Government help necessary for connected car rollout: ISED

OTTAWA — In order to roll out the infrastructure and technology necessary to make connected cars available across Canada, government funding will be needed, and it could be modeled after the Connected Canadians program that’s currently in place to target rural broadband, a Senate committee heard Tuesday. “We see there’s a need today ... where the provincial and federal government in some cases supplement the business case for the private operators to enable the rollout of the technologies,” said Martin Proulx, director general of engineering, planning and standards for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). Proulx said during his appearance at the standing committee on transport and communications that autonomous driving technologies may be introduced in a similar pattern as broadband, where it is easier to justify private investment in a city versus rural areas. He said the federal government could help fund that rollout in the same way as the Connecting Canadians program, which was launched in 2014 with a $306-million budget and is intended to improve broadband Internet access in rural and underserved communities. “It sounds to me it may be a very similar type of pattern taking place,” he added. Ministry representatives said investment will be required in technology embedded in the infrastructure that’s necessary to make connected cars possible, like lights at intersections and sensors on the roads and on highways. The Wire Report has reported that potential challenges of the move to connected cars include putting in place the infrastructure and making available the spectrum necessary to ensure true, seamless vehicle autonomy. In that report, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. consultant Duncan Stewart told The Wire Report that stability and reliability are among some of the issues facing connected cars, partly because the wireless network “isn’t everywhere.” Proulx said Tuesday wireless infrastructure will be installed at intersections or parts of highways that collect information and communicate with the cars. He added wireless technologies already exist that connect to wireless networks, like that used for lane changes, braking and vehicle-to-vehicle communications, which is facilitated through technology called dedicated short-ranged communications (DSRC). “I think there’s no doubt that there is a fairly significant infrastructure investment required, not just in any one place but across the country,” Charles Vincent, director general of the automotive and transportation industries branch of ISED, said. He noted that a lot of these investments will have to be made at the municipal level, so there must be policy dialogue across all levels of government, adding that test beds in other jurisdictions around the world are often jointly funded from those multiple levels of government. “That’s going to be an important space so that we understand what are the technologies, the infrastructure that’s required to effectively do this and to make sure vehicles can actually go back and forth across borders,” Vincent said. The standing committee is exploring questions related to the regulatory and technical challenges associated with the deployment of connected and automated vehicles. Aside from infrastructure and technology spending, Vincent said privacy and security will also need to be addressed, considering the nature of the connectivity. He added that initiative would also require a collaborative effort by all levels of government, both domestically and internationally. Vincent also said the success of connected vehicles will depend on spectrum availability. In an email to the Wire Report in July, ISED said there was still no demand for spectrum to support driverless cars, but because there is growing interest, it planned to consult stakeholders to understand the spectrum requirements involved. The committee meeting comes as connected car tests are being conducted across the country. Late last year, Ontario approved a self-driving car pilot project with partner, Blackberry Ltd., opening a car “innovation centre” in December to support that initiative. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Government help necessary for connected car rollout: ISED

News | February 14, 2017

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Government help necessary for connected car rollout: ISED

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