The OPTIMAI Ethics Board was formally appointed in May 2021. The Board, aiming to ensure ethical and legal compliance, is composed of four external stakeholders with recognised ethics expertise as well as three internal partners as follows:
- Dr. Ugo Pagallo (University of Turin, Italy), Ethics Board Chairman
- Dr. Lilian Mitrou (Aegean University, Greece)
- Dr. Marta Poblet (RMIT University, Australia)
- Dr. Louis de Koker (La Trobe University, Australia)
- Dr. Stavroula Ntoa (Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Greece)
- Dr. Cinzia Rubattino (ENGINEERING Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A. (ENG), Italy)
- Dr. Dimosthenis Ioannidis (Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Greece)
The Ethics Board will provide the OPTIMAI consortium with guidance and advice related to all ethical, legal and societal aspects of the project. Research ethics, business ethics, and more specific issues related to confidentiality, privacy and the processing of data for law enforcement purposes will constantly be monitored by the Ethics Board. The board will have access to project activities and deliverables. It will supervise data collection and processing, and it will advise on potential impacts on human rights. To ensure impartiality of oversight, the Ethics Board will be chaired by an independent ethics expert, Dr. Ugo Pagallo from the University of Turin.