Hyundai joins ITU to help drive connected car standards

South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Company has joined the ITU’s standardization arm (ITU-T) to contribute to creating standards for connected cars.

As a new member, Hyundai will support the coordinated development of intelligent transport systems that will improve the passenger experience, road safety and reduce traffic congestion and emissions.

“ITU is well placed to encourage the public-private partnerships required to improve road safety,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “Joining the ITU membership, Hyundai has entered the company of governments, industry players and academic and research institutes working together to build cohesion in ICT innovation.”

The ITU has been ramping up efforts in recent years to provide a unique, global platform for automotive-ICT collaboration, which has already sparked the development of a range of ITU standards tailored to the automotive industry.

“Hyundai Motors is looking forward to participating in ITU and will bring important momentum from the automotive industry to advance the future of connected car technology,” said Eon Youl Shin, Director, Hyundai.

Hyundai’s participation in ITU will also support the company in building its “hyper-connected intelligent cars” platform, which includes smart remote maintenance services, autonomous driving, smart traffic flow, and a connected “mobility hub” to provide security and data management for connected cars.
ITU said it will host discussions on the status and future of intelligent transport systems at the Geneva International Motor Show in March 2017 at the Symposium of the Future Networked Car.

“Standardization will be essential in building a trusted ecosystem of intelligent vehicles,” said Chaesub Lee, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. “ITU standardization work is supporting the increasing integration of ICTs in vehicles with road safety and data security as our top priorities.”

An ITU standard for secure over-the-air software updates for connected cars is expected to be approved in early 2017, and new ITU standards are under development to reduce technology-related driver distraction.