Proud Charity Partner for Self-Driving Awards 2026

We are delighted to be the charity partner for the Self-Driving Industry Awards 2026, a celebration of excellence in automated mobility in the UK and internationally.

The awards recognise innovation across a wide range of categories, including software, hardware, research, design, testing, legal, insurance, consumer service, fleet operations, trust and V2X connectivity. These categories show something important: the self-driving vehicle industry is not just about cars. It is about people, creativity, safety, problem-solving, communication, infrastructure, public trust and the future of how we move.

For children, this is a powerful message.

When young people hear the phrase “self-driving cars”, they may imagine a car with no driver. But behind that idea sits a whole world of careers. There are engineers designing sensors, software developers building decision-making systems, researchers studying public opinion, designers thinking about accessibility, lawyers shaping regulation, insurance specialists assessing risk, and communications teams helping the public understand new technology.

This is exactly why Technology Books for Children exists.

Our mission is to help children see themselves in the world of technology. We want them to understand that technology careers are not reserved for a small group of people who already know how to code. The future of technology needs children who are curious, imaginative, practical, analytical, empathetic and creative.

Self-driving vehicles offer a brilliant route into those conversations, for example, a child who:

• enjoys drawing could one day become a vehicle designer.
• likes puzzles could become a software engineer.
• asks lots of “what if?” questions could become a safety tester.
• cares about fairness could work in ethics, law or accessibility.
• loves stories could become a communicator, helping people understand how new technologies affect everyday life.

The Self-Driving Industry Awards provide an opportunity for companies to look beyond just the innovation being celebrated on the day and to invest in the talent pipeline of tomorrow.

The 2026 awards are assessing entries on criteria including commercial success, societal benefit and technical advancement. That word “societal” matters. It reminds us that future mobility should serve people, communities and the wider public good. Supporting children’s technology literacy is part of that wider responsibility.

By supporting technology books for children, to provide books with a tech theme, you are helping to

• introduce children to technology in an age-appropriate and inspiring way
• widen access to books and learning resources
• support parents, carers and teachers with career-related conversations
• challenge narrow stereotypes about who belongs in technology
• build awareness of future industries such as automated mobility, AI, robotics and connected transport

The Self-Driving industry will need more than technical brilliance. It will need trust, communication, inclusion, ethics, safety and imagination. Those qualities start early. They begin in classrooms, libraries, homes and community spaces where children are encouraged to ask questions and explore possibility.

As charity partner for the Self-Driving Industry Awards, we invite companies, sponsors and industry leaders to support our work through donations, partnerships and shared advocacy.