SAP, Shell and Volkswagen are teaming up on a co-innovation pilot program for the Connected Car. The co-innovation pilot program will investigate how connected vehicles leverage real-time big data sourced from connected cars and connected fueling stations to deliver enhanced end-user services. The advent of M2M communications enables a wide range of 'things' fitted with M2M communication capabilities to collect and transmit information from their environment and other connected machines/hardware and systems to cloud-based applications that are then accessed by end users on a wide range of smart devices and smart screens, including the car's digital platform.
According to SAP, the pilot program which is underway in Hannover Germany represents the first time SAP, Shell and Volkswagen are piloting on an end-to-end scalable solution. SAP added that the cloud hosted solution enables the creation and delivery of 'connected vehicle' services that would not have been possible if the three companies were to deliver these individually. SAP also said that the pilot project will be seeing more collaborations taking place in future.
The partnership between 3 industry giants comes at a time when the Connected Car is moving past simple telematics-based communications to cover new services such as navigation, music and video as well as other real-time information such as weather, traffic conditions, fuel stop and rest place information - which are delivered on driver friendly interfaces in today's connected cars. Niche content providers are leveraging on cloud-based big data infrastructure to pull, store and deliver very detailed, rich information to drivers which is not only accessible via digital screens in the vehicles but also on any connected device including mobile phones via a set of compatible applications. Cloud hosted solutions will play a major role in driving these services and in ensuring that the connected car market and the adoption of M2M communications specifically across the transportation sector continues to grow.
Bernd Leukert, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Products & Innovation
We believe the combination of simplicity, functionality and innovation is needed to create a seamless consumer experience. No company alone can deliver such an end-to-end experience. Our collaboration with Volkswagen and Shell is a great showcase for the power of collaboration and innovation within a networked economy, with SAP HANA Cloud Platform, to simplify daily complexity.
Rene Honig, vice president, Strategy, Portfolio and Innovation at Shell’s Technical and Competitive IT division
We consider the connected car important in the development of our customers’ experience at Shell retail stations and will help us continue to provide outstanding customer service.
Dr. Volkmar Tanneberger, head of Electric and Electronic Development of Volkswagen
The successful cross-industry pilot project demonstrates potential implementations of future mobility concepts and their utility and convenience for our customers. Customer feedback on this pilot project is important to us as it helps us consider how to increase the use of mobility concepts in the future.
