Interview: Sanjay Sood, Head of Automated Driving, HERE

Mapping technology is evolving rapidly with the shift towards connected vehicles, smart cities and automated driving. In fact, high-definition (HD) real-time mapping capability is one of the pillars of self-driving functionality. Today, there are a handful of companies active in this space, many with impressive capabilities but limited geographical coverage. Google and Apple both have global scale and capabilities, but are more interested in creating a product to serve their own interests as opposed to that of a wider industry.

That is exactly what HERE, though, wants to do. The mapping expert has been working on an HD live map that meets the needs of all industry players and supports the emergence of a self-driving future. It's no mean feat, explains Sanjay Sood, Head of Automated Driving at HERE, but progress has been rapid.