IBM today announced a new IBM Cloud-based service to help automakers turn driver and vehicle data into actionable insights for predictive vehicle maintenance, real-time diagnostics on engine trouble,and to guide drivers to the most efficient traffic routes.

By 2020, 90 percent of new cars will be equipped with extensive connectivity services. To make the most of this connectivity, automakers are increasingly using IoT solutions that help to securely deliver data generated from cars directly to the cloud for near real-time analysis.

IBM's Internet of Things (IoT) for Automotive solution, built on the recently announced IBM IoT Foundation, helps automotive manufacturers gather data from individual sensors that can be combined with other data for real-time analysis. The service provides driver, vehicle and environmental insights through analytics, tapping both vehicle and geolocation data collected in the car. It also deliversnew insights from third party data such as from parking providers as well as an automotive manufacturer's customer data and vehicle history.

The international automotive supplier Continental is using IBM MessageSight and IBM InfoSphere Streams, components of the IBM IoT for Automotive solution, to help manage complex data streams and apply analytics to its eHorizon solution, which allows vehicle electronics to anticipate road conditions using digital mapping and crowd sourced data.

"The number of connected devices continues to grow at an extraordinary rate, and we are constantly on the lookout to use the data generated from those devices in a meaningful way," said Brian Droessler, Head of Software & Connected Solutions, Continental Infotainment & Connectivity Business Unit. "Together with IBM, we can better manage complex streams of data and apply analytics in a way that's secure, allowing us to create innovative solutions."

"With the significant increase in connected cars, automotive manufacturers have the ability to take near-real time data and put it to good use for drivers in a variety of ways—from finding the nearest parking space and most efficient route, to maintenance alerts that help drivers expect the unexpected," said Dirk Wollschlaeger, General Manager, Global Automotive Industry, IBM. "By combining data directly from the car with other sources, the insights derived through the IBM IoT for Automotive solution have the potential to change how we interact with our vehicles moving forward."

In addition to the rich driver and vehicle insights enabled by IBM's IoT for Automotive service, new applications can easily be built using IBM IoT Foundation, a platform that supports very short application development cycles and capabilities ranging from rapid prototyping to scalable productive solutions.