This chapter takes up a case study of the accountability issues around increasingly autonomous computer systems. In this early phase of their development, certain computer systems are being referred to as “software agents” or “autonomous systems” because they operate in a variety of ways that are seemingly independent of human control. 

Last week, the Miller Center and UVA’s Democracy Initiative kicked off the Presidential Ideas Festival (PrezFest), a three-day festival examining the state of democracy through the lens of the presidency. As part of PrezFest, Batten professor David Leblang moderated a discussion examining the role of the president in relation to 21st century challenges of climate, migration, and national security. The panelists included Rosa Brooks, Georgetown professor of law; Deborah Lawrence, UVA professor of environmental sciences; and Todd Sechser, Batten professor of politics and public policy and UVA professor of politics.

"Beginning with their extraordinary gift to establish the Batten School in 2007, the Batten family continues to shape the face of leadership education for the 21st century," said Ian Solomon, Batten School dean-elect.

Working on issues related to rural poverty may not be as glamorous as other high-profile policy issues, but for Evelyn Immonen (MPP ’18), the margin of good that can be done in just one small town is worth the effort and commitment

Rick Campanelli is a lecturer at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Campanelli has an extensive career in public service and the private sector as well as experience in senior leadership and management. Campanelli has been legal counsel in the areas of healthcare, information privacy and security, and civil and First Amendment rights. He is the Center for Christian Study Director of Graduate Ministries for the Law and Darden Christian Fellowships.

Margaret Foster Riley is a professor of law and public policy at the Batten School, a professor of law at UVA's School of Law and has a secondary appointment in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Riley has written and presented extensively about biomedical research, genetics, reproductive technologies, stem cell research, animal biotechnology, health disparities and chronic disease. She serves as chair of UVA’s Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee and as legal advisor to the Health Sciences Institutional Review Board, which is responsible for reviewing all human subject research at UVA involving medically invasive procedures.