IBM and Continental will develop systems for self-driving cars

An international supplier of automotive components, Continental (Germany), and IBM (USA), one of the leading companies in the IT market, announced an agreement on cooperation in the joint development of “connected car” mobile solutions for all automakers.

“We firmly believe that future automotive development requires strong partnerships with a global IT player, such as IBM, and together we can create a safe and reliable vehicle connected to IT solutions for all of our customers around the world,” said Elmar Degenhart, Chairman of the Executive Board of Continental.

As he explained: “IBM is the industry leader in both large data processing and cloud computing and has extensive analytical experience. IBM supports cloud platforms, creates embedded systems. Combined with our experience in developing automotive electronics systems, this will help create the basis for the production of new generation intelligent network vehicles. ”
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Central to the agreement is the development of a scalable cloud platform that will allow car manufacturers to provide a wide range of new mobile services. This will provide an opportunity to update the software via the Internet, remotely diagnose the technical condition of the vehicle without expensive and inconvenient visits to the workshop. The introduction of such wireless technologies “connected car” will provide customers with a wide range of new functions, as well as have a positive impact on the development of other industries, such as public transport, insurance and retail.

Pictured: Continental car antenna with integrated electronics for mobile network data transmission

Dirk Wolfschläger, director of IBM's automotive industry, in turn, said: “Implementing a fully connected car technology requires experience in exchanging data devices, embedded intelligence, and the ability to provide services on a scalable cloud platform. Continental and IBM will accelerate the convergence of automotive and information technologies, which will enable automakers to integrate multimedia and mobile services, personalize cars, add entertainment, and manage traffic based on the data from interconnected machines. ”

“Today car owners are completely redefining their needs and expect that their vehicles will provide the same features and amenities as other smart devices. This means that the driver is not only looking for quality, safety, reliability in the car, but also wants to see the car as a highly personalized device integrated into the information environment, ”explained Dirk Wolfschläger.

According to Elmar Degenhart: “In the coming years, three strategic directions will drive innovation in the automotive industry: vehicle automation, reducing vehicle emissions due to economical driving or electrifying vehicles, and finally, wirelessly connecting a car. The car will not just be connected to the Internet, it will become part of it. Network technologies, “reasonable mobility” open up enormous potential for innovation and will massively introduce several new functions for drivers: voice recognition, real-time traffic analysis, streaming data exchange, navigation, warning the driver about the danger of a collision. In general, the cars of the future will be even safer and more efficient. "

Continental and IBM will develop the next-generation electronic horizon platform. Cars with built-in sensors will receive and transmit location, speed, or deceleration data to a cloud application, where data will be processed and analyzed.

Learn more about IBM in the automotive industry .