The city is trialling £800,000 technology which offers cheaper and more efficient sanitation services, but with potential costs to the local economy.
According to BBC News, around 2,500 tech companies are already operating in Milton Keynes – accounting for roughly one-in-three jobs. Due to its status as an innovation centre, around £9million in central government funding is pouring into the sector, allowing firms to ‘get new technologies out of the lab and into use sooner’.
In total, there are 16 project in the city which have been confirmed for support. Among other things, the authority is now trialling autonomous buses and delivery vehicles, with the new street cleaners the latest example to be rolled out. Although the robots are not designed or built in the area, the networks required to run them are domestically developed.
‘We’re going to support more robots here in Milton Keynes on the streets, doing jobs that are really going to benefit the public such as cleaning, surveying, looking for trip hazards and that kind of thing,’ said Baroness Liz Lloyd, under-secretary of state in the department for science, innovation and technology.
Among other things, the minister has emphasised the potential cost saving to local authorities and public services operators offered by automation and autonomous vehicles. However, a number of polls have consistently shown concerns among members of the public about the threat to employment posed by new technologies.
In August, a Trade Union Congress poll showed half of adults were worried artificial intelligence would either replace them completely or significantly change their job role. This includes making conditions and deployment terms worse.
Image: Magda Vrabetz / Unsplash
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