When contemplating the articles in this edition of MOVE, I found myself once again marveling at the rapidly evolving transportation landscape. Technological capabilities seem to grow exponentially overnight. The government’s ability to collect and manage data and the expanding reach of embedded technologies to impact behavior intersect in a single familiar place: the motor vehicle agency. As our members adapt to this new terrain, they find themselves not just issuing credentials or recording violations, but at the very heart of policy creation and transformational initiatives. This role presents new challenges and opportunities, and, as always, a need for change.

This issue of MOVE features two perspectives on the power and responsibility that come with these changes—one focused on people and process, the other on technology-based approaches to shape driver behavior.

In one feature story, we explore data governance in DMVs, where the accuracy of records forms the foundation of modern identity, licensing and vehicle records that impact everything from travel to law enforcement. DMV data doesn’t just power license renewals and title transfers—it increasingly feeds systems far beyond the agency’s walls, from TSA checkpoints and commercial driver vetting to insurance underwriting and national security. Errors or mismatches in these records can ripple across systems, with real consequences for individuals and institutions.

Strong data governance—defined by clearly owned processes, timely updates, consistent standards and cross-agency coordination—is essential. Governance is not only a matter of IT architecture; it’s fundamentally about people. Our members know frontline employees steward data entry and record-keeping, IT departments design workflows and managers oversee compliance and accountability.

While motor vehicle agencies do not typically seek the kind of power that comes with being the data arbiter for various identity applications or overseeing safety programs, they often find themselves as the legislative go-to when new policies emerge.

In the cover story, we focus on intelligent speed assistance (ISA)—a technological approach that may represent a transformative shift in traffic safety. Rather than relying on drivers to comply with speed limits—or law enforcement to catch them when they don’t—ISA systems can physically prevent vehicles from exceeding posted limits. For decades, public agencies have tried to modify speeding behavior through signage, education campaigns, fines and enforcement. The results have been mixed, at best. But what if technology could take the option to speed off the table entirely? ISA offers this possibility, raising the prospect of significant reductions in crashes, injuries and fatalities.

Fundamentally, these articles address technology and the opportunities it offers. For more (and more accurate) data to be used in novel ways. For technology to prevent unsafe driving. And yet, with this promise comes a set of hard questions. In both cases, the technology depends on people—specifically, AAMVA members. It is up to the agency to establish sound processes and the professionals within the agency to implement them. While policy is created in the legislature, it is likely up to our member agencies to maintain public trust.

While motor vehicle agencies do not typically seek the kind of power that comes with being the data arbiter for various identity applications or overseeing safety programs, they often find themselves as the legislative go-to when new policies emerge. To borrow a phrase from a comic book philosopher: With great power comes great responsibility.   

This may be especially true at the growing intersection of identity, enforcement and behavioral modification technologies in transportation. Whether it’s a frontline worker updating a record that determines if a person can drive or overseeing a program meant to limit a driver’s maximum speed, the responsibility will ultimately fall on our members as they operate with transparency, care and a commitment to the public good.

AAMVA is here to support this work, and we will continue to focus on the people doing the job. For AAMVA, as for our members, it’s never about maintaining the status quo; it’s about being ready for new policies, processes and tools. As we look ahead to how policy and technology will intersect at our doorstep in the future, AAMVA will continue to stand with the people responsible for making it work: our members.