III and Toyota ITC sign MOU, joining forces to create new opportunities in Internet of Vehicles Service
Date: 2016/06/07
Caption: With the support of DoIT MOEA, the III and Toyota ITC signed an MOU today (June 7). Deputy Director General Ta-Sheng Lo (center) of DoIT MOEA, III Executive Vice President Pao-Chung Ho (left), and Assistant Manager Kazuma Sato (right) of Toyota ITC were invited to speak at the ceremony.
Caption: The III and Toyota ITC signed an MOU witnessed by Deputy Director General Ta-Sheng Lo today on June 7. The group photo was taken at the ceremony, from the left: SNSI Head Ming-Whei Feng, Section Chief Ching-Hai Lin of DoIT MOEA, III Executive Vice President Pao-Chung Ho, Deputy Director General Ta-Sheng Lo, and Assistant Manager Kazuma Sato of Toyota ITC.
According to a report by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company in 2015, the consumer demand for connected vehicles is growing. In addition, the trend is expected to trigger transformations in the automotive industry and speed up the development of IoV services. With the support of the Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and the assistance of the Taiwan-Japan Industrial Collaboration Promotion Office (TJPO) of MOEA, the Smart Network System Institute (SNSI) of the Institute for Information Industry (III) has been engaged in technical exchanges with the Toyota InfoTechnology Center (Toyota ITC) since 2014. To start a close partnership in anticipation of the rise of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), III and Toyota ITC, represented by Executive Vice President Pao-Chung Ho and Assistant Manager Kazuma Sato, respectively, entered into a memorandum of understanding on June 7. It signaled the beginning of a partnership that would be focusing on IoV and automated driving and related topics.
As the engine behind Toyota's cutting edge IT development, Toyota ITC not only supplies IT technologies needed for Toyota's business development, it also invests in smart signal technology in order to integrate vehicles, roads, and pedestrians. The III SNSI also has been working for years on a balance between vehicles, roads, pedestrians, and cloud services (Note) by developing a variety of user oriented IoV technologies. This partnership will give priorities to the next generation telematics systems and automated driving techniques of the future.
Deputy Director General Ta-Sheng Lo of the Department of Industrial Technology of MOEA pointed out in his speech on June 7 that this was an important moment. Toyota is the world's largest automobile maker in terms of market share. In particular, Toyota occupies a crucial position in development of automotive telematics systems. The III is a key player in Taiwan's telematics research. It provides assistance for telematics technology development in both public and private sectors. In particular, the program has extended its scope to include research in the automotive industry, and is enabling Taiwan's ICT industry to secure a leading position in the global market. The opportunity of working with Toyota ITC will not only enhance Taiwan's existing technical development capabilities, but also offer advanced Japanese technologies that can lead to more opportunities for collaboration and mutual benefits.
According to III Executive Vice President Pao-Chung Ho, the scope of the III-Toyota ITC partnership includes the following items: IoV applications and services that meet the consumer demand for transportation and safer driver assistance systems that are developed by analyzing traffic issues and driver behaviors. Meanwhile, the companies will be working with the National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology in preliminary field testing. The aim is to lay a strong foundation for the future of automated driving systems in Taiwan. Assistant Manager Kazuma Sato of Toyota ITC called it an honor to enter into the memorandum of understanding with the III and said Taiwan would be an ideal place for development of ITS safety systems. Toyota specializes in automobile manufacturing but has not ventured into designing systems for bicycles and motorcycles, which is the area where Taiwan's support will be needed. Toyota, III, and the local government will be working closely as partners along the path toward a traffic accident free society.
It is worth noting that based on the common practice of offering mutual assistance after disasters and emergencies in Asia Pacific, the partnership will also enable vehicles to act as communication hubs after a disaster or accident. The application of IoV will extend from conventional vehicular communication systems for road safety to new areas such as disaster response and resolution of social issues. The two companies will also be facilitating closer relationships between Taiwanese and Japanese businesses on the principle of equality and mutual benefit. The two companies will help Taiwanese and Japanese businesses join trade alliance or associations in either country and create more opportunities in the IoV industry.
*Note: Balance between vehicles, roads, pedestrians, and cloud services: In addition to developing hardware/software for pedestrians, vehicles, and roads, III also focuses on data modeling in the backend, such as cloud based vehicle diagnostics systems, big data on driver behaviors, and analysis of traffic accident data. Integrated information from various aspects will give the user a more comprehensive system of applications and services.
Toyota ITC
Over the past century, the automotive industry has become a part of everyday life. The next step for the automotive industry will be to create inspiring opportunities by combining mature IT technology and automobiles.
Toyota ITC is part of the TOYOTA Group. It employs people from different backgrounds, cultures, and philosophies to work on the fast changing front line of IT development. Toyota ITC is currently headquartered in Japan and operates offices in the United States. It is dedicated to developing innovations and applications of the future in the automotive industry. For more information about Toyota ITC, please visit http://www.toyota-itc.com/.
Institute for Information Industry
For more than 30 years since its establishment, the III has devoted itself to helping the government plan and promote development of the telematics industry and infrastructures for an information society. As a government think tank, the III develops forward looking telematics technologies, train talent in the telematics field, plan and construct telematics infrastructures in Taiwan, promote and innovate telematics applications, eliminate the digital divide between Taiwan and the rest of the world, help local businesses adopt international standards, and make Taiwan's telematics industry more competitive worldwide and strengthen its information capabilities. For more details on the III, please visit http://www.iii.org.tw.
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