Why automotive OEMs desperately need Brainport

In the time that I’ve been writing columns for Bits&Chips and making presentations for the High-Tech Software Cluster, I’ve repeatedly made the claim that many Dutch companies have world-class skills in software engineering, particularly in the realization of what have become known as cyber-physical systems (CPSs). For the last half year, I’ve been consulting in software engineering with a large automotive OEM, an experience that has been eye-opening, to say the least. My conclusion is that the automotive world has an awful lot to learn about innovating in software engineering and not much time in which to do it.

The roots of this problem lie in the very DNA of automotive OEMs. For many years, they’ve created value through vehicle systems engineering. At heart, they functioned as system integrators, composing together components outsourced to and produced by suppliers. For example, in terms of software, the OEM to which I refer currently develops just 10 percent of the software that goes into its vehicles. The rest is provided by tier-1 suppliers.