Research project
INBOTS: Inclusive Robotics for a Better Society
- Start date: 1 January 2018
- End date: 30 June 2021
- Funder: EU Horizon 2020
- Primary investigator: Professor Rita de la Feria
INBOTS focuses on the creation of a new paradigm for Interactive Robots, defined as any robot interacting with, and in close proximity to, humans. The aim of the project is to create a responsible research and innovation paradigm that will potentiate EU leadership on robotics, by developing a working platform between four pillars, which cover the various stakeholders in Interactive Robotics, namely: the technical expertise pillar, the business expertise pillar, the ethical, legal and socioeconomic expertise pillar, as well as the end-users, policy makers and general public pillar.
The consortium, led by the Complutense University of Madrid, but which will involve the participation of 25 research units across Europe, has been granted almost €3 million to carry out this research. The role of the Law School will be to develop possible legal frameworks for adapting personal income tax to an age of interactive robots, and the possible imposition of income taxes on robots. It will also assess the potential impact of interactive robots in the current trend towards consumption taxes, at the detriment of income taxes, and the impact of these dynamics on tax sovereignty.