Consumer vehicle telematics - an emerging market where Web Services offer benefits

This paper examines how Web Services can be used to provide a shared infrastructure in an emerging area of consumer communications, namely consumer vehicle telematics. The paper reviews the key advantages which Web Services offer from a service provider's viewpoint-namely openness, reuse and ease of integration with legacy systems. The paper then goes on to examine why the consumer vehicle telematics industry is an area where point solutions have been developed. It then explores why legislation, changes in industry dynamics and the growing use of electronics in vehicles make the use of Web Services, in the software platform supporting the applications, an attractive proposition. Using a scenario-driven approach, it is shown how Web Services can be employed to provide reusable components which can make applications available for vehicle manufacturers, vehicle dealers, legislators and third-party service providers. These applications can be used to provide information to drivers, occupants and vehicles themselves. The paper also presents a brief review of the emerging competitive environment.