Japanese IT company NTT Data and Denso, an automotive components manufacturer have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a strategic partnership focused on software development.
The collaboration will advance Japan’s automotive industry and address various social issues through the companies’ combined expertise in vehicle and cloud computing technologies. The partners say they will work together on strategy, talent management and technology, by leveraging Denso‘s strengths in in-vehicle software and NTT‘s expertise in cloud computing to develop advanced in-vehicle software.
The automotive industry is evolving with advancements in automated driving, electrification and artificial intelligence. The concept of software-defined vehicles is becoming increasingly important, necessitating enhanced development efficiency and closer integration between vehicles and infrastructure. The collaboration aims to address these needs by utilizing cloud technology to develop and link vehicle software.
The companies also plan to hire and train 3,000 engineers by 2030 to create a globally deployable software-oriented mobility service platform. This platform will support the growing complexity and prevalence of in-vehicle software in new vehicles. The partnership’s first initiative will be to establish a joint software development system and training programs for engineers. It will also jointly develop and deploy a platform to support the efficient development of in-vehicle software, utilizing IT solutions to enhance the development of AI-based evaluation tools and other functions.