In the future, cars will know more and more about whoever is using them, in order to meet every possible need. What are the advantages (and the potential risks)?
"If we analyse and understand the data, we can recognise our customers' desires even more accurately and create services on the basis of this information. This way we can optimise our range of cars and services, to respond to the different needs of customers and individual markets." Read superficially, this statement by Felix Schwabe (Head of Data-Driven Business Development at Audi) might seem like the classic eye-catching remark whose deeper meaning is, however, often difficult to grasp. In reality, these few lines contain all – or almost all – of the future of the car, at least as it has been envisioned at Audi, both in terms of how customers use the car and of the business model for manufacturers.
Indeed, Schwabe's statements also touch on the present, because even today the display of an Audi model can provide essential information such as the nearest charging station (and the ability to book it), warn of any hazards on the road (oil patches or broken-down vehicles) and even advise what speed to maintain in order to hit a green light (in this case, obviously, the infrastructure also needs to be connected). Highly useful features today, they will become indispensable in the future, as they will form the foundation for autonomous driving. On top of all this come services – some of which already exist today but will continue to evolve – that also enable commercial partnerships with third-party companies; examples include weather, traffic information and entertainment in the broadest sense of the term (streaming music, for instance). A dedicated task force within the Volkswagen Group, made up of 5,000 digital experts, is working on all of these aspects.
When these topics are discussed, privacy and the protection and management of the data generated are extremely sensitive issues. Many cars already transmit data to a back-up system managed by the manufacturer itself, where it is automatically anonymised. That said, what use is made of this data beyond the personalisation of services? Staying with Audi, on the electric e-tron, for example, certain parameters such as speed and the use of assistance systems can be extracted and analysed to give a very precise direction to development – of the e-tron itself, but not only. As for data protection and security, these are a priority for Audi: for the German manufacturer they play a fundamental role in the automotive sector, particularly with regard to cyber security and software updates.
The question of data security deserves closer examination because it is of crucial importance, today and in the future, given that connectivity will only increase, from city cars to flagship models. For this reason, Audi has decided to provide its customers with an app through which they can independently choose which data may be used and for what purpose.
Conversely, users will be able to receive – again, if they wish – personalised offers.
As already noted with regard to Car2X technology, the services listed above also grow in potential when they are active across an ever-increasing number of vehicles. In this respect, cars from the Volkswagen Group have the great advantage of belonging to a large group, as the name itself suggests.