Open Loop
(EU AI Act program)

Overview

On June 10th 2022, we launched the Open Loop program focused on the EU AI Act proposed by the European Commission on April 21st 2021. The program involves over 50 participating companies that tested key requirements of the proposal in order to make them clearer, more technically feasible, and more effective.

The policy prototyping program is structured into three distinct, yet intertwined parts, each tackling specific themes and sections of the EU proposal, namely:

Operationalizing the “Requirements for AI Systems”
Regulatory sandbox
Taxonomy of actors

The policy prototyping program consists of:

An inception phase, with 62 participants from over 50 AI startups and companies operating in the EU sharing their feedback on key articles of the EU proposal, commenting on their clarity, feasibility and cost-effectiveness. Inputs were gathered via the Open Loop Forum, an online platform for discussion around a variety of topics divided into 7 activities:

– Activity 1: Diving into the AI Ecosystem
– Activity 2: Managing Risk
– Activity 3: Setting up Data Quality Requirements.
– Activity 4: Drawing up the Technical Documentation
– Activity 5: Assuring Transparency & Human Oversight
– Bonus Activity 1: Prohibited AI Practices
– Bonus Activity 2: Regulatory Sandboxes
A deep dive phase, where selected companies tested the implementation of some of the requirements listed in articles 9, 13, 14 and Annex IV of the AI Act, with a focus on the transparency measures to ensure the interpretability of the output and on the requirement for providers of high-risk AI systems to have a risk management system in place. As part of this phase, the program also tested the provision on transparency obligations for AI systems interacting with natural persons (article 52), the section on regulatory sandboxes (article 53) and the taxonomy of AI actors (article 3) presented in the AI Act.
A co-creation phase, where participating companies, observers and partners from industry, governmental entities, regulatory authorities, academia, and other non-governmental organizations convene in workshops and policy jams to discuss the results of the first phases, and contribute to the design of alternative taxonomies.

The outcomes of this policy prototype will result in a series of reports with actionable and evidence-based policy recommendations.

The program contributes to:

The improvement and refinement of key concepts, provisions and processes outlined in the AI Act, in particular those related to its technical and procedural requirements.
Making the AI Act clearer, more operational and technically feasible.
The creation of consensus-based standards and guidelines, thanks to the development of common technical specifications and codes of conduct for compliance with the AI Act technical requirements.
Informing in a timely manner the negotiations and final drafting of the AI Act through evidence-based inputs.

Through a series of surveys, moderated discussions and interactive workshops, the program deploys qualitative and quantitative methods and involves industry partners, EU Institutions, governmental entities, regulatory authorities, academics, and other non-governmental organizations.

Partners

For this Open Loop program, we are partnering with the Malta Digital Innovation Authority and the Government of Estonia, while being supported by Considerati and Hyve Innovate.

Participating companies

Observers

Members of European Parliament

Eva Maydell
ITRE Rapporteur of the AI Act, (BG, EPP)
Ivan Štefanec
President of SME Europe (SK, EPP)

International Institutions / Governmental Authorities

Karine Perset,
Head of AI Unit and OECD.AI, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Andras Hlacs,
AI Policy Analyst, OECD.AI, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Richard Nevinson,
Head of Digital Economy, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Henrik Trasberg,
Legal Advisor on AI and New Technologies, Ministry of Justice of Estonia
Ott Velsberg,
Government Chief Data Officer, Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications
Kenneth Brincat, CEO,
Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MT)
Alessandro Fusacchia,
Member of the Italian Parliament, Coordinator of Parliamentary Intergroup on AI
Luca Carabetta,
Member of the Italian Parliament

Academia / Think Tanks

Andrea Bertolini,
EURA Centre, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa
Eduard Fosch,
Leiden University
Evert Stamhuis,
DIGOV Centre Rotterdam University
Fabiana di Porto,
University of Salento and LUISS University
Giovanni Sartor,
University of Bologna and European University Institute
Johann Laux,
Oxford Internet Institute
Klaus Heine,
Professor, DIGOV Centre Rotterdam University
Virginia Dignum,
Umeå University
Nicolaos Voros,
University of the Peloponnese
Joshua Ellul,
University of Malta and Former chairman, Malta Digital Innovation Authority
David Osimo,
Lisbon Council