Dr Akshay Vij has no doubt the arrival of the driverless car will "change everything in a deep and fundamental way". His job is to help authorities, businesses and communities understand just what will happen, and how they should respond.

A major project under way in UniSA’s Institute for Choice (I4C) is examining the behavioural implications of this technological revolution; if and how individual concerns about safety, liability, insurance and even terrorism could prove a stumbling block to the adoption of the driverless cars. We also need to understand the choices individuals will make.

And it is all happening much more quickly than even the research community expected. "Two years ago people were talking about the implications for travel models and everyone was saying ‘it’s going to be another 15 years’," Dr Vij said. "Now they are talking about the first cars coming onto the market before 2020. It is no longer science fiction so we have to do something about it."

Dr Vij and I4C colleagues are using advanced techniques such as discrete-choice modelling to try to anticipate consumer behaviour in a future that has been shaped by social, cultural and technological changes happening now. The aim is to help authorities plan the development of our cities by giving them some structure on which to predict what is likely to happen.

And the driverless car is just part of the equation. "One of the big transportation issues is that per capita car use in most countries peaked around 2000 and has since stagnated or declined," Dr Vij said. "There have been economic shifts, demographic shifts and generational shifts. People are cycling more and Uber has changed behaviour. This all impacts on how and where people choose to live."

Dr Vij brings a diverse background to the task. He completed a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering before taking up joint research appointments in transportation studies and urban and regional development at the University of California, Berkeley.

Since arriving at I4C as a Research Fellow, he also has undertaken important consulting work, most recently helping South Australia’s Motor Accident Authority assess the value of advertising campaigns in changing consumer behaviour in relation to speeding and using mobile phones while driving.

Professor Andrew Beer is at the forefront of research into how Australia should shape its future, from housing markets and economic development to the impact of an ageing population.

He is equally engaged with driving change in our cities and with addressing the consequences of how modern societies operate, including homelessness and unemployment. He chairs the South Australian Government’s Homelessness Strategic Group, which was established to streamline the provision of support services, and has undertaken significant work around the impact of retrenchment on workers and their families.

He also is one of Australia’s leading experts on regional development and is the Australian researcher on a six-nation project looking at regional leadership.

Prof Beer’s current research has a strong focus on ageing, with complementary projects looking at the growth of consumer-driven aged care and a longitudinal analysis of the aged care sector. He says the sector is undergoing fundamental change for the better.

Prof Beer is also Dean of Research and Innovation in UniSA’s Business School and says there are no boundaries to enquiry in the social, economic and behavioural sciences.

“Business schools are made stronger and more relevant by the integration of new disciplines that reflect the context in which business operates,” he said. “Even if you are going to have the perfect measurement of business performance you can only do that if you really understand what the firm is, so you’ve got to understand what the firm is to society.

“That means you have to understand what society is. So it’s all pretty connected – all while making sure your company is capable of existing in that society. A concept that really brings it home is the concept of innovation; innovation is central to all individual businesses but it’s also a complex social and economic good.”

Homelessness is one such issue. “We have to acknowledge that a market economy can have adverse impacts, but at the same time businesses are among the most generous supporters of initiatives to support the homeless.”

Prof Beer recently served on the College of Experts for the Australian Research Council and is a Fellow of the Regional Australia Institute and the UK’s Academy of Social Sciences. He also Chairs the Regional Studies Association, a scholarly association based in England.