The South Australian Government is inviting applications for the $10 million Future Mobility Lab Fund to boost local testing, research and development of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies.

From today, companies, industry bodies, research institutions and other organisations are able to submit creative proposals which will accelerate the development and implementation of connected and autonomous vehicle technology.

The proposals will focus on three themes:

Autonomous vehicle testing and demonstrations: Propose testing of vehicles and technologies in both off-road laboratory conditions and real world environment in general mixed traffic conditions.

Connected vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure pilots and demonstrations: Propose pilots and demonstrations for next-generation technology in infrastructure and in vehicles.

Research and development: Propose projects that enable and accelerate the development and deployment of autonomous and connected vehicles.

According to the South Australian Government, the intiative builds on South Australia’s achievements of staging the first on-road autonomous vehicle trials in the Southern Hemisphere, hosting the first international driverless car conference in Australia, and introducing Australian-first legislation to allow on-road trials of autonomous vehicles.

All projects must take place in South Australia. Overseas-based partners are encouraged to participate by partnering with local South Australian small to medium enterprises, universities and other organisations.

“Connected and autonomous vehicles have enormous potential to save lives, reduce congestion and help people get around our community with more freedom,” said SA transport and infrastructure minister Stephen Mullighan.

“South Australia is leading the nation in embracing this new era in automative technology and this investment is aimed to grow jobs in this new part of the car industry. We want proposals which will open up new opportunities for South Australian businesses and workers.”

Interested applicants are invited to email DPTI.Innovation@sa.gov.au with any questions.

Further information regarding eligibility and assessment guidelines is available at the Future Mobility Lab Fund’s website.