Big data will drive connected car services

As the automotive ecosystem pushes forward with evermore-connected vehicles, new solutions – from over-the-air software updates to connected car services – are emerging from vendors to manage the vast amounts of data that accompany that connectivity. Airbiquity recently announced a software and data management solution specifically for the automotive industry to manage large-scale data collection and software updates to vehicles. SAP introduced its cloud-based Vehicle Insights tool that leverages its HANA big data platform to analyze telematics information as well as other existing business data and external data, with the aim of better integrating connected vehicles into business processes. Last week, IBM said it will be partnering with Local Motors of Maryland on a small, autonomous bus named Olli that incorporates IBM's artificial intelligence and analytics software, Watson, in its first vehicle-based "internet of things" solution – with the big data capabilities focused on passenger interactions rather than the vehicle's self-driving capabilities. Gartner has predicted that by 2020, connected car services will generate almost 40 billion in revenue annually, driven by a combination of infotainmet, navigation, fleet management, traffic management, remote diagnostics and automotive crash notification, among others.