WEBINAR | Driving change: Imagining a different transport future

Dates

Tuesday, July 9, 2024 - 14:00 to 15:00

Location

Online

Contact

Sustainability@open.ac.uk

EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR HOSTED BY THE OPEN UNIVERSITY, PARTNER OF NET ZERO WEEK.

Tuesday 9th July 2024, 14:00 – 15:00 BST

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Synopsis: This panel session will invite discussion by OU researchers as well as industry practitioners to envision how emerging technologies may provide the foundation for more sustainable and inclusive transport futures.  We may not be able to forecast the future but through imagination and anticipation we will identify plausible, desirable futures and reflect on strategies to drive transformative change.

If someone from 100 years ago were to travel, Tardis-like, to the present time they would broadly recognise our transport systems – cars, trains, trams, metros, tubes and buses were all around then and (albeit technically a bit different) are the mainstay of transport today.  This may not be the case 20 years from now -smart city technologies, driverless vehicles, demand-responsive and shared transport and urban robots are just some of the rapidly developing technologies with potential to transform how we think about transport.

Our present transport systems are problematic in numerous ways, consuming vast amounts of non-renewable resources, being a major source of global warming emissions, engendering unhealthy lifestyles and contributing significantly to poor air quality. However, different transport futures are being made today, and as we collectively work towards more inclusive and sustainable futures we face a fork in the road. There is a risk that new technologies will be applied to patch up a poor system or process. Product level innovation might fail to help much if applied within the old mobility regime. Alternatively, we may incorporate those advanced transport technologies into new imaginaries and ultimately into new service and system level designs to completely reinvent transport.

As we embark into a collective imagination of a better future, we acknowledge that imagination must be linked to action. In this session we will jointly explore the immediate steps that we can take today and the transition technologies we need to develop to drive change towards a better transport future.

Panellists:

Stephen Potter, Professor Emeritus of Transport Strategy

Stephen Potter is Emeritus Professor of Transport Strategy. He joined the OU in 1974 as one of its first PhD research students. His PhD was on the design of transport systems for new towns. His research has included exploring the human and institutional aspects of transport innovation, the diffusion of cleaner vehicle technologies, low carbon transport systems and more sustainable travel behaviours. He has played a key role in developing the University’s links with the Milton Keynes Low Carbon and Smart City programmes. He has written on a number of design and innovation modules, including T317 Innovation: designing for change, T219 Environmental Management, U116 Environment: journeys through a changing world and TB801 Technology and Innovation Management.

Öznur Yurt, Senior Lecturer in Operations & Supply Chain Management

Öznur Yurt joined the faculty of The Open University Business School as a Senior Lecturer in Operations & Supply Chain Management in December 2021. She holds two PhD’s, from Izmir University of Economics in Turkey, and from University of Miskolc (Hungary). Prior to joining academia, she worked in the banking industry as a Management Trainee in Marketing. Her research interests lie at the intersection of supply chain management and business-to-business marketing. Her recent research focuses on service supply chains, buyer-supplier relations, food supply chains and sustainable supply chains. Öznur leads the OU Open Societal Challenge “Exploring potential opportunities of servitization for environmentally sustainable transportation networks in the UK”. Öznur is module chair of B872 Creating and Sustaining Value, team member of B207 Shaping Business Opportunities and member of the production team for B894 Dissertation in Human Resources Management.

Chinedu Nevo, Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) associate

Chinedu Nevo recently completed his PhD at the Open University. His research explored the strategies adopted by renewable energy startups operating in African emerging markets characterized by institutional weaknesses and complexities in the business environment. He has also worked on an ad-hoc basis as a consultant for the Zambian Electricity Mobility Innovation Alliance (ZEMIA) on a project aimed at introducing electric vehicles into Zambia’s public transport system. He is currently employed by Sheffield Hallam University to work as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) associate on an innovative project funded by the UK Research and Innovation. The project is aimed at designing and implementing a sustainable revenue model for Tempus Novo – an award-winning UK charity. His research interests include renewable energy, sustainability, sustainable development, clean transportation, and climate change.

Paul Hodgson, Rail professional, senior engineering and management

Paul Hodgson is a rail professional with over 20 years’ experience in senior engineering and management roles. Paul is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IET and attained his PhD from the Open University in 2012. The PhD research project drew on his Paul’s engineering expertise to develop a transit-solution model based around a modern technology guided bus network, after first arguing the cost and environmental benefits that were equitable to light rail. The understanding of real-world systems in application and the more theoretical, academic approach has allowed a balanced view to be formed on rail and other transit systems.  

Miguel Valdez, Lecturer in Technology and Innovation Management

Miguel Valdez is Lecturer in Technology and Innovation Management. He began his career as a software engineer and technology journalist, joined the OU in 2010 as a PhD student, became a Research Associate and now works full time in research and teaching related to innovation in urban technologies with attention to planning, governance and sense-making in support of more sustainable, equitable and inclusive ways of living in cities. His current research investigates the urban impact and implications of autonomous robots deployed in urban environments, as well as the urban implications of the data and networking infrastructures required to support data-hungry robots, connected and autonomous vehicles and smart city technologies. Miguel has co-authored postgraduate modules T803 Researching in Context, TB801 Technology and Innovation Management and T849 Strategic Capabilities for Technological innovation.

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See the full agenda for the three day online conference here.