Internet of Things in the Automotive Industry - Car 3.0 Date:   Monday , November 24, 2014 Xchanging (LSE:XCH.L) is a London based business processing, technology and procurement services provider. The company has a current market cap of $433.70 million. \"As we move further and further down the path of connectivity, the car itself may or may not become smarter, but what it integrates within will be interesting. The vehicle is going to become a smart cog in the wider Internet of Things\" - John Ellis, Ford Motors. Besides transforming the way we shop, the Internet has created a hyper connected world. However, the global car industry has been slow in adapting to the connectivity boom and continued to remain traditional. Although, in the last two years there has been a turnaround in the way car companies operate. Car manufacturers are now considering their customers\' requirements and are designing products to address those. This has been the outcome of a rapid increase in the number of smartphone users who are looking to integrate their driving experience with consumption of digital information. Over the last half-decade, the telecom and automotive industry leaders have joined hands to engage in the creation of next-generation of cars. For instance, early this year, Google announced the formation of an \'Open Automotive Alliance\' with some of the leading global car OEMs (including General Motors, Honda and Audi) and chipmaker NVIDIA to release Android Auto, a car-focused version of the Android OS starting in 2014. Apple too is developing its smart car platform, called CarPlay service, offerings apps that have been optimized for the car. The tech giant has already signed partnerships with automakers to include this new technology in their vehicles. Intel also has allocated significant capital of $100 million to the Connected Car Fund to accelerate its foray into this market. As Massimo Cavazzini, Head of Connected Car, Fiat Chrysler Group said that there will be a shift from selling a vehicle to selling a mobility service; owning an automobile will therefore become less of a passion and will be inclined more towards the consumers\' need! Personal preferences of a driver can thereby be mapped into any automobile in the connected car world. In a Car 3.0 world, you can expect the following: a) Dynamic infotainment � In addition to the usual CD players and FM radio, you will have access to a wide range of content, available over the Internet. This content will be personalized, updated and will allow you to integrate various types of content based on your mood, route, company and length of drive. It also can help coordinate your daily engagements and schedule. b) Integration of car operations with smart phones � With the advent of cheap Onboard Diagnostics (OBD/OBD2) data, you can now control a wide range of operations of your vehicle. For instance, opening/ locking of the car, temperature control, lights and media control, and others. c) Driving insights � These insights can be gauged based on the data collated, and they help provide a comparison of the driving habits of the car owner. These can also allow the insurers to provide \"Usage-based Insurance\". d) Diagnostic insights � These provide \'Predictive\" insights\' to reduce potential failures of the vehicle; and also intelligent information connectivity to reduce potential recalls, failures, and more. Moreover, these insights can also provide an improved scheduling of services, along with giving access to a dynamic feedback to the automobile product life cycle management teams at the car companies. e) Support to the future of \"autonomous\" vehicles � The anticipation and excitement with regards to autonomous vehicles has been around for decades. As a society, we are finally amassing technological advancements sufficient to support the autonomous technology with changes occurring exponentially. Vehicle manufacturers, software developers and researchers are actively engaged in the development of autonomous technology with drastically different approaches and solutions. This will require creation of both Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) communications and standards; to enable collaboration between manufacturers, urban planners, and transportation governance bodies, so that they can provide safety and assurance to the drivers. The Internet has provided us with innumerable and valuable insights in terms of security, fraud prevention and other key areas; it is now up to us to apply them appropriately. Factors like rapid technological developments, the absence of a blueprint for a future car solution and the lack of national safety standards makes regulation of the connected car technology and autonomous vehicles much more challenging than regulation of motor vehicles in the past. According to a survey by Telefonica, safety and diagnostics are the most important features for about 73% of drivers. Therefore finding a balance between people safety and creating a positive environment for manufacturers to innovate is critical in maintaining the momentum toward self-driving vehicles. This is an exciting period for redefining the \"Car\" of the future.