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The director of the Catalan Data Protection Authority, Meritxell Borràs, participated in the closing ceremony of the Jean Monnet Chair in Digital Societies and Mediterranean Law at the Polytechnic of Turin. In this context, she has defended in Italy the Fundamental Rights Impact Assesment Catalan model (FRIA) in the use of artificial intelligence (AI), because "it is pioneering, has a practical approach linked to the AI Regulation (RIA), and is born at the right time".
In her intervention within the framework of the workshop 'Cultures of privacy in the Mediterranean Area. From private life to AI', Borràs recalled the risks of a bad design or use of AI, both for individual rights and for the foundations of democracy, and has defended that the RIA has marked a turning point. In this regard, she added that the APDCAT has been designated as one of the fundamental rights protection authorities under the Artificial Intelligence Regulation (RIA), and highlighted the Authority's role in monitoring AI.
Regarding the Catalan FRIA model, the director explained that it provides a pioneering methodology at European level to carry out the impact assessments on fundamental rights required by the RIA, through four real use cases. She particularly thanked the support of Alessandro Mantelero, expert of the European Data Protection Committee and professor of Private Law and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in Mediterranean Digital Societies and Law at the Polytechnic University of Turin. It was precisely he who led the 'DPD en xarxa' working group that promoted the development of the Catalan methodology, based on the interaction of several data protection officers (DPOs) from public and private entities in Catalonia.
'DPD en xarxa' network is the learning and collaboration community of DPOs in Catalonia, promoted by APDCAT more than a year ago to promote the exchange of knowledge, training and interaction between those who ensure compliance with data protection regulations in organizations.
Within the framework of the closing of the Jean Monnet Chair in Digital Societies and Mediterranean Law at the Polytechnic of Turin, the Catalan Data Protection Authority has presented in Italy the fundamental right impact assesment in the use of AI developed within the framework of the 'DPD en xarxa' DPO working group led by Professor Alessandro Mantelero.