The House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee have criticised Government policy in its recent report about Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.
The report is critical of Government initiatives which are “too focused on highly-automated private road vehicles (driverless cars)”.
The inquiry details how different sectors including the marine and agricultural industry can benefit from this type of technology.
The Lords also urges the need for discussion about the social and financial implications of using such technology, a concern that has also been highlighted by both Oxford University and the Bank of England. Both organisations have predicted that automation could result in the loss of around 30% of the jobs that currently employ people not only in the transport industry but across all sectors.
Commenting on the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee’s report, Matthew Evans, executive director of SmarterUK and IoT at techUK said: “techUK supports the Committee’s recognition of the efforts that the Government, and specifically the Centre for CAVs, has made recently. As highlighted by the Committee, cybersecurity is critical in ensuring the safety of CAVs and building public confidence must be part of that. This is an area that the UK can specialise in.
“The Committee has acknowledged that connectivity underpins the safe and efficient operation of CAVs and that today’s mobile coverage of major roads needs to be improved. It is essential that consideration of future connectivity requirements be baked into the design of upgrades to ensure that we have the smart infrastructure required to take advantage of the rapid developments in this area.”
The report underpins the importance of the technology sector to the UK economy. In 2015 the internet economy contributed 10% of the UK’s GDP, a figure expected to climb with the roll-out of autonomous cars and the smart city technology that will accompany that development as the UK is a leader in many of the areas of emerging technology.
