Resource Changes at COVESA

Change is a fundamental part of every organization and is often experienced during the end or beginning of a year. On behalf of COVESA, I have a number of announcements regarding current and new resources that facilitate COVESA activities.

First, while we will miss him greatly, we want to congratulate Philippe Robin on his retirement, effective at the end of 2021. Philippe has been with GENIVI/COVESA almost from its inception and has faithfully contributed a Program Management Office lead to almost every project the alliance has hosted. He has also been instrumental in building strong relationships with existing and prospective members in France, throughout Europe, and the world. We wish Philippe all the best and smooth waters for his future sailing endeavors.

Second, Gunnar Andersson, COVESA’s Technical Lead, is also in transition to new opportunities. Having served GENIVI/COVESA for 10 years(!), first as an assigned resource from Volvo Cars and then as the alliance’s Technical Lead, we have mixed emotions to say “see you later” to Gunnar in February of this year. Gunnar has been instrumental in many of the past and current deliverables of the alliance, not the least of which include the Automotive Virtual Platform Specification, the launch of Common Vehicle Interface Initiative (CVII) with W3C, and shepherding the Vehicle Signal Specification work. We wish him the best and know that our paths are likely to cross again.

Last but certainly not least, COVESA has engaged the full-time services of Paul Boyes as COVESA’s Community Director. Paul has a rich background in vehicle software platforms and vehicle data gained while holding key positions at OpenCar and Inrix. Paul also served as Co-Chair of the W3C Automotive & Web Platform Business Group and  Automotive Working Group and is intimately acquainted with both Android-related and VSS/CVII-related projects. We ask you to welcome Paul to COVESA and you can expect to hear more from him in the coming days.

Paul Boyes 

One last comment regarding COVESA’s choice of Paul’s title of Community Director. We purposefully see Paul as a recruiter, shepherd and facilitator of MEMBER resources applied to current and future COVESA activities. Paul’s primary goal will be to engage with member companies to understand their interests and facilitate member-driven projects, resulting in an active and vibrant COMMUNITY. We believe this subtle shift to a member-centric model is an essential distinctive of COVESA going forward. I very much welcome and appreciate all efforts our members and prospective new members will make to help Paul develop the COVESA community going forward.