Toyota, Intel and Ericsson team up to collect Big Data from cars
New consortium will work to build the data pipe that will make connected cars a reality.
Toyota is linking arms with tech companies and auto industry suppliers such as Intel, Ericsson and Denso to create a new big data alliance to support the development of connected cars.
Dubbed Automotive Edge Computing Consortium, the just-announced group will work together to marshal the data collected from vehicles and smart infrastructure. According to a statement from Toyota, "The objective of the consortium is to develop an ecosystem for connected cars to support emerging services such as intelligent driving, the creation of maps with real-time data and driving assistance based on cloud computing."
This announcement comes on the heels of Toyota and Mazda announcing a partnership to develop connected and electric automobiles just last week.
Connected car data is expected to reach 10 exabytes a month by 2025.
A key goal of the consortium will be to build a pipe large enough to funnel all of this big data generated between connected cars, infrastructure and the cloud. Toyota estimates that "…data volume between vehicles and the cloud will reach 10 exabytes per month around 2025, approximately 10,000 times larger than the present volume."
The standards for managing that data collection and analysis are still not completely defined, so the AECC will work to hammer out common guidelines. As part of that process, the AECC plans to "invite relevant global technology leaders and expand the consortium."
The formation of the AECC is the industry's latest move to get a handle on making connected cars a reality, a complex problem that has created some unlikely bedfellows. Traditional rivals Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen have already teamed up with Here Technologies to generate high-definition maps for connected cars. The three companies purchased Here from Nokia back in 2015.