I am Full Professor at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). I received his B.Sc. degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of Pará (UFPa), Pará (Amazon), Brazil, in 1996 and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the UFRGS, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 1999 and 2003, respectively. I am Head of ϕ-Robotics Research Group and a CNPq Productivity Fellow (Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) for my contribution to Brazilian Scientific Progress. I am a Senior Member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society(IEEE RAS) and IEEE Standards Association(IEEE SA), and Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). I have several distinctions that include 2025 Vinfuture Award "Top Nominator"; IEEE-SA 2021 Emerging Technology Award for the IEEE 7007 Standard (see below); IEEE-SA 2015 Emerging Technology Award for the IEEE 1872 Standard (see below); Prêmio Jabuti, the most important literary Brazilian award (2015), for the book "Mobile Robotics (In Portuguese)". My full curriculum can be found at CNPq Curriculum
Over the past years, I have been working in different initiatives related to Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Human Rights and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in the Academia, Industry and International and Multilateral Organizations. Below, one can find some of my participations:
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•Member, United Nations Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation;
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•Member, UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group (AHEG) for the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
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•Member, ACM Global Technology Policy Council
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•Member, Global Commission on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (GC REAIM)
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•Member, Global Future Council on the Future of Artificial Intelligence at World Economic Forum
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•Member, G20 Digital Agenda Working Group at World Economic Forum
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•Vice-Chair, IEEE RAS Ontologies for Robotics and Automation Working Group (ORA)
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•South American Ambassador, IEEE Tech Ethics Program
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•Academic Committee Member, Zhejiang University Robotics Institute;
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•Council Member, Israeli Association for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence ;
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•Advisor, The Carnegie AI & Equality Initiative at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs;
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•Advisor, AI Policy Labs;
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•Member, CMinds Brain Hive;
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•Member, Information Accessibility Working Group at UNESCO Information for All Programme;
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•Member, The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems;
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•Senior Advisor, The Future Society;
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•Member, IEEE RAS Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology;
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•Vice-chair, IEEE RAS Standing Committee for Standards Activities;
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•Associate Vice President, IEEE RAS Industry Activities Board;
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•Member, IEEE TechEthics Ad Hoc Committee;
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•Founding and Former Chair, IEEE South Brazil RAS Chapter.
In 2024, I was invited by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands to take part in the
Global Commission on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (GC REAIM) as member of the Expert Advisory Group. The Global Commission was announced during the international REAIM Summit on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain in February 2023 and is being established to help promote mutual awareness and understanding among the many communities working on issues related to the global governance of AI in the military domain. Our remarkable and impactful report can found at Responsible by Design
Also in 2024, I was invited to join the
UNESCO AI Ethics Experts Without Borders (AIEB) network. AIEB network aims to assist Member States in implementing the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI by providing on-demand support and tailored policy advice, matching their needs with a relevant expert or experts from the network.
On November, 23, 2021, we made history! 193 countries agreed on adopting the first global instrumento on Ethics of Artificial Intelligence elaborated by UNESCO. This instrument presents concrete actions to several domains impacted by AI. It puts human rights at the forefront of these actions to unleash the benefits and opportunities that AI can bring while mitigating its risks. I’m deeply proud to help crafting this document with an amazing high level group of experts appointed by UNESCO Director General, Ms. Azoulay in 2020. This work was pretty intense and rewarding. We have the real chance to break the power asymmetry in the domain and create a better future for all leaving no one behind. Press conference can be seen below
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tpt1FfUzBg
On September, 23, 2021, the Ontological Standard elaborated by IEEE 7007 Ontologies for Ethically Driven Robotics and Automation Working Group (IEEE 7007 WG) was officially approved by IEEE SA. The IEEE 7007 WG invested a lot of time over the past four years to conceptualize the components, identify their dependences and elaborate upon the formal representation, using formal Logics, for the following domains: Norms and Ethical Principles, Data Privacy and Protection, Transparency and Accountability, and Ethical Violation Management. I’m deeply proud to have the opportunity to act as chair of IEEE 7007 WG and work with an amazing team over four years. Due to the relevance of our work, the IEEE 7007 WG has been selected as a recipient of the IEEE SA Emerging Technology Award “For developing an innovative ontological standard on the ethics of artificial intelligence.”
