Enough consultation, time for action on connected cars: experts

The government has spent years consulting on connected and autonomous cars and now is the time for it to act, Barrie Kirk, executive director of the think tank Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence (CAVCOE), told a Parliamentary committee on the first day of its new study on the topic. “In total, there have been three and a half years of hearings, research, consultations… and reports,” he said, including a Senate committee report that came out earlier this year. “My first message to you this afternoon is: enough already. I think it’s time to move beyond research, and consultations, and reports, and to put some action items in place,” Kirk told the House transport committee Monday. He proposed the federal government create an institute for automated and connected vehicles that would be a joint policy unit of Innovation Canada and Transportation Canada. “It would be a focal point for those in government, industry, academia and internationally. It would help Canada to move to the forefront of not only the development but also the deployment of autonomous vehicles,” Kirk said. David Ticoll, distinguished senior fellow at the Innovation Policy Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, told the committee that the technology behind connected cars is advancing fast. “From the perspective of technology development, we’ve leapt ahead way further than we were even a year ago when we were testifying in front of the Senate,” he said. Ticoll also recommended the creation of a “standing federal, provincial, territorial and municipal smart city and intelligent mobility forum” that would, among other issues, look at personal data collected by connected vehicles. “There’s a good chance that a handful of global mobility companies will dominate our streets, capture the data, and assert control over its use. The risks associated with this scenario are all over today’s headlines,” he said. Ian Jack, managing director of communications and government relations at the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), also urged the government to action. “The issue absolutely needs to elevated by the government,” he said. “The work needs to get going.” Jack echoed Ticoll's reservations about unchecked collection of personal data by connected car companies. “Your vehicle will soon, if it doesn’t already, know as much or more about your movements, likes and dislikes, as anyone in your life, even your spouse,” he said. “CAA has long held that vehicle owners should be informed about what data is being collected and be able, within reasonable limits, to choose with whom they share it. It must not be a take it or leave it approach, where in order to enjoy the benefits of in-car technology, the owner must abandon all rights to privacy,” Jack argued. The witnesses also touched on a fatal accident in Arizona in which an Uber Technologies Inc. self-driving car struck and killed a pedestrian last week. Ticoll said why the accident happened is a “mystery,” given that the “video record suggests the collision was due to a technology systems failure, but the technologies involved are straightforward and in wide use.” Kirk said while self-driving cars are safer than those driven by humans, there are limits. “We’ve predicted that with full deployment we can save 80 per cent of collisions and deaths, but not 100 per cent. The technology is not perfectly safe. It never will be,” he said. “What I feel is that if we delay the deployment of too much, we will delay the benefits of saving those lives.” — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Bryson Masse at bmasse@thewirereport.ca

Enough consultation, time for action on connected cars: experts

News | March 27, 2018

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Enough consultation, time for action on connected cars: experts

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