Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, has announced a multi-year, global agreement with BlackBerry, a developer of intelligent security software and services, to develop and market BlackBerry’s Intelligent Vehicle Data Platform, named IVY. IVY is a scalable, cloud-connected software platform that will allow automakers to provide a consistent and secure way to read vehicle sensor data, normalise it, and create actionable insights from that data both locally in the vehicle and in the cloud. Automakers can use this information to create responsive in-vehicle services that enhance driver and passenger experiences.
BlackBerry’s IVY platform addresses what the company has identified as a critical data access, collection, and management problem in the automotive industry. Modern cars and trucks are built with thousands of parts from many different suppliers, with each vehicle model comprising a unique set of proprietary hardware and software components. These components, which include an increasing variety of vehicle sensors, produce data in unique and specialised formats. The highly specific skills required to interact with this data, as well as the challenges of accessing it from within contained vehicle subsystems, limit developers’ abilities to innovate quickly and bring new solutions to market. IVY has been designed to solve these challenges by applying machine learning to that data to generate predictive insights and inferences, making it possible for automakers to offer in-vehicle experiences that are highly personalised and enable them to take action based on those insights.
IVY will support multiple vehicle operating systems and multi-cloud deployments in order to ensure compatibility across vehicle models and brands. It will build upon BlackBerry QNX system capabilities for surfacing and normalising data from vehicles and AWS’s portfolio of services, including capabilities for IoT and machine learning. IVY will run inside a vehicle’s embedded systems, but will be managed and configured remotely from the cloud, enabling automakers to gain greater visibility into vehicle data, control over who can access it, and edge-computing capabilities to optimise how quickly and efficiently the data is processed. With IVY’s integrated capabilities, automakers will be able to deliver new features, functionality, and performance to customers over the lifetime of their cloud-connected vehicles, as well as unlock new revenue streams and business models built on vehicle data.
For instance, IVY could leverage vehicle data to recognise driver behaviour and hazardous conditions such as icy roads or heavy traffic and then recommend that a driver enable relevant vehicle safety features such as traction control, lane-keeping assist, or adaptive cruise control. IVY could then provide automakers with feedback on how and when those safety features are used, allowing them to make targeted investments to improve vehicle performance.
Additionally, drivers of electric vehicles could choose to share their car’s battery information with third-party charging networks to proactively reserve a charging connector and tailor charging time according to the driver’s current location and travel plans. The system could also provide insights to parents of teenage drivers who may choose to receive customised notifications based on insights from vehicle sensors when the number of passengers in the vehicle changes, when the driver appears to be texting, distracted or not observing speed limits, or when the vehicle occupancy level rises above the parents’ desired safety threshold. Similarly, parents of infants could receive a reminder to engage the child safety lock when the vehicle detects a child in the rear seat.
You can view a video explaining how the IVY system works HERE.
BlackBerry says that IVY will enable automakers to compress the timeline to build, deploy and monetise new in-vehicle applications and connected services across multiple vehicle brands and models. Instead of investing in one-off solutions that conform to the unique engineering of different vehicle models (as they do today), automakers using IVY will be able to leverage different types of data as common building blocks for new services that could work across a range of models. Automakers will be able to use the platform’s application programming interfaces (APIs) to share data and outputs with their software development teams, giving them the ability to innovate, while also protecting customer privacy and security by controlling whom can access vehicle and app data and at what level of detail.
In addition, IVY will make it easier for automakers to collaborate with a wider pool of developers to accelerate the creation of new offerings that deliver improved vehicle performance, reduced costs for maintenance and repairs, and added convenience. For instance, by analysing real-time performance data, automakers could recognise the first signs of potentially faulty components, deploy code to identify affected vehicles, notify impacted drivers, and perform targeted recalls. Automakers will be able to remotely deploy and update the software from the platform’s Cloud Console (a web interface for managing IVY) to continuously improve the functionality of the system.
“Data and connectivity are opening new avenues for innovation in the automotive industry, and BlackBerry and AWS share a common vision to provide automakers and developers with better insights so that they can deliver new services to consumers,” said John Chen, executive chairman and CEO of BlackBerry. “This software platform promises to bring an era of invention to the in-vehicle experience and help create new applications, services and opportunities without compromising safety, security or customer privacy.”
“AWS and BlackBerry are making it possible for any automaker to continuously reinvent the customer experience and transform vehicles from fixed pieces of technology into systems that can grow and adapt with a user’s needs and preferences,” added Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services. “Through this joint effort with BlackBerry, we will provide automakers with the insights, capabilities, agility and speed they need to thrive in an increasingly connected world. As automakers seek to race ahead in their digital transformations, BlackBerry IVY empowers them to build their brands and set the standard for connected vehicle services across the automotive industry.”
