Partner focus: The Hague University of Applied Sciences and AI-MAPS

The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), through its Faculty of Public Management, Law and Safety, is thrilled to be a core partner in the AI-MAPS project. Dr. Sylvia I. Bergh, Senior Researcher at the Research Group Multilevel Regulation and the Centre of Expertise on Global and Inclusive Learning has participated in meetings since the start of the project, and Ms. Kanan Dhru, Senior Lecturer in Legal Technology, joined the team recently. Kanan also coordinates the AI4Intelligence project on behalf of THUAS.

We see several mutually beneficial linkages with the project: first, the exchange of networks and contacts with relevant professionals. We are keen to explore how we could involve AI-MAPS researchers in the activities of the THUAS Community of Practice AI & Data Science. For example, recently the first AI-FeST took place at THUAS, a whole day of hands-on workshops, presentations and seminars discussing a range of topics, starting from prompt engineering to ethics of AI to unraveling the world of creative AI. The event brought together a plethora of perspectives and stakeholders. We believe that the THUAS CoP is of interest to AI-MAPS and its partners thanks to its broad range of expertise in the area of AI applications, long experience with multi-disciplinary projects, and close contacts with professional practice. Together, we are keen to develop a collaborative research agenda on AI and public safety issues.

For example, the EU AI law will bring a whole range of interesting practical dimensions. In our discussions in the AI-MAPS project meetings, the tensions between protecting individual privacy and public safety are a core topic, and new regulations are needed to manage them.

Given our personal interests in AI and public safety and legal issues in the Global South, we are also keen to bring the findings from the Dutch use cases into conversation with similar cases elsewhere, to help us push our research agenda on decolonising the narrative on AI. We see great potential for the AI-MAPS project to contribute to making relations between the state, society, and private sector (big data companies) in the public safety field more just and equitable, beyond The Netherlands.

Besides enriching our networks and research agendas, our continued involvement will also allow us to ensure that project findings will find their way into relevant educational programmes at THUAS, such as the new Bachelor's degree programme in Applied Data Science & AI, the first such programme in The Netherlands.

Finally, we are excited about the International and European Law Programme's support for our idea to host quarterly meetings to which we will invite AI-MAPS researchers and partners as speakers, so that THUAS students and lecturers can learn from the project's findings and gain insight into policy conversations around AI.