by Philipp Hoschka
Supported by the “Webinos” project, W3C has created a new Automotive and Web Platform Business Group to accelerate the adoption of Web technologies in the automotive industry. The group convenes developers, automotive manufacturers and suppliers, browser vendors, operators and others to discuss how to enhance driving, safety, and passenger entertainment with the Open Web Platform. The group will first focus on defining a Vehicle Data API that will create new opportunities for automotive services via the Web.
{jcomments on}W3C first explored the impact of the Open Web Platform on the automotive industry at the November 2012 Web and Automotive Workshop. Participants discussed how location-based services, enhanced safety, entertainment, and integration of social networking will benefit drivers and passengers. In addition, they looked at business drivers for Web technology adoption such as the ability to attract customers with convenient and innovative services, maintain ongoing customer relations, address regulatory requirements, manage mobile payments, and lower development costs.
The more than 40 organizations that participated in that conversation expressed broad consensus that HTML5 is a compelling platform for providing these services and lowering the risk of fragmented solutions. The new Automotive and Web Platform Business Group picks up where the Workshop left off.
The initial plans of the new Business Group are to:
- Create specifications, starting with a Vehicle Data API Specification.
- Create conformance tests to cover new specifications that get defined.
- Provide use cases and other reports to identify additional needed standards work and to drive successful automotive web deployment.
The W3C Automotive and Web Platform Business Group held its first face to face meeting in Barcelona on 22 April this year.
A lot of ideas were discussed during this meeting between BMW, VW, PSA, Visteon, Continental, Intel, KDDI, LG, Magneti Marelli, QNX, Ford, Strategy Analytics, Genivi and W3C with agreement on the steps needed to prepare the next face to face meeting in Tokyo which took place on 29 May.
In particular, a first round of proposals for a Web Vehicle API was discussed, with proposals from Intel, QNX, Genivi (LG) and Webinos. The group decided to first focus on an API that would provide read access to vehicle data. Next steps include:
- Creating an overview of the superset of the proposed Vehicle APIs to look for overlaps and gaps.
- Considering whether the mandatory dataset provided in OBDII could serve as a starting point for a common dataset to be shared by different OEMs via a Vehicle API.
- Creating a document that maps current W3C work onto the requirements of the automotive sector (e.g. geolocation, packaging, etc.).
W3C invites all organizations and individuals interested in bringing the Web and automotive industries together to join the Automotive and Web Platform Business Group.
W3C Business Groups give W3C Members and non-Members a vendor-neutral forum for collaboration on the development of the Web in the near-term. Business Groups do not create W3C standards, but they do develop reports, use cases, requirements, and other forms of input to the W3C standardization process.
ERCIM is the European host of W3C.
Links:
http://www.w3.org/community/autowebplatform
http://www.w3.org/2012/08/web-and-automotive/
Please contact:
Philipp Hoschka, W3C
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
