The future of the car is the future of transportation. What do we mean by that? It is not to say that the car is the future of transportation, rather the future of the car will depend on how the broader transportation system digitally evolves. The digital transformation of transportation infrastructure will have profound influence on how and how quickly the digitalization of the car will play out as will the stitching between the intelligent car and the intelligent infrastructure – connectivity.  

This neXt Curve research brief explores the opportunities, benefits and challenges that face the automotive and transportation industries as they pursue a future of automation and autonomy. This brief covers the following subjects:

• The Autonomous Future of the Car – What is the state of the autonomous vehicle? Given all the hype and misconceptions that have shrouded the technology, what can we reasonably expect in terms of delivered promises for safety, traffic efficiency, and sustainability today and the future? Is the driverless utopia just around the corner or further out in the horizon?
• Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure – Transportation infrastructure is going through a digital transformation around the globe but how will it support and catalyze the digital evolution of the car? How will it develop intelligent capabilities that will foster new services that will provide critical support for autonomous vehicles while helping the transportation system deal with the universe of analog, unconnected, and offline things on the road?
• The Role of 5G in the Evolution of Transportation – 5G is finally here but is it having an impact on the digitization and digital transformation of transportation systems that are the vehicle and the infrastructure? What is the role of 5G and what makes mobile wireless communications an essential factor in the evolution of intelligent transportation systems?
• The Future of Transportation is Mobile Computing – The advent of the electric vehicle and significant progress made in autonomous vehicle technologies are leading the industry to reimagine the idea of the car. It is increasingly becoming a smartphone on wheels. What are the implications on the auto industry as intelligent transportation systems grapple with the challenges of mobile computing.