In the world’s developed automotivemarkets, connected car technology is

an essential and assumed part of allnew vehicle programmes. Carconnectivity is now also becomingincreasingly important in emergingmarkets. Indeed, Indian companyInfosys believes that connectivity ispossible for all markets, provided theright ecosystem is in place.

Megatrends spoke with Sanjay Jalona,Executive Vice President, Global Head,High-Tech & Manufacturing andEngineering Services at Infosys, on theglobal rollout of connectivity. Jalona

oversees one of the largest and thefastest growing segments at Infosys,the Manufacturing and EngineeringServices business. The business hasgrown to US$1.8bn and nowaccounts for 23% of totalcompany revenues.

How is Infosys involved inconnected cars?

Connected cars aresomething with which Infosyshas been associated for a longtime and at various levels. We providea range of services, including

telematics strategy, embeddedsoftware and design, engineeringservices, complex event processing,building algorithms, Big Data

implementations, Cloudimplementations and analytics

insights. We also provideenterprise integration andvalidation services. Inaddition, we invest inresearch and development

as part of our Center ofExcellence for the Internet of

Things, and Infosys Labs to helpour clients implement complex usecases and programmes.

Can you please provide someexamples of your company’sinvolvement in connected cartechnology developments?

We recently partnered with Toyota ona Driver Awareness Research Vehicle(DARV) project. We used acombination of Microsoft Kinect,Microsoft Surface tablets and Pebblesmart watches for a number of usecases on driver distraction avoidance.We have built an ecosystem ofpartnerships with Bosch SoftwareInnovations, PTC, Oracle, SAP,Tableau, DigiLogic, Gemalto andPega to enable our connected carsolutions.

Megatrends | 31

Megan Lampinen talks to Sanjay Jalona about making connected cartechnology possible for all markets

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Toyota Driver Awareness Research Vehicle

Connected Car

Get the ecosystem right andconnectivity can go global, says Infosys

Infosys campus in the Electronic City area of Bangalore

How is the adoption of in-carconnectivity progressing in theworld’s major markets?

Car connectivity can be tethered,integrated or embedded. Tetheredrefers to connectivity through thesmartphone. When we talk aboutintegrated, the car’s dashboard screenacts like an extension of thesmartphone’s screen, such as CarPlayand Android Auto. In embeddedsystems, a SIM card is embeddedwithin the car’s communicationmodule. Embedded gives OEMs theflexibility to differentiate from theircompetitors.

In your experience, which is provingmost popular?

Our perspective, based on what wehave observed in North America andEurope, is that luxury brands will opt forembedded SIM cards, which offerstrong brand differentiators in terms ofunique features. For the lower-end carsegments, customers will have theoption to go either for the tetheredoption or integrated options.

Safety or convenience – what is thestronger force in drivingconnectivity developments?

I think both. Safety is paramount, andthere can be no compromise on safety.Given that, we are talking aboutmobility in a vehicle under unknownconditions, such as road, weather andthe movement of other vehicles. It isclear that safety trumps convenience.However humans, by nature, arealways in search of convenience and itis a key criterion for customers tochoose a vehicle.

Do you think the introduction ofsemi and fully autonomous drivingmight change this?

No. With the drive towardsautonomous vehicles, the focus is onmaking vehicles safer for humans.This is the ultimate goal towards whichthe industry is being driven.Convenience comes along withtechnological advances and if it helpsOEMs to differentiate their products,why not? However, the conveniencefeatures are more easily replicated,

while safety features provide a long-term differentiation.

What role will government supportplay in furthering in-carconnectivity?

Governments will play an importantpart in the transition and acceptance ofconnected car services. We can seethis happening in Europe with eCall. InNorth America, NHTSA is alreadyleading a number of safety innovationsaround vehicle-to-vehicle connectivityand autonomous emergency braking.

Do you think connected vehicletechnology will eventually be apossibility for all regions?

Yes, but in the long term. The existenceof the ecosystem is of greatimportance, and this ecosystemconsists of different stakeholders –governments, customers, automotiveOEMs, vendors or partners, and thirdparty service providers.

We see the governments in Europeand the US taking proactive measuresand introducing bold initiatives to makeconnected cars a reality. They areenabling companies to experiment andare changing laws to accommodatenew technology advances. They areeven investing in major programmes,along with industry and academia, tofurther the cause of a safer future onthe road. Other regions may takesimilar steps but may take longer torealise them.

How does the cost of thistechnology impact its adoption?

With advancements in manufacturingand a widening usage base, thetechnology costs are dropping quicklyas well, so it would not be too longbefore these become the basic norm inmore markets around the globe.

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