Recently I was at a workshop regarding driverless cars hosted by Teknologirådet / the DBT Foundation. One of the topics we discussed was how Denmark could benefit from this new technology. Not only in terms of mobility and safety improvements, but also in terms of job creation, export of services, etc.
I suggested to make a virtue out of necessity: Denmark is not a car-producing country, so we have no vested interests in car manufacturing. And we are generally seen as trustworthy people. At the same time, we have a top notch computer science environment, both in terms of industry and research. Advancing driverless cars will require that somebody can certify that the cars’ software actually will abide to the regulation (including handling of the ethical dilemmas often cited). Denmark could be that certification body.
I came to think of this as the VW scandal unravels. As suggested by Zeynep Tufekci, we need to have somebody check all this software “running our voting machines, cars and many other vital objects, including medical devices and even our infrastructure.”
I think Denmark could have an opportunity here.