BlackBerry expands presence in automotive software market

BlackBerry Technology Solution Senior Vice President of Sales Kaivan Karimi speaks during a press briefing to discuss “The Essential Role Safety and Security Play in Korea's Automated Future” at Le Meridien Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of BlackBerry

By Kwak Yeon-soo

BlackBerry vowed to expand its presence in the automotive software market by deploying infrastructure for electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles, the company said Wednesday.

Under the topic “The Essential Role Safety and Security Play in Korea's Automated Future,” BlackBerry Technology Solution Senior Vice President of Sales Kaivan Karimi shared some of the mega trends for 2050 and stressed the importance of software and its security.

Future mega trends include demographic change, accelerating urbanization and technological breakthroughs including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous transportation and advances in electric vehicle technology.

“As everything becomes software, the safety, security and real-time deterministic performance of the software are becoming more important,” Karimi said during the press briefing.

“AI and ML have a major role to play in securing automotive software leadership.”

BlackBerry QNX is one of the major players in automotive functional safety and security. QNX software is now embedded in more than 150 million cars on the road, according to the company.

“We've launched 270 automotive programs so far and achieved a 100 percent success rate, meeting OEM start of production deadlines,” he said.

Karimi said as Korea is one of the most aging and automated countries in the world, there is an increased need for a smart society, which requires infrastructure for mission critical applications.

A mission critical is a factor vital to the functioning of a system, according to BlackBerry.

“We've been powering and supporting mission critical systems for 39 years, including traffic light control systems, rail control and automotive systems,” Karimi said.

Korea boasts eight times the global average rate of robots to employees, according to a report from International Federation of Robotics released in 2018.

This level of automation is the result of years of continued investment in robotics and a pursuit of automation as a growth engine for the country.

Meanwhile, he also announced that BlackBerry will work with Hyundai Autron to provide next-generation automobiles with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and an autonomous driving software platform.