Towards Identifying and closing Gaps in Assurance of autonomous Road vehicleS - a collection of Technical Notes Part 1

This report provides an introduction and overview of the Technical Topic Notes (TTNs) produced in the Towards Identifying and closing Gaps in Assurance of autonomous Road vehicleS (Tigars) project. These notes aim to support the development and evaluation of autonomous vehicles. Part 1 addresses: Assurance-overview and issues, Resilience and Safety Requirements, Open Systems Perspective and Formal Verification and Static Analysis of ML Systems. Part 2: Simulation and Dynamic Testing, Defence in Depth and Diversity, Security-Informed Safety Analysis, Standards and Guidelines

Traceability and Assurance Protocols in the Global Food System

In the 21st century, the food supply chain has become a complex, interconnected system with strategies that are aimed at creating improved products to satisfy consumers' demand for safer foods. To stay competitive and ensure consumer confidence, agribusiness firms develop and implement strategies that take into account not only traditional economic factors driving the food demand, but also issues such as food safety and quality. Traceability and assurance protocols help agribusiness companies improve and refine their production processes, thus providing better control over, and transparency of, food quality and safety throughout the food supply chain. This paper reports on the empirical results of focus interviews conducted during the 2004 IAMA conference to determine the current implemented levels of traceability and assurance protocols and considers some of the issues regarding the benefits, costs and constraints of implementing those protocols.Food, Safety, Quality, Traceability, Assurance, Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Handbook of Organic Food Safety and Quality

Handbook of organic food safety and quality - Improve the safety, quality and health benefits of organic foods - Discusses the latest research findings in this area - Focuses on assuring quality and safety throughout the food chain - Quality assurance strategies are reviewed relating to specific organic food sectors Due to increasing consumer demand for safe, high quality, ethical foods, the production and consumption of organic food and produce has increased rapidly over the past two decades. In recent years the safety and quality of organic foods has been questioned. If consumer confidence and demand in the industry is to remain high, the safety, quality and health benefits of organic foods must be assured. With its distinguished editor and team of top international contributors, Handbook of organic food safety and quality provides a comprehensive review of the latest research in the area. Part 1 provides an introduction to basic quality and safety with chapters on factors affecting the nutritional quality of foods, quality assurance and consumer expectations. Part 2 discusses the primary quality and safety issues related to the production of organic livestock foods including the effects of feeding regimes and husbandry on dairy products, poultry and pork. Further chapters discuss methods to control and reduce infections and parasites in livestock. Part 3 covers the main quality and safety issues concerning the production of organic crop foods, such as agronomic methods used in crop production and their effects on nutritional and sensory quality, as well as their potential health impacts. The final part of the book focuses on assuring quality and safety throughout the food chain. Chapters focus on post-harvest strategies to reduce contamination of food and produce, and ethical issues such as fair trade products. The final chapters conclude by reviewing quality assurance strategies relating to specific organic food sectors. The "Handbook of organic food quality and safety" will be a standard reference for professionals and producers within the industry concerned with improving and assuring the quality and safety of organic foods

Towards Identifying and closing Gaps in Assurance of autonomous Road vehicleS - a collection of Technical Notes Part 2

This report provides an introduction and overview of the Technical Topic Notes (TTNs) produced in the Towards Identifying and closing Gaps in Assurance of autonomous Road vehicleS (Tigars) project. These notes aim to support the development and evaluation of autonomous vehicles. Part 1 addresses: Assurance-overview and issues, Resilience and Safety Requirements, Open Systems Perspective and Formal Verification and Static Analysis of ML Systems. This report is Part 2 and discusses: Simulation and Dynamic Testing, Defence in Depth and Diversity, Security-Informed Safety Analysis, Standards and Guidelines

QUALITY AND QUALITY ASSURANCE IN THE FRESH PRODUCE SECTOR: A CASE STUDY OF EUROPEAN RETAILERS

Quality and quality assurance are among the most critical issues facing the fresh produce industry. This paper shows that while quality is widely noted to be an important concept, it is not clearly defined in the literature. Several definitions of quality are presented. The terminology associated with quality assurance is analyzed. An array of quality assurance systems used in the European fresh product sector are presented. Conclusions are drawn that while fresh produce quality will always be a factor retailers use to compete for consumers, there is evidence of industry consensus on some quality attributes, particularly, safety, environmental, and social attributes.Marketing,

Challenges in the Safety-Security Co-Assurance of Collaborative Industrial Robots

The coordinated assurance of interrelated critical properties, such as system safety and cyber-security, is one of the toughest challenges in critical systems engineering. In this chapter, we summarise approaches to the coordinated assurance of safety and security. Then, we highlight the state of the art and recent challenges in human-robot collaboration in manufacturing both from a safety and security perspective. We conclude with a list of procedural and technological issues to be tackled in the coordinated assurance of collaborative industrial robots.Comment: 23 pages, 4 tables, 1 figur

Unmanned Insecurity: The Safety and Privacy Issues of Unmanned Aircraft Information Assurance

Information assurance and computer security are foundational paradigms in ground based information systems. However, in the aerial realm of unmanned systems, information security often takes the proverbial back seat to high visibility issues such as safety and privacy. Yet, a secure unmanned aircraft is a basic tenant of safety and privacy in the operational arena. Information assurance and security that are enveloped into an unmanned aircraft protect the systems data, communications, as well as internal operations and permeates not only the aircraft’s systems, but also the system’s interactions with satellites, ground stations, and other aerial entities that share data and communication streams with the UAS. This paper will discuss the vital foundational information assurance and security elements of unmanned aerial systems and how these elements relate directly to UAS safety, privacy, reliability, and resilience. It will present case based research of unmanned and manned aircraft mishaps, from both the military and civilian domains, that demonstrate the centrality of security to a safe and viable operational aircraft. It will also demonstrate how privacy issues stem directly or indirectly from information assurance and computer security breaches in an unmanned aircraft. Such breaches of privacy can lead to such issues as privacy torts, theft of intellectual property, Constitutional violations, and issues of personal safety and security from exposed data and communication streams. Additionally, information security breaches can also lead to a hostile takeover of the UAS by a malicious third party, or improper systems functioning of the aircraft leading to myriad public safety issues such as a downed UAS, the uncontrolled flight of the UAS in controlled airspace, or at worse the collision of the UAS into a manned aircraft resulting in a catastrophic outcome. This paper will also discuss the mechanisms of information security in an unmanned aerial system as well as its corresponding ground station and satellite communication systems. It will trace security issues directly to issues of safety and privacy and provide methodologies to improve UAS information security to improve system safety and data security to eliminate negative outcomes from operational UAS missions. Additionally, the paper will provide guidance on holistic UAS operational security, through the maintenance of confidentiality, availability, and integrity via policy, technological, and physical security mechanisms

Positioning Food Safety in Halal Assurance

Muslims follow the religion of Islam and the food they eat should be Halal, meaning lawful or permissible. Muslims are allowed to eat halal and wholesome food that has been provided for them. However, some of the main prohibitions are swine flesh, blood, carrion, animals not slaughtered according to Islamic laws and alcoholic drinks. At present Halal assurance is in a complicated state, with various Halal standards differing from each other without gaining mutual acceptance. The world is starting to understand the need for an influential globally accepted standard that would open doors to global markets and gain consumer confidence. This paper discusses issues mainly related to food safety in Halal assurance. The aim was to discover and describe the approach to food safety requirements in Halal food provision and how this is incorporated in the Halal assurance systems. The position of food safety regulation within Halal requirements or Halal standards’ requirements for food safety is still unclear. This review also considers whether current Halal standards include criteria in common with internationally accepted food hygiene standards and emphasizes the potential of using the HACCP system for Halal assurance

Technical Excellence and Communication: The Cornerstones for Successful Safety and Mission Assurance Programs

The paper describes the role of technical excellence and communication in the development and maintenance of safety and mission assurance programs. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) organization is used to illustrate philosophies and techniques that strengthen safety and mission assurance efforts and that contribute to healthy and effective organizational cultures. The events and conditions leading to the development of the MSFC S&MA organization are reviewed. Historic issues and concerns are identified. The adverse effects of resource limitations and risk assessment roles are discussed. The structure and functions of the core safety, reliability, and quality assurance functions are presented. The current organization s mission and vision commitments serve as the starting points for the description of the current organization. The goals and objectives are presented that address the criticisms of the predecessor organizations. Additional improvements are presented that address the development of technical excellence and the steps taken to improve communication within the Center, with program customers, and with other Agency S&MA organizations