Hanne Seter (PhD in political science) is a senior research scientist at SINTEF focusing on how automated transport can be made as useful as possible for society. This work includes end user assessments, identification of requirements for the technology, regulatory frameworks, and innovative business and governance models.

Seter has a leading role in several projects focusing on core technologies for automated transport, including the MODI project, which is a large-scale demonstrator financed by the European Commission. The MODI project is focusing on demonstrating the value of automated vehicles for the logistics sector. In particular the focus is to map the readiness of a transport corridor from the Netherlands to Norway and explore collaborations between the vehicle and the infrastructure.

Hanne Seter is the work package leader responsible for the evaluation work in the MODI project. This work package includes defining the use cases, exploring arenas of collaboration, impact assessments, and gap analyses of technological and societal readiness.

At Einride Mesh, Hanne will be part of a panel together with Michelle Avary, discussing key global insights that the US can use as it builds out its own physical and legal infrastructure around autonomy. The panel will detail the importance of R&D vehicles as drivers of this process and how legislation should foster research instead of hinder it. 

What do you see as one of the most important trends for 2023?

To me, collaboration seems to be gaining interest this year, from several directions. Specifically I notice that collaboration is gaining interest from those representing the technical perspective, which I think is really important. I also see increased business to business collaborations, and in Europe we see more collaborations between the public and the private sector.

What does "Make intelligent moves" mean to you?

To me, "Make intelligent moves" means that we can’t just make the technology smart, we also need to look at the whole system (social, economic, political) in which the technology operates. Only then, the deployment of the technology will be accelerated.

How do you see the role of research in advancing innovation and a more sustainable freight industry?

To follow up on my previous answers, I think research is important for lowering barriers for collaborations. By lowering barriers for collaborations, we can explore new technologies together, and investigate innovative business and governance models. However, another important reason why research is important is that it makes people believe in innovative and new technologies, services and solutions. Seeing is believing, and working together to solve issues will push the development forward. And the most important factor in this equation is the people.