Intelligence and Investigation at the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Herdale focuses on ensuring U.K. police forces factor ethics into digital policing programs from the outset.
- Professor Allyson MacVean, OBE, BSc (Hons), MA, PhD, PFHEA; Emeritus Professor of Policing and Criminology, Professor MacVean undertook the Review of Ethical Health and Culture Across the Five Arms of the Royal Navy and assisted the development of the ethics agenda in the Royal Marines. Professor MacVean is a member of the NATO Research Task Group 304 on Ethical Leadership and has published numerous books and articles on ethics and intelligence.
- Maya Mate-Kole, MSW, Senior Service Coordinator for the Golden Key Call In Programme, Race Equality Commissioner for the Bristol Mayoral Commission on Race Equality, Vice Chair of Avon & Somerset Constabulary’s Women’s Independent Advisory Group. Ms. Mate-Kole has expertise in system change, race equity, advocating for the inclusion of young people, and co-production of interventions with local communities.
- Professor Vassilios Papalois, MD, PhD, FICS, FRCS, FEBS; Renown kidney and pancreas transplant surgeon, professor of transplantation surgery, consultant transplant and general surgeon at the Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College, London, U.K.. Professor Papalois is the President of the European Union of Medical Specialists, Past President of the European Society of Organ Transplantation, Chair of Ethics Committee of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, Vice Chair of the Research Ethics Committee of the Ministry of Defence, Past-Chair of the Ethics Committee of the British Transplantation Society and Past Chair of the Clinical Ethics Committee of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He has published extensively in the fields of clinical and research ethics.
The U.K. EEAC will be present at Axon’s Innovate U.K. 2022 conference in Birmingham on October 4-5. Axon Innovate U.K. is Axon’s annual thought leadership and public safety technology conference in the U.K. The conference features sessions for public safety professionals on ethics and community engagement, how to improve agency efficiency and safety with new technologies and the future of technology in public safety. The U.K. EEAC will host a panel during the conference to discuss the importance of including community voices with lived experiences in public safety discussions.
