Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) and the BMW Group today announced a strategic collaboration to develop customizable cloud software that will simplify the distribution and management of data from millions of connected vehicles. The BMW Group will be the first automaker to use the software, which will serve as the basis for its next-generation, cloud-based vehicle data platform.
“With the launch of the Neue Klasse, BMW’s next generation of vehicles, our offboard cloud platform, powered by AWS, will process roughly triple the volume of vehicle data compared to the current generation of BMW models,” said Nicolai Krämer, Vice President of Vehicle Connectivity Platforms at the BMW Group.”
He says that the company already has 20 million connected vehicles on the road.
The new solution collects BMW vehicle signals and fleet intelligence data and then securely processes and routes the data in the cloud. Using AWS’s cloud infrastructure and security, the automaker ensures that its customer data are protected and processed in accordance with data privacy requirements and customer preferences. Only BMW Group’s internal domain experts can access the data via a self-service mechanism that gathers streaming vehicle data, easily adds new data sources, configures access in accordance with governance policies, and monitors the quality and health of streaming sources. The data are then combined with AWS capabilities, including analytics, machine learning, database, storage, and compute, enabling the BMW Group experts to create new vehicle features and applications.
“Rapid, data-fueled innovation is critical to unlocking next-generation vehicle capabilities for automotive organizations, particularly as the industry looks to expand electric vehicle adoption, software-defined vehicle development, new digital service paradigms, and more autonomous vehicle features,” said Sarah Cooper, General Manager of AWS Industry Products at Amazon Web Services, Inc. “By teaming up with the BMW Group, we are building infrastructure today that will generate value for the next generation of vehicles.”
While BMW Group is the first to benefit from the jointly developed AWS software that will be part of the AWS for Automotive offering, the software will help other automakers and suppliers too. It can offer add-on features like electric-vehicle range improvements or performance upgrades, and it will help fleet managers develop responsive, vehicle-aware applications.
AWS says that the next-generation platforms that result from the offering can give automakers the opportunity to develop centralized, high-performance computing capabilities, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) software development throughout the vehicle life cycle, near real-time data management, and machine learning for autonomous vehicles.
AWS Industry Products has a proven track record with large automotive software projects. Just one recent example is its work with BlackBerry QNX on the supplier’s IVY vehicle-data platform in 2020.
