Elaine Chao testifies during her confirmation hearing to be the next U.S. secretary of transportation before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee as her husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell looks on. Getty Images

Elaine Chao, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the Department of Transportation, told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Wednesday at her confirmation hearing that the key to fixing America's infrastructure is cooperation between government and private businesses.

"Rules and regulations can be confusing," Chao said. "So the government--federal, state and local--has the responsibility to engage in outreach to help regulated [industries] understand what's required of them."

Chao, who previously served as Secretary of Labor under President George H.W. Bush, said during the hearing that the federal government had failed to keep pace with emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence.

Safety is the key focus as these technologies become more prevalent, Chao reiterated throughout the hearing. "Regulatory decisions should be rooted in analysis derived from sound science and data," she said.

Analytics is vital to the future of many emerging technologies--none more so than autonomous vehicles. According to Dutch data-science firm Datafloq, self-driving cars can generate roughly a gigabyte of information every second. Auto manufacturers, tech companies, and lawmakers want this tremendous wealth of data to inform policy decisions. Earlier this month, Uber agreed to share rider trip data with local governments so that they can see traffic and commuting patterns.

Members of the senate committee questioned Chao, who worked extensively with the Federal Aviation Administration during her tenure as undersecretary of transportation, about modernizing of the national air traffic control system. New FAA rules will likely loosen restrictions on commercial drones. The FAA's funding is set to expire on September 30, and privatization of air traffic control is likely to be a hot topic of debate in the newly convened 115th Congress.

If confirmed, Chao will head a department tasked with managing a $75 billion budget. President-elect Trump has proposed $137 billion in tax credits to infrastructure investors, the Associated Press reported. However, he has not discussed the plan since the election.