IBM Brings Cloud To The Car

In announcing the move, IBM cited research finding that by 2020, 90 per cent of new cars will be equipped with extensive connectivity services, stating automakers are increasingly turning to IoT solutions.

Gartner earlier this year forecast that there will be 250 million connected vehicles on the road by 2020, with connected cars set to play a major role in IoT.

IBM stated its service will help manufacturers gather data from individual sensors that can be combined with other data for real-time analysis.

“The service provides driver, vehicle and environmental insights through analytics, tapping both vehicle and geolocation data collected in the car,” IBM stated.

The service will also deliver “new insights from third party data, such as from parking providers, as well as an automotive manufacturer’s customer data and vehicle history”.

“With the significant increase in connected cars, automotive manufacturers have the ability to take near-real-time data and put it to good use for drivers in a variety of ways – from finding the nearest parking space and most efficient route, to maintenance alerts that help drivers expect the unexpected,” Dirk Wollschlaeger, IBM general manager, global automotive industry, commented.

“By combining data directly from the car with other sources, the insights derived through the IBM IoT for Automotive solution have the potential to change how we interact with our vehicles moving forward.”