Check your emails on the comfortable back seat, while the car finds its way through the city traffic or drives along the motorway. Fully-automated driving is already possible from the technological point of view, but may years will pass until it truly becomes part of everyday life. Some questions relating to safety and data protection still need to be answered - and more than 100 visitors attended the third TÜV NORD Cyber Security Fact Check in the Group Representative Office in Berlin.
“Cars are developing more and more into data centres on wheels. This means that increasingly, cyber security for road traffic is in the spotlight”, said Klaus Kleinherbers, responsible for Mobility on the Board of Management of TÜV NORD GROUP.
Moderator Richard Gutjahr led the discussion with Robert Plank, General Manager of TÜV NORD Mobilität, Andreas Rimkus, SPD Deputy Transport Policy Spokesman, and Prof. Matthias Busse, Head of Electromobility System Research at the Fraunhofer Society. The topics covered also included the provisions from the Coalition Agreement of the Federal Government - concluded two years ago - which regulate the increasing networking between IT and motor vehicles.
Robert Plank announced a joint initiative of TÜV NORD and the Fraunhofer Transport Alliance under the name of SAVER (Strategic Autonomous Vehicle Engineering and Regulations): “A new definition of security and data protection is needed in order to bring complex systems safely and securely onto the roads in a standardised and verified form. We want to create a platform for this subject for all those involved in the automotive industry. Our aim is to make Germany the lead market for automated driving.”
Andreas Rimkus emphasised that a number of initiatives already exist based on the digital agenda, for example establishment of the “Round Table for Automated Driving” within the Federal Ministry of Transport, the Autobahn 9 digital test track in Bavaria and further test facilities in Germany, as well as the Digital Networks and Mobility platform of the National IT Summit. “We are going in the right direction. And we want to continue our positive progress and create the right legal framework to ensure that the changeover to fully-automated driving is successful. That is why I welcome the SAVER initiative, as it particularly concentrates on the technical safety and security of vehicles. This is an important building block within overall mobility objectives.”
Matthias Busse, one of the initiators of the SAVER initiative, also warns against underestimating the pace of the digitization process. For example, Google and Apple are now entering fields of activity traditionally reserved for established automobile manufacturers. In future, hardware and software, and also the electric drivetrain, will play the dominating and therefore market-defining role in vehicles, as against the conventional mechanical technologies. “Fully-automated driving therefore makes new business models possible.” Looking towards the world of politics, Busse recommends thinking beyond the fixed terms of office of particular governments and pleads in favour of a favourable development environment for neutral and independent road tests. “TÜV NORD will support all the development stages of automated driving and work on standards and regulations alongside manufacturers, suppliers, partners from research and development and also official authorities”, says Klaus Kleinherbers.
About TÜV NORD GROUP
With over 10,000 employees, TÜV NORD GROUP is one of the largest technical service providers, offering its advisory, service and inspection expertise in over 70 countries throughout the world. Areas of activity include Industrial Services, Mobility, IT and Training. TÜV NORD GROUP occupies a unique position in the sector based on its work in the fields of natural resources and aerospace and is firmly committed to its guiding principle and watchword: “Excellence for your business”.