Building a slide deck, pitch, or presentation? Here are the big takeaways:

  • Auto, tech, and government leaders will convene on March 1 to discuss the future of autonomous car policy in the US.
  • The discussions could expedite the mainstream rollout of autonomous vehicles in the US, potentially leading to faster development and consumer use.

Auto manufacturers, tech industry leaders, and US policymakers will attend an autonomous cars conference to discuss the technology’s future, the US Department of Transportation announced Friday.

The DOT-hosted conference is slated to take place on March 1, according to Reuters. Among the topics of discussion are potential policies that could expedite the rollout of autonomous vehicles on US streets, which could speed up the technology’s development and consumer use in turn.

In January, US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the Trump administration plans on announcing new regulations for self-driving cars in summer 2018. In October 2017, the US National Highway Traffic-Safety Administration (NHTSA) said they were looking for unneeded regulations on self-driving cars, especially those without a human monitor.

SEE: IT leader’s guide to the future of autonomous vehicles (Tech Pro Research)

Currently, self-driving cars need to hit nearly 75 safety standards to make it to the roads, but most of the regulations were written with the idea that a human back-up driver would be behind the wheel, Reuters said. The discussions at the conference could shift the focus to autonomous cars without a human monitor.

Auto safety advocates will also be present at the March conference. When dealing with past legislation on advancing autonomous car testing, which passed the House but stalled in the Senate in September 2017, the advocacy groups have pushed for more safety features in self-driving cars, Reuters said.

For more information about the future of connected vehicles, check out TechRepublic and ZDNet’s special feature Tech and the Future of Transportation.