Conference & Meetings World Supplements Canada AI Supplement | Page 10

Canada
Ottawa
opens up the road for Autonomous Vehicles
O
ttawa is a hotspot for
autonomous vehicle software
development and was where
the fi rst self-driving car on Canadian roads
was rolled out. It has built a critical mass
of expertise and innovation not replicated
anywhere else in Canada.
The automotive arm of BlackBerry is
racing ahead, developing sensors and
autonomous driving capabilities.
BlackBerry QNX made the transition from
making infotainment systems for cars
to running its own Autonomous Vehicle
Innovation Centre (AVIC).
The Centre had $100m in investment last
year from Blackberry, and Ford, last April,
invested $337.9m in Ottawa.
BlackBerry QNX has developed a
foundational technology platform to
support the transition as the industry
evolves from connected to automated.
Connected cars need the most
advanced security technologies to
ensure they cannot be hacked and,
already, there are cars on the road using
BlackBerry’s Certicom technology to
authenticate vital communications.
BlackBerry QNX received approval from
the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
in November 2016 to test autonomous
vehicles on Ontario roads as part of a pilot
programme and chief executive John
Chen said: “Autonomous vehicles require
software that is extremely sophisticated
and highly secure.
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
“Our innovation track record in mobile
security and our demonstrated leadership
in automotive software make us ideally
suited to dominate the market for
embedded intelligence in the cars of the
future.”
Prime minister Justin Trudeau was
present at the launch of AVIC, describing
BlackBerry’s move as “helping to establish
our country as the global leader in software
and security for connected car and
autonomous vehicle development”.
A company once known for its phones,
has been remaking itself by developing
the latest automotive industry weaponry in
the self-driving vehicle arms race.
The prize is big: If Blackberry can prove
that they have the whole package and
the security, it could dominate the market.
BlackBerry got the green light to test
Ford Motor Co (F.N) Lincoln vehicles with
autonomous features on Ontario's public
roads and has also inked a deal to work
with the Detroit-based carmaker to get
fl eets of robot ride-sharing vehicles to
market by 2021.
Although competition is fi erce, many
analysts think BlackBerry has a good
chance of succeeding against the likes of
Apple, Google and Tesla.
BlackBerry has benefi tted from being in
the game early and, although QNX is not a
huge part of its overall revenue stream, the
industry is set to take form over the next few
years, and QNX is ahead of the curve.