Launch of European Nomadic Device Forum!

Date: 20 July 2005

Following the organisation of two successful workshops on nomadic devices in January and March 2005, the EU-supported AIDE project and ERTICO joined to launch the European Nomadic Device Forum at a successful workshop on 23 June 2005 at the Volvo AB premises in Brussels. The event was attended by over 30 delegates from a wide range of stakeholders.

The nominated Organising Committee met the previous day to approve the Forum’s Terms of Reference and first tasks. Wolfgang Reinhardt of ACEA (Association of European Car Manufacturers) was confirmed as Chair of the Forum, and the other members include representatives of BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Opel, Renault, Volvo Technology, CRF, Motorola, Orange, Navigon, Swedish Road Administration, ICCS (Forum Vice-Chair) and ERTICO (Forum Manager).

The aims of the Forum are to support all stakeholders in nomadic device integration to grow their business. The Forum will also:

• act as the European consensus platform to reach cross-sector agreement on issues relating to nomadic device safety, technical harmonisation and in-vehicle integration
• define principles for managing nomadic device-vehicle information exchange via a “Smart Vehicle-Device Interface”
• address key issues - including harmonisation of interfaces for in-vehicle docking/integration and installation - and guidelines for nomadic device HMI and safety based on the ESoP 2005 (European Statement of Principles on the Design of Human-Machine Interaction)
• identify requirements for new work items in the appropriate standardisation bodies
• act as a bridge between the eSafety research projects for nomadic device issues and also between Europe and the rest of the world 
• support research work on nomadic device-vehicle integration within the AIDE integrated project

While the vehicle manufacturers have started internal discussions to find a common position regarding co-operation with other stakeholders, two Working Groups were proposed to facilitate a professional dialogue among interested parties and agree on more standardised solutions. The first (WG “A”) should work towards the definition of a Smart Vehicle-Device Gateway and the second (WG “B”) should address HMI and safety issues. It was agreed that work in WG A would start as soon as possible, with the definition of scenarios and business- and use-cases for nomadic device integration in the car. Anyone interested in participating should contact Paul Kompfner at ERTICO.

Launch event highlights
The workshop opened with a presentation by Forum Chairman Wolfgang Reinhardt of the vehicle-makers’ view on nomadic devices. It was becoming increasingly difficult for OEMs to match the vehicle life-cycle with that of mobile communications and navigation devices, and their interest in finding a satisfactory way to integrate nomadic devices was growing. However, any solution should respect the need that in-built and nomadic systems can co-exist and that an acceptable business case should be ensured for all stakeholders.

Pat Robertson of Motorola Global Software Group introduced the work on nomadic devices in the AIDE project. The focus is on the definition of an architecture and specification for an interface between the vehicle and a nomadic device, for the use cases of mobile phone calls, personal navigation and personal organisers (PDA). This interface should allow the in-vehicle AIDE HMI manager system to register when a nomadic device is installed, as well as inform the device of the driver-vehicle-environment status and  “filter” and control access by the nomadic device to in-vehicle input-output resources.

Jochen Katzer of Navigon presented his company as a leading supplier of personal navigation software, in a market that is “exploding”. Sales of personal navigation devices were expected to top 3 million units in Europe in 2005, compared to around half that number of built-in car navigation systems. Smartphones with GPS were expected on the market before the end of the year, and their wireless connectivity could support both on-board (map in the device) and off-board (map at operator’s navigation server) services.

Buyers were turning to personal devices because they could acquire most of the value of in-vehicle navigation at a small part of the price, and gain the advantage of portability as well. Vehicle manufacturers could take a share of this market by offering a harmonised device interface, providing access to vehicle data and perhaps a roof-mounted GPS.

The mobile operator’s view was presented by Michel Fond of Orange. He saw mobile navigation services as an exciting opportunity for vehicle makers, and a chance to solve the lifecycle problem – by relying on the user’s mobile phone as the car’s telematics modem! The customer wants hands-free, easy-to-use and safe mobile phone and navigation services. The OEMs could offer these in partnership with operators, by agreeing on “certified” – and perhaps even own-branded – applications that could be marketed through both the operator and the car dealer.

Orange saw a significant threat from “wild” nomadic devices – those installed in the car by the user – as posing both a safety and commercial risk. The eSafety Forum Working Group on HMI has released a revised draft of the “European Statement of Principles” that also covers nomadic devices. This draft will be further fine-tuned and forwarded to the political decision takers, with consultation open until 28 September. The work in progress concerns commercial vehicle needs as well as nomadic device requirements. There was a need for all the concerned stakeholders to work together to find safe and acceptable solutions.

The workshop plenary session concluded with a round table panel discussion on the reasons why car makers should (or not) welcome nomadic devices. The panel included the above-named speakers from ACEA, Navigon and Orange, as well as Daniel Augello of Renault and Johannes Dünnwald of Nokia Automotive.

For the car makers, Mr Augello expressed the view that nomadic devices would be part of the in-vehicle equipment of the future, but it was essential that they make business sense and not compromise safety. Competition with in-vehicle systems today was unfair, as the in-built systems had to comply with numerous and strict standards and regulations. The right response was not to ban nomadic device use, but rather to cooperate to define a smart vehicle gateway, offering nomadic devices a managed use of vehicle displays, audio channels and certain controls.

Mr Dünnwald referred to the history of telematics services to show that limited, individual business models were not the way to successful deployment, but it was necessary to find common, shared models, while respecting that each player had its own market dynamics and business model to defend. As car electronics grew more and more systematic, it was becoming increasingly difficult to integrate independent devices into the car. Thus, the challenge was how to prepare the car’s user interface so it could accept both in-built and mobile devices. The first step should be the vehicle interface for a handsfree phone, comprising e.g. Bluetooth and cable connections.

A lively discussion ensued, around what the customer really wanted (and was willing to pay for), how the insurance industry might react to accidents associated with use of nomadic devices, and how public authorities could help promote a “smart solution” for nomadic device integration that improved both road safety and market development.

The workshop continued with parallel breakout sessions on business and use cases for nomadic device integration, and on requirements and features of a harmonised interface. The day concluded with a call for those interested to take part in the proposed two Working Groups of the Forum, which are planned to start up this autumn.

For more information and to participate in the Forum and its Working Groups, please contact the Forum Manager Paul Kompfner, tel. +32 (0)2 400 0732, or Angelos Amditis (AIDE SP3 leader and Forum Vice Chair) at a.amditis@iccs.gr, tel. +30 210 7722398.

Forum Manager Paul Kompfner highlights the aims of the new Nomadic Device Forum	Part of the 23 June launch event was a Round Table discussion