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This is a Berkman Klein alum page. The information below may be out of date.

Aida Joaquin Acosta is a Senior Public Official and an Affiliate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center.

She has more than ten years of experience in advising on European regulatory and policy issues at the intersection of law, emerging technologies, and public policy. She has worked at the European Commission and the Ministries of Presidency, Public Administration, and Transport and Infrastructure of the Spanish Government.

Aida has been a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Washington and a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center. As a Fulbrighter, she obtained an LL.M. focusing on robotics law and developed a methodology to reduce uncertainty in emerging technologies, receiving an Academic Excellence Award and a CALI Award in Privacy Law. Her educational background also includes a Degree in Computer Engineering focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics, and a Degree in Law focused on International Law.

At the Berkman Klein Center, Aida researches the ethics and governance of AI and the impact of emerging technologies, such as AI, autonomous vehicles (AV) and mobility, and the Internet of Things in law, public policy, and society. She has developed a series of policy papers for regulators and policymakers to help them govern AVs, wrote a book chapter on regulatory challenges of IoT, participated and helped to organize the AV Trust and Ethics Symposium at the MIT Media Lab and Harvard Law School, and wrote for the American Bar Association and for the China Computer Federation (CCF). She was part of the Ethics and Governance of AI Initiative of the Berkman Klein Center and MIT Media Lab. She collaborates as an Expert with the AI4People Initiative and with the International Transport Forum at the OECD.

Aida is interested in developing practical tools for regulators and policymakers that help them govern emerging technologies such as AI and promote innovations for the benefit of society.


Projects & Tools

Past

AI: Autonomous Vehicles

As vehicles become more automated vehicles, we consider potential impacts on labor, questions about governance, bias, and inequality, and work to identify forms of transparency.


Publications

Publication
Jul 13, 2018

What Governments Across The Globe Are Doing To Seize The Benefits Of Autonomous Vehicles

a Policy Paper on Autonomous Vehicles

Introducing some of the AV strategies and initiatives that governments around the world are employing to navigate the challenges of AVs.

Publication
Jul 13, 2018

A Smart Move? 24 Essentials Of A SWOT Analysis Policymakers Need To Consider

a Policy Paper on Autonomous Vehicles

Analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) facing governments as they design comprehensive AV policy.

Publication
Jul 13, 2018

3 Practical Tools To Help Regulators Develop Better Laws And Policies

a Policy Paper on Autonomous Vehicles

Three practical tools that policymakers and regulators can use to develop better AV policies and expand their toolkit of instruments to govern the technology.

Publication
Jul 13, 2018

5 Technological Factors Regulators And Policymakers Need To Know

a Policy Paper on Autonomous Vehicles

The basics of autonomous vehicle technology and current policy discussions.


News

News
Jul 25, 2018

4 Policy Papers on Autonomous Vehicles

Four papers describing key regulatory issues for autonomous vehicles, a range of policy and governance frameworks, and suggestions for policy innovation and experimentation


Community

ITU News

Practical lessons for regulating autonomous vehicles

An interview with Aida Joaquin Acosta summing up key points from 4 new policy papers on autonomous vehicles

Aug 6, 2018