Recently, the Eclipse Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) Working Group was featured in two prominent publications: Thoughtworks’s SDV Pulse Report and in the Sunday edition of one of Germany’s leading newspapers, “Die Welt.”
Eclipse SDV according to Thoughtworks
Thoughtworks’s SDV Pulse Report categorises Eclipse SDV as an “early adoption” technological platform. This indicates that, although it has not yet been discovered and adopted by the majority of users, its potential is being recognised and it is gaining traction.
Specifically, the report mentions the Working Group’s “high standards for quality management, security and safety across all vehicle domains”, its focus on open source development as well as its scalability, extensibility, and modularity.
Thoughtworks, a leading technology consultancy, is best known for its Technology Radar, an authoritative publication on the current technological landscape that appears twice a year.
Eclipse SDV according to “Die Welt”
Preceding BMW’s official press release on July 18, the German article in “Die Welt”, published on July 13, focuses on Eclipse SDV’s most recent member. However, it also zooms out on the Working Group’s overall objectives: “In a working group of around 50 companies, they want to develop joint software for future vehicle generations”, writes the author Daniel Zwick, who then continues to explain the main challenges Eclipse SDV aims to address:
“The move towards the ‘Software Defined Vehicle’, a vehicle defined by software programs, is considered the biggest technological challenge for the industry – more difficult than the transition to electric mobility. It marks the end of an era in which mechanical engineers and engine designers played the leading roles.
Traditional automakers are struggling with this shift because software developers work fundamentally differently from much of the automotive industry. The working group on the Software Defined Vehicle aims to help overcome these difficulties. In addition to car manufacturers, tech giants like Microsoft, LG, Red Hat (IBM), and T-Systems are also involved in the Eclipse Foundation's project.”
Finally, the article quotes Christian Salzmann, BMW, in saying that ideally, a pull effect will develop, similar to the Android Open Source Project, which is used by car manufacturers as a basis for their own entertainment and information systems.
Eclipse SDV's presence in two influential publications within one week stands as a testament to the Working Group’s increasing momentum, as collaboration on vehicle software could emerge as a game changer for the entire automotive industry.