On March, 11, 2020, UNESCO Director General, Ms. Azoulay invited me to join a high level group of experts to draft internationally applicable recommendations on ethical issues raised by the development and use of AI. This document was presented to various stakeholders at the national, sub-regional and regional levels in a wide consultation process for their comments and now it is under intergovernamental negotiation with possible adoption by UNESCO’s Member States at the next UNESCO’s General Conference in November, 2021. This document will be the very first global normative instrument in this domain. More information can be found at this link. Due to the relevance of this effort, UNESCO was recognized among best AI initiatives with social and ethical impact.
On June, 11, 2020, the UN Secretary-General lunched his Roadmap on Digital Cooperation, which is based on the recommendations of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel for Digital Cooperation and further informed by a series of roundtable discussions with key stakeholders from Governments, the private sector, civil society, international organizations, academic institutions, the technical community, and other relevant stakeholders. I’m very proud in seeing the impact of the recommendations we elaborated.
On June, 10, 2019, the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, co-chaired by Melinda Gates and Jack Ma, launched worldwide its report entitled “The Age of Digital Interdependence” that discusses the world interconnectedness as a result of digital technology and how to manage the economic, social, cultural and political impacts of the digital transformation.For this launch, UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres together with the panel co-chairs were interviewed by Femi Oke, and at same day, members of the high level panel together with UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres presented our findings to the plenary of the UNGA. Both events can be seen below.
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcB_aIq1OwA
In 2018, The UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres invited me to join the UN High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation co-chaired by Ms. Melinda Gates (USA) and Mr. Jack Ma (China). I’m deeply honored for being member of this Panel! I’m the third person (left-right) in the second row in the photo below.
In 2016, IEEE launched officially the document "Ethically Aligned Design: A Vision For Prioritizing Wellbeing With Artificial Intelligence And Autonomous Systems" which aims to provide a set of insights and recommendations about the ethical aspects involved in the development of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems. I’m very proud for being part of this team. If you want to know about this document and also about the initiative, please visit the link https://ethicsinaction.ieee.org.
In 2015, IEEE ORA WG published the very first IEEE RAS standard, called IEEE 1872-2015 Ontologies for Robotics and Automation, and was the recipient of the IEEE-SA Emerging Technology Award. Due to the relevance of this achievement, I received the IEEE SA Plaque of Appreciation and IEEE RAS Certificate of Appreciation for being the vice-chair of the IEEE ORA WG.
This standard was cited broadly including in the “The National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan” (pag. 32) elaborated by the US White House, in 2016.
“One example of an AI-relevant standard that has been developed is P1872-2015 (Standard Ontologies for Robotics and Automation), developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). This standard provides a systematic way of representing knowledge and a common set of terms and definitions. These allow for unambiguous knowledge transfer among humans, robots, and other artificial systems, as well as provide a foundational basis for the application of AI technologies to robotics.”
Among my achievements, I co-organized the book “Robótica Móvel” together with Roseli Romero (ICMC/USP), Fernando Osório (ICMC/USP) and Denis Wolff (ICMC/USP) that has won the Jabuti Award in the category Engenharias, Tecnologias e Informática. This award is the most important literary Award in Brazil.
In addition, I was a guest editor of special issue "Robot Ethics - Fostering Acceptance, Trust, and Responsibility" for the IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine in 2025; guest editor of special issue "Elderly Care Robotics – Technology and Ethics" for the Springer Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems in 2020; guest editor of special issue "Knowledge Driven Robotics and Manufacturing" for the Elsevier Robotics and Computer Integrated Manufacturing Journal in 2015; and guest editor of the special issue "Ubiquitous Robotics" in Elsevier Robotics and Autonomous Systems Journal in 2013. I have also organized several workshops in high impact conferences as
IEEE/RSJ IROS and IEEE ICRA. I also co-organized a high impact international challenge called IEEE-RAS Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technology Challenge (HRATC) focused on detecting landmine using autonomous grounded robots at IEEE ICRA 2014-2017.
If you want to get in touch, please do not hesitate. My contact is
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Instituto de Informática
Departamento de Informática Teórica
Bento Gonçalves 9500 Bloco IV
Agronomia – Porto Alegre
91501-970, RS – Brasil
Telefone: +55 51 3308 7127
e-mail:edson.prestes@ieee.org
