Dr Subhajit Basu co-authors article on the impact of Brexit on UK’s connected and autonomous vehicle industry
Autonomous vehicles are likely to become the new reality within the UK in the not-too-distant future.
Many vehicles currently driven on UK roads already incorporate some element of semi-autonomous features such as assisted parking or self-breaking.
However, the impact of Brexit has left uncertainty about how the UK will be able to proceed within this industry. Dr Basu and Dr Pattinson have co-authored a thought-piece on the topic, exploring areas including the likelihood of inward investment and how data sharing is anticipated to work, both of which are vital components for a successful autonomous car industry to become established within the UK.
They then go onto discuss how the funding for research and development will be impacted and explain that “UK-based researchers have, until now, been able to access state-of-the-art research and expertise while being a beneficiary of and contributor to the €80 billion Horizon 2020 EU Research and Innovation Programme”. Dr Basu has been involved with several research projects linked to the automated car industry including ‘Public Acceptance of Connected and Autonomous vehicLes (PAsCAL)’ and ‘MOdify Drivers’ behaviour to Adapt for Lower EmissionS (MODALES)’ both of which are anticipated to be affected by Brexit.
The article concludes that the impact upon the autonomous car industry is highly likely to be negatively impacted on the whole. The closing statement explains that “while Brexit potentially affects all UK business interests, the fledgling connected and autonomous vehicles sector is particularly vulnerable to a tumultuous legal and political landscape”.
