Hyundai Teams Up With Cisco to Develop Connected Car Tech

The next generation of connected car services is being developed. Hyundai Motor partnered with Cisco – one of the biggest IT and networking equipment company.

Both companies understand that many of us never leave the house without our smartphones. So their goal is to bring their cars to the same level of importance.

Increasingly more automakers are focusing on developing tech and Internet-connected features for their cars. These have to be easy-to-use, intuitive, and integrated with other apps or services.

Better Data Transfer

The partnership between Hyundai Motor Company and Cisco aims high. Their plan is to develop a network that will speed up and improve the transfer of data inside the car.

Efficient autonomous driving can’t happen without high-speed data.

All the systems within the car need to be able to communicate with each other and the driver fast. This is a key element in the evolution of auto-pilot systems.

The two companies also announced they will be collaborating on the development of a test environment for the connected car.

Furthermore, Hyundai stated it will invest in cloud services, big data analytics and security. However, it didn’t provide an exact number of how much it was planning to invest.

Hyundai’s Master Plan

Before the partnership was announced, Hyundai made their grand plan public. It involves developing smarter cars.

Their cars will be able to receive and use data faster than ever before. This need is based on some next-gen features the automaker has already developed for some of its cars.

Hyundai needs to be able to transfer data at high-speed so they can roll out these features:

• Remotely diagnose and fix maintenance issues

• The connected car’s ability to communicate with a city’s road infrastructure

• A “smart traffic” feature – the smart car will pick a better route based on real-time data. It will analyze traffic and road conditions as well.

Granted, some of these features are vital for the development of self-driving cars.

The Connected Car of the Future

In July, Hyundai launched a new project. Its purpose is to lead innovation for future connected car development. The name – Project IONIQ Lab.

Based in Pangyo Techno Valley, its focus will be analyzing future trends of mobility. It will also come up with long-term strategies that could offer guidance for automakers.

They will use open innovation. This enables them to take outside ideas and combine them with inside ones.

The lab will also partner up with universities and other research labs. In the end, Hyundai wants this to become a center for new ideas. Look at it as a type of Silicon Valley for automakers worldwide.

The Need for Enhanced Security

As more and more connected cars make it to the road, smart vehicle theft becomes more problematic. In 2015, a team of hackers showed they can take control of a Jeep Cherokee even while the driver was in it.

So security should be a top priority.

Some experts talk about adding a black box to each smart vehicle. It should record any activity in the car, including security breaches.

This would enable authorities to track the hack after it happened. It could also detect and stop a hack in progress.

As technology evolves, even non-smart cars could face security issues.

This generation of thieves is “armed” with a laptop and a wireless-defined radio emitter. They use them to recreate the unlock signals sent by a driver’s key.

Connected cars security is a real problem even for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. They released new best practices on automotive security which include recommendations about digital vulnerabilities.

In Conclusion

Innovation in the connected cars sector moves at a slower pace than general tech.

Even if Hyundai and Cisco manage to develop their next generation technology in record time, smart vehicles still remain vulnerable to attacks.

Especially the ones rolling out of the production line as we speak.

I’ll keep you posted on any new piece of information about connected cars technology and security.

Let me know in the comments section below if you have any questions or things you’d like to add.