When anyone mentions driverless vehicles, most of the people think that they are ‘a thing that the future holds’. However, the actual truth is that in 2018, we are very close to this technology and it can definitely help us in many different perspectives.
A solid proof for this is a new report commissioned by the Australia and New Zealand Driverless Vehicle Initiative (ADVI) which predicts that the driverless industry can make residents of both countries more productive as well as help a range of new employment opportunities.
The official debut for driverless vehicles is estimated for 2025 in Australia. According to the Executive Director at ADVI, Ms. Rita Excell, this debut may trigger new job opportunities created by the industry itself – as well as the technology and use of new technologies within it.
As Ms. Rita Excell stated when commenting the path of this new transportation sector:
“Any job losses experienced within the traditional transportation sector will be offset by the many jobs created within the engineering, automotive, electrical and software industry sectors, which will increasingly be called on to service and support the driverless vehicle industry,”
The Director at ADVI also pointed out to the fact that connected vehicles are shaping up the future of how we live, use and get around our cities. As she said, “the report shows us that this technology can substantially improve access to jobs, services and entertainment, as well as create new industries and occupations”.
Ms. Excell also said that the turning point for this technology is year 2025 – but more importantly, the time when more and more people start to embrace the new technology and change the way they get around.
“The critical transition period for employment and growth will start in 2025 as we see more people start to embrace this new technology and change the way they get around – especially when it comes to swapping car ownership for the convenience of hiring and using a car as and when they need it like they now do with Uber and rideshare,” she said.
When asked about Australia’s plans on becoming a global supplier of driverless vehicles, Ms. Excell was confident that the nation can expect new mobility service value chains emerging soon.
“You only have to consider the e-commerce, mobile phone and internet provider industries to understand that business service roles are now a key part of the Australian economy, and we can expect a raft of new jobs to be created across professional, scientific and technical services industries.”
ERTRAC Automated Driving Roadmap, 21 July 2015
Aside from a public benefit for drivers, the ADVI-commissioned report also touches the benefits and opportunities for businesses which operate in large-scale leasing and fleet rental and management. According to the report, all of these business models are expected to generate additional work for professional and advisory firms that will set up their vehicle management systems for hiring, maintaining, servicing, cleaning, re-charging and storing new fleets.
“As example, fleet management software needs to be developed and new on-board processing, monitoring and control units will need to be developed and installed. Business user apps for passengers and back-end systems for booking, dispatching, routing, billing and customer services all need to be developed and managed,” Ms. Excell concluded.