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The filing of a US proposal to foster the Internet of Things and the request from Google to introduce self-driving car rules creates high expectations.
The US Proposal on the Internet of Things
A proposal named, the “Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things Act (DIGIT Act)“, to provide recommendations to the US Congress to plan and encourage the growth of the Internet of Things was submitted.
According to the bill, a working group of federal stakeholders will be created to
- examine IoT requirements for current and future spectrum needs, regulations, consumer protection, privacy and security and
- review the current use of technology by federal agencies and future adoption of IoT technologies
together with industry experts, business of various sizes and consumer groups.
The activity of the working group will last one year from the approval of the proposal and has the goal to submit then to the US Congress a number of findings and recommendations to be adopted.
Google’s call for self-driving car rules
Google is urging the US Congress to grant national auto safety regulators new authority to speed the introduction of self-driving cars in the United States.
According to Reuters, Chris Urmson, the head of Google self-driving cars program, is planning to
“propose that Congress move swiftly to provide the secretary of transportation with new authority to approve lifesaving safety innovations. This new authority would permit the deployment of innovative safety technologies that meet or exceed the level of safety required by existing federal standards, while ensuring a prompt and transparent process“.
The above was the reaction from Google to California proposal aimed at barring autonomous vehicles without human controls and a licensed driver.
On the contrary the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) held last January that it may waive some vehicle safety rules to allow more driverless cars to operate in the US as part of a broader effort to speed up development of self-driving vehicles and is expected to issue guidelines for self-driving cars within six months.
What is the situation in Europe?
As previously discussed, based on the findings of a report issued by The Boston Consulting Group on self driving vehicles, existing traffic and vehicle regulations may not account for autonomous vehicles and prevent them.
The European Commission held that there is a European Internet of Things plan to be adopted by mid-2016. But on self-driving cars, the issue raised by regulators is whether the technology is enough mature to ensure the introduction of more “flexible” regulations.
There is no doubt that the country adopting rules aimed at encouraging the Internet of Things might have a competitive advantage over others. It is a question for regulators to see the massive opportunity that is already a reality.
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