Future of the Automotive Mobility and Data Security

Mobility has always been at the cutting edge of human innovation and technological advancement. This is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. Already, mobility as we know it is seeing significant disruption thanks to the entry of nontraditional players who are leveraging the power of computing devices and the Internet. But few things are likely to have a bigger impact on mobility than the enormous volumes of data that will be generated as a result. In fact, data capture, transmission, storage and distribution will be a key component of future mobility. Managing such data from first to last mile will provide unprecedented challenges. The market players who will ride this mobility wave and stay ahead of the competition are those that take proactive steps to prepare for this new world. The following are some of the most important ways mobility is likely to change in future and how data is a part of it.

Car Ownership

Hyperadoption, mobility commoditization, sustainability and a growing number of viable alternatives is changing the need, value and perception of car ownership. Emerging solutions are streamlining mobility and making commuting more productive. One report projected that by 2030, two thirds of vehicle sales in cities will be shared. Car manufacturers will still need to build vehicles but the change in ownership and use will call for a rethink of distribution networks. While shared mobility will create a whole new ecosystem of data, the decrease in ownership means vehicle manufacturers will actually see a decrease in data at their disposal. Especially the ownership data that they traditionally relied on to manage customer relationships and incentivize customers into regularly upgrading to a new model. With car-sharing, customer relationships have a shorter life-span.

Plugged into the Internet of Things

Though there will be a concerted push towards shared ownership, a substantial number of people will still opt for the individual owned car. But even individual owned vehicles will exist in a markedly different world. The Internet of Things will have become ubiquitous meaning cars will be more connected and data-centric than ever before. The electronic data captured, stored and analyzed by future cars will cover everything from fuel consumption to common route stops. Future features will build on existing technology creating vehicles that are increasingly data-driven and sophisticated.

Autonomous Cars

Autonomous vehicles are an inevitable part of future mobility. Already, major companies like Alphabet, Uber and Tesla have made tremendous progress in building fully autonomous cars. This trend is only bound to grow. One of the biggest hurdles to autonomous vehicles has been the dependence on third parties. That’s because achieving autonomy is not only about what features are inside the car. It’s also how well the car’s systems communicate with the outside world via GPS software, IoT sensors, infrastructure health metrics and other similar systems. As the market for this grows, you can only expect a greater convergence of these different systems and their data.

Future Mobile and Digital Landscape

The near ubiquity of Internet access coupled with the proliferation of smartphones have dramatically raised the service expectations of the modern consumer. Consumers are already accustomed to businesses using their online preferences and habits to deliver more intelligent and relevant content. They aren’t going to hold mobility service providers to a lower standard. Customers expect seamless and transparent travel experiences across devices and channels. Mobility players and service providers must integrate their systems, deploy the right APIs and leverage customer data in order to create platforms that are centered on enhancing the consumer’s experience.

Dynamic Customer Journeys

The future of mobility will be marked by a decline in rigidity and a rise in choice and flexibility. It’s going to be less about forcing customers into specific routes and stops, and more about giving consumers greater power in determining their journeys. Linear paths will take a back seat as car manufacturers, transportation service providers and mobility tools create a thriving ecosystem of customer choices and experiences. This ecosystem can only be effective if it is firmly grounded on rich relevant data. Machine learning and artificial intelligence will come in handy when analyzing, customizing and dynamically adjusting options to conform to each customer’s need.

What’s The Place of Data Security in All This?

The above trends will be a radical ambitious change from the nature of mobility as we know it today. It’s inevitable that this kind of innovation comes with new risks or exacerbates existing ones. Think about the potential catastrophe if autonomous vehicles are hacked or ride-hailing app customer data is exposed. And these are only the kind of risks we can envisage right now. There may be a whole lot of unintended consequences. This makes the need for data security more critical than ever before. For example, shared cars may contain the data of dozens or hundreds of users. This makes them an attractive target for digital thieves. Connected and autonomous cars create new avenues for ransomware. Not only can user confidentiality be compromised but the possibility of unauthorized persons or software taking control of a vehicle poses serious safety risks. Future mobility must therefore go hand in hand with a new and comprehensive approach to data security.

About the Author

Wendy Dessler

Wendy is a super-connector who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition.