Blog from May, 2020

One of many challenges facing a 11-year old organization like GENIVI is answering the question, "What does GENIVI stand for now?"  Glad you asked!  GENIVI has quietly been improving ways to help others understand our current mission and has significantly simplified its web content - an important source of information on GENIVI's recent activities and outputs.

GENIVI set a goal early this year to produce assets that could be easily forwarded within our member organizations to inform managers and other technologists that should be aware of the alliance work.  GENIVI has now produced a two-minute video that clearly communicates the current focus and technical scope of several active GENIVI projects.  I urge you to take two minutes to watch the video, capture the URL and pass it on to others inside your organization for awareness.  And, as appropriate, feel free to pass it on to your partners and clients.  GENIVI is actively recruiting new members and contributors to our work, so we welcome newcomers to check us out.

While the video was being delivered, GENIVI also did a refresh of it website and wiki.  Over the course of the last 11 years, GENIVI has met many goals and effectively completed the mission upon which it was originally launched (Linux-based, open source IVI platform).  And over the years, messaging about adoption, compliance and many other alliance outputs had overly complicated navigation on both the website and the wiki.  With the new look and simplified navigation, we hope and expect you will find the content you are looking for quicker and with far less"noisy content" to wade through on your way.  The GENIVI communications team welcomes input on both sites as we are always looking for ways to improve both web properties.  Feel free to email Steve Crumb with your thoughts and suggestions. 

For those of you who have been around a long time, you know that GENIVI also has a members-only wiki, in which we kept artifacts prior to our moving to a more open approach toward collaboration.  That members-only wiki still exists and has become sort of an repository for loads of older content.  So, we have it on our list to simplify its content as an upcoming project.  If you haven't visited that wiki lately (or have forgotten your credentials), no worries, as nearly all of our current work is done on the public wiki mentioned earlier in this blog.  Stay tuned for an another blog updating you on some of that member-only content, including the compliance specification and related compliance program.  And don't forget to check out the video and let us know what you think!

Instead of gathering in Leipzig, Germany for the 20th GENIVI All Member Meeting, over 400 registered to attend the first GENIVI Virtual Technical Summit during 12-14 May.  Early indications from the event survey suggest the event was very popular and GENIVI is pleased with the attendance and the lessons learned from executing a completely virtual event.  While we look forward to being together again soon (hopefully on 27-29 October when the All Member Meeting is rescheduled), but if not, expect to see more and more virtual content and gatherings from GENIVI in upcoming months.

All of the Summit's content has now been posted on the event's wiki page and we welcome you to review the recorded sessions for day 1 as well as download slides and view minutes of sessions held on days 2 and 3.  The complete agenda shows pictures and biographies of all speakers; however, session content will not be found there but instead on the event wiki page.  

GENIVI was pleased with the feedback and interactions that occurred during many of the sessions, but we also welcome additional questions, comments and especially willingness to contribute.  We welcome you to contact GENIVI PMO Lead Philippe Robin and Development Lead Gunnar Andersson if you would like to know more about or volunteer to participate in any of the projects and activities discussed during the Summit.  Those interested in joining GENIVI can contact Steve Crumb.

Finally, I want to thank each and every speaker, the program committee and our event sponsors, Mentor Automotive, OpenSynergy, ESG, Itemis and Tuxera for the virtual showcase videos shown on all three days.

GENIVI completed day one of the Virtual Technical Summit on 12 May and below are a few highlights of the program.  The full agenda including links to all the slides has been updated and once we have links to all recorded sessions, you can view all parts of the day one program at your leisure.

Michael Ziganek, President of GENIVI, kicked off the day with a keynote presentation that emphasized three main points:

• WHO GENIVI has become (emphasizing the expansion of our scope into multi-OS integration and cloud connectivity)
• WHAT has happened recently (emphasizing the many outputs and events produced by GENIVI during the last year)
• HOW GENIVI wants you to be involved (emphasizing roles you and your organization can play in GENIVI projects and activities).

