The Client
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Singapore, in cooperation with the Western Transportation Advisory Council (WESTAC)
The Challenge
New technologies and automation have an increasing impact on the global freight transportation sector. Innovative technology may lead to job losses, but it could also open new opportunities for women and other underrepresented groups. APEC wanted to explore the threats and opportunities technology presents to the freight transportation workforce. As the world’s factory, the Asia Pacific region relies heavily on ships, trucks, trains and planes to bring goods to market. The transportation sector creates many well-paid jobs and is an integral part of the region’s economies. How then, can governments, companies and unions prepare for changing technologies and automation? What are the technologies with the most potential impact? Are there new opportunities for women and other underrepresented groups in the sector, as the result of technology implementation? To answer these questions, APEC turned to WESTAC, who engaged Ingenia for a second time.
The Solution
Ingenia carried out extensive research on new transportation technologies. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we sourced and completed over 60 global interviews with representatives from companies, unions and research institutes. We held two virtual focus groups to discuss the recommendations, with participation from across the Asia Pacific region. Ingenia developed a far-reaching, comprehensive report. It provided potential solutions for governments, companies, unions and education institutions to address the fall out from technology implementation and the ways technology could open doors for underrepresented groups.
The Result
The APEC Transportation Working Group (TPT-WG) were pleased with the report; one member economy said that it was “one of the best and most thoughtful research pieces on the future of work in the transport sector.” The report has been in wide circulation within the 21 economy APEC community. It has been downloaded almost 3500 times.