Sessions

KEYNOTE: The In-Car User Experience is the Next Competitive Battleground, and It Will be Software-Defined & Updateable

The auto industry has historically relied upon Tier1 suppliers to provide fixed-function infotainment systems that meet a predefined set of functional, safety and reliability requirements. In recent years, automakers and Tier1s have introduced systems that support Internet connectivity via 3/4G cellular technology, to provide a variety of mobile entertainment applications. With this change, buyer expectations for the behavior of modern automobiles are shifting.

Consumers expect new automotive infotainment systems to not only provide dynamic applications, but to behave more like other categories of connected devices — televisions, game consoles, residential music systems, etc. — that can be “updated” to continuously freshen the features and functionality over the life of the product. The only practical way for the automotive industry to support this new market requirement is through adoption of structured, platform-based tooling and workflows that implement each layer of their infotainment system in a carefully specified manner. The ideal approach must support each ecosystem participant, including the automaker, selected tier one system supplier, and both tier two and third party contributors.

In this presentation, we will shed light on how automakers can address a new competitive imperative: the in-car user experience.

With hundreds of passenger car models on the market competing on the virtues of safety, reliability, performance, fuel economy, appearance and overall value, it is clear that the automotive community has established an effective process to build competitive products. The in-car user experience is the next competitive battleground.

Automakers are refining in-car features and interaction models for drivers, but the real innovation has only just begun, as the industry prepares for a new competition - the fight to create the ideal driver’s experience. This war will be waged with software, dynamic updates and new interaction models. We will describe the new categories of software development tools, technologies and processes that automakers will acquire and use to build and manage each connected vehicle's user experience.

Speaker Bio:

Jeff Payne, OpenCar, Inc.
Jeff has directed the design and development of many notable connected software applications and platforms, including the best-selling PC software, Internet-in-a-Box; the global ISP, SpryNet; the first multimedia CDN, Real Broadcast Network; and the first field-programmable security appliance for carriers, the Bivio 5000. Jeff founded OpenCar in 2011 and serves as Chief Executive Officer.