The UGM Center for Transportation and Logistics Studies (Pustral UGM) and the International Cooperation Center (PUSKI) of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology organized a regional workshop titled “Regulatory Pilot Space to Facilitate Cross-Border Digital Data Flow for Enabling Self-Driving Cars in ASEAN.”
The workshop on Thursday, Jul. 4, 2024, aimed to reach an agreement among ASEAN countries on developing a regulatory framework for the necessary infrastructure and systems to support autonomous vehicles and an action plan for cross-border digital data flow.
This initiative supports the SDGs, particularly SDG 11: sustainable cities and communities.
The ASEAN Regional Workshop was conducted in a hybrid format, with delegates from ASEAN countries, especially those responsible for digital and transportation policy formulation, and representatives from The ASEAN Secretariat in attendance.
To expedite the policy framework development process, several experts were invited, including Professor Jazi Eko Istiyanto from the Department of Computer Science and Electronics, UGM, Indonesia; Professor Junghwa Kim of Kyonggi University, South Korea; Dr. Yanuandri Putrasari from the Smart Mechatronics Research Center, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia; Wei Lung Chen, Chair of Turing Drive Inc., Taiwan; Muhammad Haziq Faris, CEO of REKA Company, Malaysia; Dr. Keisuke Yoneda, Director of Researchers, Kanazawa University, Japan; Roshan Vijay, Center of Excellence for Testing & Research of Autonomous Vehicles, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; and Dr. Widyawan from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Engineering, UGM.
The workshop was divided into three panels: Panel Session 1 on Regulatory Framework and Infrastructure Development, Panel Session 2 on Gradual Pilots and Public Education, and Panel Session 3 on Innovation Hubs and Research Collaboration.
Ichwan Makmur Nasution, Head of the International Institutional Center at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, highlighted the importance of ASEAN member states anticipating a more advanced ASEAN, including the adoption of Autonomous Vehicles (AV).
He emphasized the valuable support from Japan in achieving this. The RPS project is one of Indonesia’s priorities during ASEAN Chairmanship in 2023. Autonomous Vehicles are projected to become a part of everyday life.
The challenge lies in ensuring compliance when AVs operate, especially when crossing from one ASEAN country to another. The project aims to map existing obstacles, collaborate, and develop a comprehensive study on AVs in ASEAN.
Dr. Ikaputra, Head of Pustral UGM, presented recent research indicating that ASEAN could greatly benefit from fully adopting Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technology.
Regarding safety, full implementation of V2X could reduce fatal accidents by up to 79,000 incidents in ASEAN, with an estimated reduction in accident costs of USD 10 million annually.
Smart transportation technology is also projected to reduce total ASEAN CO2 emissions by 45 million tons. Several surveys also predict significant expansion in the autonomous vehicle market by 2030, with an average market growth of over 30 percent from 2020 to 2030.
Meanwhile, Ishida Eiji, Director for Technical Cooperation at the International Digital Infrastructure Promotion Division, Global Strategy Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Japan, emphasized Japan’s consistent focus on its relationship with ASEAN and its support for ASEAN’s development, based on mutual understanding and benefit.
He also highlighted the excellent opportunity to enhance ASEAN-Japan relations.
“AV technology is developing rapidly, and recognizing this as an ASEAN priority is crucial. Not everyone can use this technology yet; many issues exist, such as data flow and security. We hope this workshop can facilitate addressing these issues,” Eiji stated.
During the regional workshop, delegates from each ASEAN country presented the current status of policies in the digital and transportation sectors to encourage and facilitate the role of these sectors in developing AV technology in their respective countries.
All discussions during the workshop are expected to form the basis for drafting a framework for further discussion in upcoming digital sector meetings in the coming months.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Post-editor: Lintang