The increasing usage of digital tools, connectivity, and platforms in modern automotive products poses a challenge to vehicle drivers, owners, and those who supervise fleets of vehicles. With semi-autonomous vehicles and impending fully-autonomous vehicles ceding even more control to technology, NAFA Fleet Management Association (NAFA) presented the webinar ”Fleet Management and the Connected Vehicle” and has issued a companion whitepaper on the subject.
“Cars and trucks today are more like ’computers on wheels,’ as they rely more and more on technology for performance and convenience than ever before,” said NAFA Chief Executive Officer Phillip E. Russo, CAE. ”For fleet professionals, the rapid growth of vehicle connectivity presents challenges, as well as opportunities. For all drivers, the way North American roadways — and indeed, global roadways — function will be drastically different sooner than anyone imagines. This is a conversation that NAFA has a duty to be part of.”
The free whitepaper Fleet Management and the Connected Vehicle offers an overview of how and where vehicles can be compromised — through electronic control units, wireless communication, telematics, direct access to On-Board Diagnostic (OBD II) Ports — and presents a series of recommendations for fleet administrators. These recommendations also are proposed to legislators to start a conversation. The Association feels that there is an all too brief window of time to act, and wants to facilitate change before a major crisis occurs.
”NAFA is a proactive organization that takes on the major challenges from the start, and the issue of cybersecurity is a perfect example,” concluded Russo. ”It is our hope that everyone downloads the whitepaper, is informed, and will spread this knowledge and help make vehicles safer and more secure.”
