Data explosion has a direct impact on the automotive market

Advanced electric cars and the promise of fully autonomous transport: it will turn the automotive industry upside down, says Leo Kusters, Managing Director at AutomotiveNL. During IT Infrastructure he talks about the impact of the upcoming data explosion on the entire automotive market.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

For RAI AutomotiveNL and its more than 160 members, innovation is crucial. The cluster organization represents the Dutch industry that is involved in the production and development of cars. When Kusters talks about the upcoming technological innovations, he predicts major changes in the sector: “What you see is that data is going to play an increasingly important role in the development of a new car. In fact, due to the arrival of large amounts of data and its availability, we are crossing a boundary that has always been important in the automotive world.”

He continues: “A car is still developed and homologated (type approval) before the model or a version of it is allowed on the road). After that type approval, we leave the car alone: it is produced and remains the same for years on the points that affect the approval. We are now slowly crossing the line that a car that, even though it has been released, still has things changed. We are mainly talking about the software. That change is due to the availability of large amounts of data.”

Having mountains of data available has even more impact, says Kusters: “We also use those same large amounts of data to develop new cars. So we see two developments in the automotive industry that are both based on data: continuing to tinker with your product and using existing products to develop the next generation.”

The managing director of RAI AutomotiveNL continues to emphasize that the amount of generated data, especially with the arrival of self-driving cars, should not be underestimated: “We are talking about really large amounts of data,” says Kusters. “In the past, we have already collected big data for all kinds of purposes, but that is nothing compared to the quantities we will soon receive. That volume is really going to explode. And the application of that data is increasingly going to affect the core of the industry. A good example is Tesla. They have fully committed to that from the start, and such a way of working is going to have enormous significance for the industry in its entirety.”

Data violence drives more collaboration

In order not to be left behind in all this data violence, the Dutch automotive sector is increasingly seeking mutual cooperation. Kusters says: “Six of our members, all large parties, are already working together in the field of data. That is already a big step forward. And that cooperation in the field of data sharing is also a necessity to be able to continue doing so in the future. The way in which we share data within and outside the industry will also have a huge impact.”

With this trend towards close cooperation between companies, the positions of power in the sector are also shifting: “The traditional automotive industry is very much driven by the car manufacturer. They have a value chain under them that they control. This also applies to the possession and availability of data. In a sense, this information is shielded to protect their commercial position. But we have traditionally seen systems and components being used by different manufacturers. When it comes to software, and the data that is needed to develop that software, you see that it becomes very difficult to continue to shield this.”

Kusters will also briefly touch on security in his lecture. Because the automotive sector should not lose sight of its most important spearhead, the AutomotiveNL chairman concludes: “The sector has safety as its number one priority. We want to guarantee that safety. But if you look at the amount of data that is needed, these are dimensions that are hardly found in any other sector.” It is clear that the automotive sector also has a lot to do, in a market that is facing data disruption.”

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