International collaboration with Michigan to explore road and vehicle technology but security queries remain
The reality of automated and connected vehicles in Australia is edging closer after the Australian government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the US state of Michigan to collaborate on road systems and vehicle technology.
The international collaboration has been established with a focus on developing safer roads through crash-avoiding technologies and exploring the economic benefits of such innovation.
Areas for possible cooperation have been identified as:
- sharing scientific, technological, regulatory and policy data
- skilled trades and workforce development programs
- addressing emerging technology needs
- strengthening Michigan and Australian technology clusters and connecting key coordinating bodies.
“Over 90 per cent of crashes are estimated to result at least in part from human choices, so the potential benefits from sharing of expertise and experience between our two jurisdictions are enormous,” Minister for Transport Michael McCormack says.
“This is just one way the government is promoting safer vehicles on safer roads, including for our regions where road crashes remain unacceptably high.”
Michigan, with Detroit as its largest city, is recognised as one of the auto industry’s global centres, and its governor, Rick Snyder, says the MOU builds on the state’s automotive innovation focus.
“This agreement establishes a great partnership through which we will share research and knowledge between Michigan and Australia in the development and deployment of intelligent vehicle transportation to ensure technology and safety go hand-in-hand with progress,” Snyder says.
“Ensuring the safety of connected and autonomous vehicles is paramount, and that will require a truly global approach to testing and validating the technology, as well as addressing the regulatory and policy environment those efforts operate in.”
The MOU was realised in collaboration with Melbourne University’s Australian Integrated Multimodal EcoSystem (AIMES), an integrated transport technology program with a live test bed on Melbourne streets, and Michigan’s Mcity and American Center for Mobility offroad facilities.
Mcity is a 32-acre mock city and proving ground built for the testing of wirelessly connected and driver-less cars located on the University of Michigan North Campus in Ann Arbor.
The American Center for Mobilityis a non-profit testing and product development facility for future mobility, designed to enable safe validation of connected and automated vehicle technology, and accelerate the development of voluntary standards.
Intelligent Transport Systems Australia (ITS Australia) and Austroads, along with University of Melbourne, are included in the MOU as key to supporting the bilateral cooperation on connected, automated and autonomous vehicle technologies occurring across the Australian, and Michigan ITS communities.
At the signing, ITS Australia president Dean Zabrieszach says that he is grateful for the opportunity this MOU presents to the Australian ITS industry: “In particular the chance to for us to create and shape global best practice for the future of intelligent transport, connected and automated vehicles.”
Data security concerns
The National Transport Commission (NTC) has recently voiced its concerns around data privacy and is seeking industry feedback on regulating cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) and automated vehicle technology in Australia.
In particular, the NTC questions if Australia’s current privacy and information access frameworks would provide adequate user protection should the technology be implemented.
Its discussion paper, Regulating government access to C-ITS and automated vehicle data, seeks to address the privacy challenges of government access to information generated by automated vehicles and specific transport network technology.
Last year, the NTC and Austroads released guidelines for automated vehicle trials. Read more, here
“Governments will need to access automated vehicle and C-ITS information for purposes including the safety regulation of automated vehicles, optimising road networks and enforcing road laws,” NTC acting chief executive Geoff Allan says.
“However, government access to the type, breadth and depth of personal or sensitive information generated by C-ITS and automated vehicle technology presents a privacy challenge.
“We currently have different protections in place in different states and territories.
“We need to have an appropriate framework in place to protect Australians’ privacy.”
By liaising with governments, safety authorities, industry and overseas counterparts, the NTC plans to develop a regulatory framework by 2020, which, alongside cybersecurity, also addresses practicalities such as safety assurance systems specifically tailored to Australia, including driving on the left-hand side of the road, understanding local road rules, and interacting with other road users, emergency services and wildlife.
It notes manufacturers will have to demonstrate evidence that the technology meets adequate standards around education and training, testing for Australian conditions, safe design, human-machine interfaces, and security, in order to be approved for operation.
Submissions close on November 22, with recommendations due to Australian transport ministers in May.