On 16 July, GENIVI and W3C hosted an OEM Roundtable teleconference to discuss an emerging initiative to define standard approaches for modeling, managing and exchanging data in a vehicle and in the cloud.  The Common Vehicle Interface Initiative can best be described as

  • An extension of the existing movement for“a common data model”, where Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) is a driving example
  • A technology collaboration to define associated protocols (e.g. W3C VISS/Gen 2) and interfacing technologies to make use of the data/service model in real systems
  • A discussion on where standard interfaces are appropriate in the entire vehicle+cloud
  • A movement towards unification of fragmented ecosystems that inadequately address only part of this problem, and not in concert.
  • The initiative may include inside-vehicle: Standardized software components and well-defined interfaces between ECUs, and outside-vehicle: Remotely-accessible vehicle functions in the car-to-cloud infrastructure

The slide deck used during the roundtable is here.  Graphically, the initiative looks like this:



During the round table, representatives from Ford, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW all delivered statements in support of the initiative.  These were followed by similar opinions from Volvo Cars and Toyota.  Other OEMs present included Daimler/Mbition, GM, Renault, PSA and SAIC Motor.  The result of the call was to plan a follow-up workshop for additional initiative definition and to discuss how best to host the dialog, which is sure to include not only W3C, but also other standards developing organizations.

The initiative will be tracked in the Cloud and Connected Services project until it takes on its own project schedule.  Stay tuned for additional information on future gatherings around this important industry initiative.  If you have questions about the initiative or want to be involved, please contact Philippe Robin . 


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