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members of the board in OEMs. This will change with software and IT becoming the most
important differentiator.
Figure 17 Proposed layout for modern IT-Operations governed by the board of the company.
6.
CONCLUSION
Many discussions and opinions in industry speculate whether traditional automotive companies
around the world are missing out on the future, given how fast change can happen in the hightech world. Will Apple and Google make BMW, Ford, Toyota and others be relegated to followers
or find new partnerships? One big differentiator for all of the newcomers in the auto industry is
their expertise in software development and deployment, plus the many years’ experience to run
large, back-end systems that easily scale with the tremendous amounts of data created by
connected cars. Their systems already cope with hundreds of millions of Smartphones and the
Smartphone is becoming an integral device to work with the Head Unit. Several industry analysts
and the OEMs themselves predict that there will be 250 million connected cars on the roads by
2020 and they will all need access to real time analytics and cloud resources. They will all rely on
frequent OTA software updates. Technology leadership will define the future of the automotive
industry. Once established in cars, the connected technologies will boost the automotive industry
– from connected cars and connected drivers, to the completely connected consumer goods
industry, which in turn, will create new opportunities for all adjacent industries.
IIC Journal of Innovation
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