Automotive innovations powered by CEE software is a fact. Car and smart cars builders are constantly hunting for new ideas to complete, adjust and improve the new car generations. The ways in which automotive innovations are powered by CEE software vary from one company to another. To sum it up: western European automotive companies find it resourceful to contract software development services in Central and Eastern European companies.

Why automotive innovations running on CEE software is relevant.

We must first acknowledge that the automotive industry is decisive for the European Union’s prosperity. This industry sector accommodates around 12 million jobs. Automotive alone stands for 4% of the EU’s GDP. Since the EU is one of the biggest car producers in the world and it attracts the largest private investment funds for Research and Development (R&D), it is important to keep up the pace with Asian and US competitors.

Achieving technology leadership can be pursued through multiple channels. One of these channels is to benefit and integrate automotive innovations from CEE regions where the automotive companies have unfortunately decayed.  Nevertheless, the knowledge of the people who have worked in the automotive sector and of those who were studying automotive engineering and applied computer science proves to be a valuable resource.

Third, the European Commission provides support for global technological harmonization and funding for R&D – in the CEE regions included. Setting up a R&D center for automotive innovation may thus be object of special funding, plus the context of developing countries allows for more interesting opportunities in terms of administrative costs, multilingual teams, people with technical superior studies.

What automotive innovations to develop with CEE software companies?

The connected cars concept is still being refined in terms of car navigation, car connectivity, car autonomous driving, car security and in-car services. Specialized software departments of Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Group PSA and Groupe Renault are one of the most active players in the European automotive R&D arena.

From the interviews and discussions, we had at the main international exhibitions and seminars of 2017; we understand that there is still a large set of areas to be addressed from a software development side for the future connected cars.

Automotive Innovation #1: Energy

Thinking about the automotive innovations sought after in the CEE software companies, it first comes to my mind the energy issue. How to build, set and enable the infrastructure for charging electric cars? How to harvest energy while rolling? This leads us to the chapter of smart energy technologies. Last, on the car energy aspect – how to store and manage the harvested energy?

Automotive Innovation #2: Car Audio and Illumination

As our in-car experience is highly sensorial, the audio part of the driving and travelling experience is subject to one of the finest automotive innovations: the individual sound zone. Builders strive to break the car audio in individual zones, to control road and engine sounds.

Car illumination technologies involves a whole new set of light sources and light management tools. We speak hear of new materials and innovative lighting control. Front, lateral, rear, in-car lights interact with the car system. The beauty of this field is that it redefines functionalities and design.

Automotive Innovation #3: Material Management

Major advances in automotive R&D have been achieved in the area of materials used to effectively build the car (as the graphene exhibited in the last two years at the specialized technology shows in Europe). In this aspect software, engineers may influence the automotive innovation series with solutions for managing, reusing and controlled recycling of materials.

Automotive Innovation #4: Autonomous Driving

One of the most spectacular automotive innovations is the auto-pilot driving, also known as piloted driving or self-driving. The technology behind the concept involves the programming and management of sensors, actuators and car network. The field grows in complexity for its impact on the car and passengers security.

Automotive Innovation #5: Interactions

The progresses of the vehicle Human Machine Interface (HMI) led to a wider car’s interior surfaces that are now interactive. The current HMI is accountable for addressing the information, communication and entertainment needs of the passengers. Altogether, it has to comply the safety requirements. Innovations in car interactions are sought after both in functionalities and design.

Automotive Innovation #6: Car Data

Facing a new way of producing and obtaining Data, the builders of connected cars are out for solutions that address data volume, data transfer speed and data security. IT companies are here in their main arena, therefore much is expected from this side in the upcoming years.

Automotive Innovation #7: Advanced Steering Wheel Controls Concepts

A special area for autonomous driving cars is the new usage or non-usage of the steering wheel. Builders and designers still analyze behavior of drivers in the so-intended autonomous cars. For the moment much of the research is focusing on the future steering wheels controls.

Automotive Innovation #8: Car Security

From the topic of virtual user identification to data security and systems security, the innovative approach for car security is a critical aspect. A combination of software and specialized hardware that provides maximum security for both the car, the car owner and the people in the car is a desirable objective.

How to develop automotive innovations in the CEE software landscape?

In countries like Romania, Bulgaria or Poland the automotive background is prominent due to the importance of the sector in the former centralized economies. The mix of automotive technical engineers and software engineers with knowledge of car system applications is a rare resource in Europe, but one may still find it in the CEE.

Next, the discussions may continue around the advantages of setting an R&D team in the CEE, with all the needed infrastructure and materials. In Romania, the main R&D centers may be found in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Brașov, Iași and in the capital city: Bucharest.

Based on our nearshoring projects, the overall project costs may be reduced by 30-35% due to the lower costs of living and of utilities in Romania and neighboring countries, for example. When having a specific connected car problem to solve, you may consider to hand it over to a few teams that can come back with solution proposals and estimates. In the end, it is a matter of cultural affinity and budgets before setting the final agreement.