1. POLLUTION REDUCTION AND GREEN VEHICLES
This trend is evident both in regulatory changes in various countries, and in technological developments.
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2 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN VEHICLES
Additional technological developments, particularly in communications and software technology, have resulted in the increasing integration of sophisticated components in vehicles.
These developments are designed to improve driving safety, enable vehicles to communicate with other nearby devices, support advanced analyses, and more. Trends in this field include:
Driver-assistance systems
Systems that incorporate features such as sensors, cameras and warning devices to alert the driver to potential threats on the road and facilitate certain driving functions.
These include systems that alert drivers of deviations from their lane, or of their likelihood of colliding with another object, parking assistance, traffic light identification, and more. Other systems include human- machine interfaces that are based on voice commands, eye movement detection, and pop-up displays, and attempt to help the driver perform certain actions remotely. Israeli companies such as Mobileye, VocalZoom, Redbend and Guardian Optical Technologies are developing advanced products designed to assist drivers and reduce the risk of road accidents.
Smart transportation
Integrating software and advanced communication capabilities in vehicles in order to connect multiple vehicles, infrastructure and external devices.
This communication helps reduce road collisions, plan an optimal route, detect changing traffic lights, and even warns the driver of dangerous vehicles in the vicinity. Related technological perspectives are still being developed, as are the regulatory aspects of these developments. For example, opening additional communication channels for the vehicle to use to communicate with its environment can also increase the risk of malicious breaches of the system. In addition, communication between vehicles and infrastructure will require modification of the infrastructure itself. This is a complex and costly process, which will require suitable funding.
Information security
Systems aimed to protect the vehicle’s multiple software and communications systems of malware and and penetrations.
The risks created following new advanced systems incorporated into new vehicles have triggered great interest in developing information security systems for vehicles, and have even resulted in government intervention. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published safety guidelines for 2016, urging automakers to work together in developing information security systems for vehicles. Large automakers such as Volvo, Mercedes, Ford and General Motors (GM) have already undertaken to comply with the NHTSA guidelines.
