In order to facilitate the uptake of automated and connected driving in the near future, the European automotive and telecom sectors have identified three priority areas for further cooperation at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Connected and automated cars hold the promise to significantly improve road safety, decrease fuel consumption (and with that, lower emissions), reduce congestion and provide more comfort to passengers. With the global market for automated vehicles expected to reach 44 million by 2030, it is vital that Europe’s connectivity infrastructure is ready for handling millions of data points per second from these cars. Safety is paramount for connected and automated driving, which means that the highest levels of coverage, reliability and resilience are required from mobile networks.
Recognising these challenges, the European automotive and telecom sectors joined forces in September last year by launching an ‘EU Industry Dialogue on automated and connected driving’ to identify, and jointly overcome, the remaining barriers. However, these issues cannot be addressed by the industries alone, there is also clear need for supportive public policies.
Now, coming together at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at a high-level meeting hosted by Günther Oettinger, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, the sectors have defined three key areas in which they pro-actively want to cooperate. These are:
- Connectivity: Firstly, automated driving will require upgraded communication systems that provide higher performance levels in terms of latency, throughput and reliability of the network. Europe needs to support private investment by all operators in order to foster the deployment of the necessary enhanced fixed and mobile infrastructure. For example, through ensuring a technology neutral regulatory framework, or through public funding, where investment is not feasible on a commercial basis.
- Standardisation: Secondly, standardisation is crucial for a timely and cost efficient market development of connected and automated driving. To that end, the two industries have agreed to map all relevant standardisation activities that are being undertaken, either by the auto industry or by the telecom industry, and to jointly determine priorities.
- Security: Thirdly, to obtain customer trust in connected and automated driving, it is critical to ensure that all data transmission to and from vehicles, as well as all data processing that is required, occurs in a secure manner. Both sectors are already involved in industry-led initiatives in this field, but have now agreed to use this dialogue to strengthen their cooperation.
