The Assuring Autonomy International Programme

The Assuring Autonomy International Programme (AAIP) ran from 2018-2023. It was a £12m initiative funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation and the University of York, established to address the global challenge of safety assurance of Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS).

The AAIP Legacy

Through peer-reviewed research, practical guidance, and engagement with regulators and policy makers, the AAIP sought to advance safety assurance so the benefits of RAS could be felt by all. 

In our six years:

  • We funded 26 demonstrator projects across the world, which advanced the research field of safety assurance, influenced changes to regulation and policy, and improved best practice across multiple domains.
  • We trained over 1000 people on different aspects of machine learning, AI and autonomous systems.
  • We published 169 peer-reviewed papers, contributed to 14 research, regulatory and standards publications.
  • We contributed to government white papers and our projects continue to be referenced as case studies on the gov.uk website.
  • We took what we learned and created practical, applicable guidance to help businesses prove their own safety assurance. 
  • We presented what we learned to the general public through a series of engagement events and talks reaching over 1000 people in person and many more online. 

View our digital programme in review publication below

View our legacy work

In this section you can find an archive of our work, including our demonstrator projects and the Body of Knowledge, an open source research of use cases and guidance covering multiple domains.

AAIP Demonstrators
Body of Knowledge
Programme Fellows
AAIP Networks

The AAIP has shown what is possible when multi-disciplinary communities come together and the voices of researchers, safety specialists, engineers, developers, policy makers, and regulators are brought together with a common goal. Whilst safety assurance has been its primary focus, AAIP’s inclusion of ethical and societal impacts has generated a much broader field of research. The result of which - practical, cross-sector guidance - has, and continues to have, real-world impact, from the use of safe AI in healthcare, to the introduction of safe maritime autonomy. 

Charlie Jeffery

Vice-Chancellor and President, University of York