The newly formed European Automotive-Telecom Alliance has made ERTICO-ITS Europe the project coordinator and administrator for the connected and automated driving project.
At a roundtable on connected and automated driving, initiated and chaired by Günther H Oettinger, European Commissioner for digital economy and society, the automotive and telecoms industries formally announced the creation of Europe’s first Automotive-Telecom Alliance. The main goal of this Alliance is to promote the wider deployment of connected and automated driving in Europe. The Alliance includes six leading sectorial associations, as well as 37 companies, including telecoms operators, vendors, automobile manufacturers, and suppliers for both cars and trucks.
The first concrete step is the advancement of a ‘Pre-Deployment Project’ aimed at testing three major use-case categories, albeit with exact details still to be decided:
Automated driving, which could include high-density platooning, remotely controlled parking, highway chauffeur and high-definition maps; Road safety and traffic efficiency, which could include traffic optimization for smart cities; Digitalization of transport and logistics, which could include remote sensing and data management.
Tests will identify and address both technological and regulatory issues. The project will tackle interoperability issues as well as infrastructure investment to address connectivity needs, and the improving of safety and security. At the same time, pilot projects will help to elaborate the basic business models that both sectors can start deploying when investing in these technologies. Funding will be crucial, and the Alliance is setting up a dedicated taskforce to ensure that pilot projects can count on the necessary resources and the cooperation of public authorities, which are both prerequisites to the success of the project.
The Alliance is working toward finalizing the details of the Pre-Deployment Project by December 2016. In terms of coordination and administration, the Alliance has appointed ERTICO as project manager. So far, the initiative involves the following Member States: Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.
The six major trade associations involved in the project are:
ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, representing the 15 Europe-based vehicle manufacturers; CLEPA, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers, representing 119 of the world’s most prominent suppliers of car components; ETNO, representing Europe’s leading telecommunications network operators; ECTA, the European Competitive Telecommunications Association, which is the pan-European procompetitive trade association that represents over 100 of the leading challenger telecoms operators; GSMA, which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem; GSA, which represents the worldwide mobile supplier ecosystem that is engaged in the delivery of infrastructure, semiconductors, test equipment, mobile devices, applications and mobile support services.
