Ford and chipmaker Qualcomm announced a partnership at CES 2018 on Tuesday to work together on cellular vehicle-to-everything (C2VX) tech, designed to validate and ensure a smooth rollout for the connective communication tech that’s going to help cars connect up to things like smart traffic lights, street signs, bikes, roads and more.
Cellular connectivity is already poised to be a key ingredient for things like autonomous cars and mobility services, including the AV network and partners platform that Ford intends to roll out. The automaker also revealed a cloud-based connected smart city platform today it’s hoping will become an open standard upon which cites, transportation providers, other automakers and more can collaborate and develop.
The partnership with Qualcomm is about helping to make this kind of thing happen on a global scale. Qualcomm has already done a lot to get ahead of signs like broad 5G deployment, and with its experience in mobile and IoT connectivity, it’s a natural partner to help ensure that as the tech develops it can talk to all the components of a smart city that emerge as a result.