Third-Party Digital Providers Call for Connected Car Standardization

Mobility digital developers find they are often blocked by challenges unrelated to the apps and services they are building.

The issues stem from their products and services having to integrate with connected cars’ embedded technologies. One resolution is to ensure they choose the right connected car platform for their needs. “The bottleneck is mainly owing to the diverse and proprietary nature of automotive systems, requiring developers to navigate complex interfaces and comply with strict safety standards,” says Filip Hasa, director at Pixelfied.

The complexity of the ecosystem causes the bottleneck too. Matthew Edwards, managing partner at Futurice UK, says this is because the industry is heavily regulated: “Developers must navigate a labyrinth of legal, safety and privacy requirements. The individual automakers' proprietary software and hardware systems also make it difficult to create universally compatible applications.”

The mobility and automotive industries need to standardize their protocols and accelerate the pace of new technology adoption.

Addressing Vulnerabilities

Security is a vital consideration because connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) are vulnerable to cyberattacks – giving rise to consumer privacy concerns relating to the use and protection of driver data.

Mercedes-Benz has built its own operating system called MB.OS. However, when it sees a benefit to the consumer, it partners with third parties such as Nvidia, Google, Luminar, Unity and Tencent. The automaker’s spokesperson explains: “We do this with the best experts in the software industry and offer a flexible interface to third-party content providers, so that our customers receive the best content easily, intuitively.”  NBesides is one of its new partners, while there also are partnerships with Apple, Amazon, Dolby Atmos, Bytedance and TMAP.

Mercedes-Benz claims it handles data security by managing the data flow from the car and its customer to its cloud and the Internet of Things. It maintains control of its operating system and its development. This requires the automaker to continually improve its in-house software development competence in embedded and backend software engineering.

The spokesperson adds: “For modular software stacks, we are cooperating with partners. Android is an example.  With our MBUX API for Android, we use a standardized and secure interface to easily deploy applications from the Android world. It will give our customers access to a variety of third-party apps.”

Right Time to Invest

So, when is the right time to invest in a connected car platform and what do mobility developers need to do to ensure they choose the right connected car platform? Early investment is key during the conceptualization phase, says Pixelfied's Hasa. This requires them to look at app and platform compatibility, security features, scalability and app or platform integration tools.

Futurice UK's Edwards adds: “Choosing when to invest in a connected car platform requires a clear understanding of the car user’s needs and that’s not just the driver’s, along with the regulatory landscape and the technological capabilities of the platform. Mobility developers need to conduct thorough market research, understand legal and safety requirements, consider accessibility and evaluate the technical capabilities of the platform.”

Ask Questions

As for mobility providers, it’s vital to ask questions about their experience in the automotive industry. Their application programming interface (API) must be scalable, reliable and secure while addressing data privacy. Third-party applications require support as much as internally developed apps and platforms do. Due diligence should consider the technical and software development support available to a mobility provider and automaker.

This includes the imperative to ensure that the software provider supports different car models and automakers, the future development of their software and of any mobility and automotive platform. Hardware changes, too. Apps often become more demanding. In the PC desktop operating system world, think of how far everyone has moved on from Windows 3.0 to Windows 11.

Hardware Development

Modern operating systems demand more computing resources and so new hardware is developed. The same principle applies in the mobility and automotive industry, particularly with the increasing use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the shift from the connected car at Level 2 or 3 toward full autonomous driving. 

With this comes a need to adapt and to develop new data management and data analytics capabilities and strategies. They can be used to protect data and to enable the development of new functionalities, to improve software, to identify integration bottlenecks, to ameliorate services and to recognize where the integration of apps and services offers significant benefits.