Caldwell speaks at PPRI event on autonomous transportation

Photo of Barrett Caldwell at PPRI
Prof. Barrett Caldwell discusses autonomous transportation on a
PPRI panel
Discovery Park’s Purdue Policy Research Institute (PPRI) hosted its final workshop in a connected and autonomous transportation vehicles series on February 7. Four panelists participated in “What IF Self-driving Cars Impact Jobs? CATV Ethics + Policy Workshop: Workforce Impact”, including Barrett Caldwell, professor of industrial engineering.

A diverse panel of experts kicked off the workshop with discussions exploring what we know, what we can do, and what we still need to understand about the workforce impacts of CATV. 

Caldwell opened the panel presentation session with a talk on "Tech Innovation and Workforce".  He addressed concerns of the disconnects between idealized projections of technology innovation, and the actual pace of technology and societal impact, applied to transportation workers (largely truck drivers). 

Using examples from farming technology innovations in the 19th and 20th Centuries, as well as the information technology "dot-com" boom and bust, Caldwell discussed large-scale, long-term change versus impacts on individual families, such as farmers and older truck drivers. He also said that technology prototype development and testing in settings such as Silicon Valley do not immediately transfer across the variety of economic and application contexts of the U.S. He believes that short-term labor shortages in truck driving will not be solved by autonomous vehicle technologies in the next 5-10 years.  

The panel presentation session took place in Purdue Memorial Union's East and West Faculty Lounges. Jeremy Reynolds, professor of sociology at Purdue, moderated the session. Panelists were:

  • Barrett Caldwell, professor of industrial engineering, Purdue

  • Shelia Cotten, professor of sociology, Michigan State University

  • Maya Rockeymoore, president and CEO of Global Policy Solutions

  • Tyler Reeb, director of research and workforce development at the Center for International Trade and Transportation

The workshop series is part of Purdue's Ideas Festival and of Purdue's celebration of its 150th year and specifically of the anniversary's Ideas Festival, the centerpiece of Purdue's Giant Leaps Sesquicentennial Campaign. The Ideas Festival will feature a series of events that connect world-renowned speakers and Purdue expertise in a conversation on the most critical problems facing the world. "AI, Algorithms and Automation: Balancing Humanity and Technology" is one of the Ideas Festival themes.

Source: Barrett Caldwell; and Purdue News' "PPRI workshop to focus on workforce impacts of connected and autonomous transportation vehicles"