Massachusetts Creates Commission on Disruptive Technologies Like Self-Driving Cars
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Jan. 23 created the commission through an executive order and appointed his former chief of staff, Steve Kadish, as the chairman.
Focusing on disruptive technologies, climate change, land use and demographic trends, and various transit services, the 18-member commission is tasked with laying out potential developments in the transportation field between 2020 and 2040.
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The commission, which will meet on a monthly basis, has a deadline of Dec. 1, 2018, to issue its report and recommendations. The governor’s office considers the commission exempt from the state’s open meeting law.
“This is going to be a serious effort, with a broad range of experts who will seek to better understand and evaluate how technology and other forces in society will affect transportation in the decades ahead,” Baker’s transportation chief, Stephanie Pollack, said in a statement. Pollack will serve as an ex officio member.
Kadish, the chair, left the administration in July 2017 and is now a senior research fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He has worked as a senior vice president at Northeastern University and executive vice president at Dartmouth College.
