(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries need to adopt a structured technology adoption framework to overcome the current challenges facing their transportation systems, according to Strategy & , a management consultancy firm.
Stressing the importance of embracing more technologies, the report said it is important that governments stay flexible when adopting such a framework as it is almost impossible for governments to predict how well specific technologies would do.
Governments should encourage experimentation by staying on top of developments in other markets, taking the best of what works elsewhere, and applying it to the unique needs of their markets, Fadi Majdalani, Partner at Strategy & in Beirut said, referring to the recent pact between Qatar's Ministry of Transport and Communications Qatar Postal Services Company to develop an innovative pilot project for autonomous drone delivery services.
The report said the GCC transportation is currently facing many challenges. As oil prices continue to decline, the governments are cutting investments and can no longer justify spending freely on transportation infrastructure projects, it said, adding the region suffers from 'significantly higher rates of death from road accidents than international benchmark leading to economic losses equivalent to 2.5% to 4.5% of GDP (gross domestic product) among GCC states including non-fatalities.
Transportation carries steep environmental costs with emissions levels far higher than the world average of 1.03 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita (5.59 in Qatar, 4.12 in Saudi Arabia, 3.58 in Kuwait, 3.49 in the UAE, 3.16 in Oman and 2.44 in Bahrain), it said.
'Innovative new technologies including autonomous vehicles, electric cars, drones and traffic management systems develop at unprecedented speed and are already allowing for the possibility of a smarter, safer, less expensive and more accessible transportation system coveted by governments around the world, Dr Ulrich Kögler, Partner at Strategy & in Dubai, said.
As the GCC population grows and urbanisation continues; governments have little choice but to upgrade their transportation systems. The wealth of existing and emerging new technologies can significantly help facilitate this process, he said.
Another key area that technology enabled transportation systems would support towards is substantially reducing the environmental costs and car emissions. In a bid to reduce car emissions, automobile manufacturers are making huge strides in electric power trains; such cars could comprise 25% to 50% of the overall market by 2040, according to Bloomberg.
The GCC governments should prepare the ground for the wide adoption of electric cars, incentivise their use, and potentially even build a local industry around electric vehicles, Strategy & said.
'Technology offers GCC governments a means to not only address some of the most pressing fiscal, safety, environmental and accessibility challenges they face, but also build a state of the art transportation and logistics sector that can propel regional economies into the future and create significant employment opportunities, according to Camil Tahan, Principal with Strategy & .
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