Michael closed his talk with some thoughts about the future of GENIVI including the growing complexity of integration and development introduced by domain fusion and the need for standards more then ever to solve current and upcoming challenges.  He noted that the success of meeting these challenges depends on the contribution of the community and constant interaction with the industry leaders and other consortia.  And he encouraged everyone to work together in the spirit of GENIVI to provide valuable solutions to these growing challenges.

Next, attendees heard from leaders of active GENIVI projects including the Android Automotive SIG, the Cloud and Connected Services project, the Hypervisor Project, the Security Team and a new "Birds of a Feather" on the subject of in-vehicle payments.  The presentations emphasized the very active and multifaceted technical community collaborating in GENIVI.  GENIVI welcomes questions and inquiries about how to participate in any or all of these projects by contacting Philippe Robin.

The final two sessions presented trends in the industry that GENIVI is following closely.  A panel of industry experts from Bosch, Renault Software Labs, McKinsey & Company and GENIVI tackled the topic of a Common Vehicle Interface Initiative.  And then Michael Ziganek (Mentor Automotive), discussed the impact of cockpit domain fusion.  

We are grateful to our event sponsors that have provided brief videos to be played throughout the three day event.  You can find these videos at the bottom of the wiki schedule page.  A special thanks to all who joined day one and we invite you back for days two and three during which we will dive a bit deeper into the activities of the Android Automotive SIG, the Security Team and the Cloud and Connected Services Project.  Stay tuned to this blog for additional highlights.

We are likely experiencing a new definition of "disconnected" as we have weathered a lengthy period of working remotely and (hopefully) staying safe at home.  I hope you are successfully navigating this virtual way of working and when you can, I invite you to consider a couple of ways to stay connected to the activities and work of GENIVI.

Had circumstances been different, we would be gathering at the Leipzig Marriott hotel next week for some great networking at the GENIVI All Member Meeting 2020.  We will have to wait (and hope) for a renewed opportunity to meet face-to-face during our new target date for the event (27-29 October 2020) also in Leipzig.  But we still have the opportunity of engaging together in the GENIVI Virtual Technical Summit starting 12 May at 1500 CEST.  The agenda is posted and registration, though free, is required so please visit the registration page today to ensure you receive the links to all the sessions.  The event will begin with an opening Keynote by GENIVI President, Michael Ziganek, then attendees will hear updates from several active GENIVI project leaders.  Day one will conclude with two "forward looking" sessions on common vehicle interface definition and domain consolidation.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the program consists of a combination of presentations (connected vehicle software development and automotive cybersecurity) and working sessions (workshops) on active topics in the Android(tm) Automotive SIG and the Cloud and Connected Services project.  To obtain links to any or all of these sessions, please register to obtain the information necessary to join the sessions.  And stay tuned during the session breaks as several GENIVI members have submitted informative videos about their products and services. 

Please consider inviting a colleague or partner to this informative and free event scattered across portions of three days.  GENIVI understands that you may not be able to attend a session due to other priorities, so links to recorded sessions and slides will be posted here: Technical Summit (Virtual) May 2020.

A second way to stay connected to GENIVI is to review sessions already delivered, like the recent Automotive World webinar given by the GENIVI Cloud and Connected Services project entitled, "How to realize an end-to-end vehicle-to-cloud communication framework".  The slides and a video of this webinar is available here: https://www.automotiveworld.com/webinars/realizing-an-end-to-end-vehicle-to-cloud-communication-framework/.  Join the nearly 300 participants who viewed this webinar when it was delivered on 4 May.  And if you are interested in getting involved in the CCS project, please contact Philippe Robin.

GENIVI realizes that even though you may have a different work environment, the work itself still takes most of your attention.  Because of these unusual circumstances we live in, margins to watch even a brief virtual summit session or webinar may be limited.  But we encourage your participation and connection to the ongoing work of GENIVI.  The alliance continues to advance and we look forward to doing so virtually until the day we can meet again face-to-face.  Be well and see you "online" soon!