Ready, SEAT, go: new Software Development Center in Barcelona
Connectivity as a key factor for developing the mobility of the future: this is why SEAT is creating a new Software Development Centre at the service of the smart city.
The automotive sector is in full transformation. The car has become the connected platform in the digital ecosystem, the second after smartphones. Every brand must therefore aspire to be more than just a vehicle manufacturer; it must also become a provider ofintelligent mobility services. Realising this, SEAT is driving its digital transformation to address the challenges facing the automotive sector in the immediate future and become one of the leading brands in connected mobility. It is therefore creating a digital ecosystem with which to personalise and enhance people’s experience.
Software Development Center
To meet these needs, SEAT will create its own Software Development Center in 2019. Its main function will be to support the Volkswagen Group - naturally, with special focus on SEAT - in the development of new business models around the new concepts of the most innovative mobility and connectivity services, as well as the digitalising the car. The SEAT Metropolis:Lab Barcelona will be integrated into the new centre to continue its research and experimentation in terms of mobility started in mid-2017.
The centre is currently searching for the perfect location in the Catalan capital and more than 100 candidates to take part in the project.
Mobile and Big Data
“This laboratory combines mobile technology and big data to optimise the relationship between citizens, the smart city and mobility services. The objective that SEAT is pursuing is to improve mobility and make citizens' lives safer, more sustainable and more efficient in the smart cities in which they live,” explains SEAT Chairman Luca de Meo, adding, "This new centre, which will be located in Barcelona, confirms the company's commitment to transforming itself to a mobility services provider".
The Software Development Center will also strengthen the large network of Volkswagen Group's research centres, promoting the digital transformation of internal IT solutions and increasing the efficiency of in-house processes.
Digital synergies
Other SEAT independent companies will also work within the centre to harness synergies. One example is XMOBA, founded within SEAT in February 2018 to promote mobility solutions that adapt to what people are asking, with the aim of simplifying mobility in cities. To achieve this goal, it works on identifying, testing, marketing and investing in new smart mobility solutions.
Source: SEAT MAGAZINE