Connected Transport Conference 1.0

India’s first business accelerator/incubator focused in the Connected Transport space – Auto Nebula, had hosted a Connected Transport Conference on the January 28 and 29, 2016, at Le Meridian, Pune, in conjunction with its launch.

“If vehicles could communicate with other vehicles… there would be no accidents or deaths.” That statement by Scott McCormick, President of the Connected Vehicle Trade Association of the US, set the tone for what Auto Nebula’s Connected Transport Conference had set out to achieve.

For Sanjay Puri, Founder of Auto Nebula, holding this first-of-its-kind conference was about creating an impact in India’s rapidly growing connected transport sector. As stated in an earlier report, given the severe challenges that India faces in the area of transportation which go beyond the hassles and dangers of urban commute and create significant supply chain inefficiencies, Connected Transport systems are something we needed yesterday.

The conference, therefore, aimed to bring together key stakeholders and give the fledgling industry a fillip by creating awareness about emerging trends, fostering debate on policy, and providing access to services as incubation, seed funding, mentorship and networking opportunities. Experts who spoke at the event highlighted several important areas where there was a lot of work to be done.

In a keynote address, Kamal Bali, Managing Director of Volvo Buses India, focused on questions related to public transportation: Do we need more cars on the road or more buses to solve the challenges of traffic congestion, pedestrian deaths, pollution, and accidents? He answered by quoting Gustavo Petro, economist and former mayor of Bogota, Colombia, “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.”

Ashok Chandak, Senior Director, NXP Semiconductors, leveraged his expertise in semi-conductors and security systems to make the case for a planned and secure connected transport system. He cautioned that the challenges of data privacy and the need for regular system upgrades made the systems vulnerable, which meant that these issues had to be addressed in advance of building a next-level vehicle.

Sundara Ramalinga Nagalingam, Head of Manufacturing, NVIDIA, talked about the revolutionary- software
defined car, and about the complete digitisation of everything inside a car. He said that while a driverless car may be the next level, it remained to be seen how safe it was and emphasised the need for Big Data and ensuring accuracy before all else.

The conference explored the top innovation and technology trends, emerging business issues and possible solutions, legal obligations and policies in the connected transport ecosystem. The spectators will leave with an understanding of how IoT-enabled solutions will transform the connected transport infrastructure. “The world of transportation is changing dramatically and impacting the quality of life, be it traffic wait times or pollution. Auto Nebula is looking to create and expand an ecosystem in India that will enable surface transport to communicate with each other, additionally it is offering to people ideas, companies, products and an environment to bring about a large change in the lives of the people in the country,” said Sanjay Puri, a US-based entrepreneur, recognised authority of US-India relations and founder of
Auto Nebula.

The panel for discussion comprised globally eminent professionals from the industry. Some of the notables being Dr Wilfried G Aulbur, Managing Partner & CEO, India, Chairman Middle East, Head Automotive Asia, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants (Moderator); Blake Burris, VP & Chief Hacktivist, Vinli, USA; Yatin Thakur, Serial Entrepreneur, Social Architect, Founder – CoworkIn, India; Roger Lanctot, Strategy Analytics, USA (Moderator); Sundara Ramalingam Nagalingam, Head of Manufacturing, NVIDIA, India; Brijesh Gubbi Suresh, Connected Cloud Services – Country Head, Bosch; Scott McCormick, President, CVTA, USA and many other from Indian business ventures in connectivity. The panel discussions followed three key topics:

A. How disruptive is the evolution of connected transport ecosystem?

• Evolution of the Ecosystem (Recent past and next steps)
• Disruptive business models in Car Dealers, Insurance, Used Cars, Journey Influence

B. Top technology trends in connected transport

• Self-Driving Vehicles vs. Driverless Vehicles: What’s the Difference?
• The Dongle inside your Car: How smart is it really?
• Crowd-sourcing for up-to date information,
• Connected Cars for a safer driving experience,
• Fuel Management, Navigation, Vehicle Health Monitoring, Advance driver assistance, pollution control.

C. A deep dive: policy & potential legal issues of connected vehicles

• How can smart solutions be used for smarter traffic management?
• New regulations required for successful implementation of Smart Transport,
• How things are evolving globally,
• Regulations on autonomous driving, traffic management,
• Flip side of smart transportation,
• Privacy and data security concerns,
• Recent government interventions.

400 nominations of start up businesses were screened by Auto Nebula, out
which eight nominations were shortlisted for making presentations of their business and pitching to a jury of eminent professionals.

Day 2 comprised an executive course conducted by Scott McCormick, President, CVTA, USA titled “Connected Vehicles Professional”, highlighting the scope of connectivity in the auto sector, the challenges and the factors to be considered for drafting the roadmap of regulatory systems for India, using US as a case study.

The conference was a success in all the spheres of the intended focus and results thereof.