Colloquium: William H. Widen
Friday, November 7
4 PM
115 Avery Hall
Reception: 3:30 PM in 348 Avery Hall
"Legal/Technical Co-Design & Beyond—a Way Forward for Emerging Technologies Such as Vehicle Automation?"
Abstract: This presentation explains the concept of Legal/Technical Co-Design introduced by Prof. Widen and Dr. Marilyn Wolf (University of Nebraska School of Computing) in Lyon, France, Spring 2025, at Design, Automation & Test Europe (DATE 2025). The presentation uses that concept as a basis to initiate a discussion of the level of detail and generality associated with specifications for vehicle automation systems and the type of evidence that warrants conclusions about the efficacy of implementation and deployment of emerging technologies to achieve social and policy objectives. In particular, it is hoped that the discussion will advance understanding of the use of V models and similar measurements in new and emerging technical areas. Satisfaction of legal/regulatory requirements for mature products and technologies (such as compliance with radio frequency emissions regulations promulgated by the FCC) are familiar to many engineers but this kind of specification and design in new and emerging technical areas may differ in important ways from the landscape for established technologies.
Speaker Bio: William H. Widen, Professor of Law, was a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York until 2002, where his practice areas included structured finance and secured lending. A cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, Professor Widen clerked in 1983-1984 for Levin Campbell, Chief Judge of the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Professor Widen teaches commercial law, contracts, and other business subjects.