Managing the relationship between vehicle manufacturers and internet giants such as Apple and Google will be a major challenge in the future for the connected car – the auto industry is not determining the pace, it is the smartphone.
Wolfgang Ziebart, director of engineering at Jaguar Land Rover, told the SMMTConnect conference in London there is an issue over who benefits from harvesting the data collected by a connected car – the auto industry or the internet companies.
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Ziebart said: “Apple and Google have even said they will make their own cars, we are not afraid of that but we do fear disruption of the automotive business model. We do not want to be left as just the hardware manufacturer with all the software and its data collection benefiting someone else.
“But, what we cannot do, is move forward separately – that is a no-win situation. When a car is on the move it can collect all sorts of real time information which can be highly relevant in the Internet of Things but we must be very careful how we use that.
“Apple and Google have a huge number of users and can leverage vast numbers of application writers and this has been the key to the success of the smartphone – it’s no longer just a telephone or media player. For the car manufacturer the key is to provide a platform for apps but we must use the infrastructure and the data stored within.
“Neither can succeed on their own and certainly manufacturers won’t open up the car to Apple or Google to please themselves. Access to information must be under the ultimate control of the customer.”
BMW’s Glenn Schmidt, head of government and external affairs and sustainability communications, said the use of data is the essence of future debate. He told the conference that the availability of data allows real time information and relevant services to be made available.
“But we have to take into account relevance, context and how personal the information is. People say cars will become a smartphone on wheels but I disagree. If you lose a smartphone or it goes wrong it is annoying but if something goes wrong in a car it’s a major safety issue. Data gathered in the car can be important for safety and security issues or product liability but a lot of data must require customer consent before it can be accessed. It will be a global debate and third party access can only be granted once we have sorted this out.”
Ed Vaizey, UK minister for business, innovation and skills, said it is important to start from the principle that data must by owned by the citizen.
“There is legislation going through right now on this issue but there has to be an element of common sense. Most of people understand that data collection can result in better personalised service and customer experience while the aggregation of anonymous data can make life easier in terms of telling drivers about road conditions or traffic congestion.”
