Lt. Governor Gilchrist, Rep. Stevens, and Michigan Stakeholders Participate in Workshop on AVs and the Workforce
This week’s workshop in Detroit, Michigan – co-hosted by the Partnership for Transportation Innovation and Opportunity (PTIO) and the Detroit Mobility Lab – elicited a variety of viewpoints on how to prepare Michigan’s workforce and communities for the transition to a society with autonomous vehicles. Participating in the event were Congressional representatives, educators and researchers from Michigan State University, industry representatives from Ford and Nissan, and government and non-profit leaders from the Governor’s office, the City of Detroit, and many others.
The workshop, which kicked off with remarks from Congresswomen Haley Stevens and Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, featured a moderated discussion led by representatives from WINintelligence (providing the workforce perspective), the Detroit Mobility Lab (providing the technology and investment perspective), the William Davidson Foundation (providing the economic vitality and entrepreneurship perspective), the Office of Governor Whitmer (providing the government perspective) and Michigan State University (providing the education perspective).
| Concluding the discussion, Axios’s Joann Muller provided an expert synopsis on the key takeaways from the workshop, including: – The importance of collaboration: “Nobody can do this by themselves; everybody is learning from everyone else,” – The need for interdisciplinary training: “Training kids to think critically, and creatively, with analysis, is really important,” and – The importance of diversity in the workforce of the future. This week’s event rounds out a year of PTIO listening sessions and discussions in potentially impacted communities throughout the country, including in Indianapolis, Indiana, St. Louis, Missouri and Columbus, Ohio. In 2020, PTIO will continue to advance what we’ve learned in these important discussions into action. We look forward to sharing more with you in the coming months. |
