The 5G Automotive Association has elected a few new board members, including AT&T, NTT DOCOMO, Jaguar, and Land Rover. This comes just after the announcement of Samsung being elected to the board. This brings the total number of companies counted as board members up to 17. The board’s chairman, Christoph Voigt of Audi, had kind and excited words to say about the new board members. The aim of the board is to expand and strengthen the bond between the communication and automotive industries in order to help spur innovation in both fields, especially in regards to ventures like car infotainment systems, self-driving cars,and networking equipment. The addition of these industry giants from around the globe will help to further that mission, according to a press release from the 5GAA.
The new board members are joined by 13 other companies across the networking, computing and automotive spaces, including the likes of Nokia, BMW, Huawei, Intel, and Qualcomm. The growing alliance now includes a wide range of global firms in both auto and tech, allowing for worldwide research and development efforts. The joining up of Samsung marks the alliance’s first native presence in South Korea, while NTT DOCOMO represents the alliance’s first native presence in Japan. Both bring a unique perspective from their countries, where technology and networking are approached a bit differently from the rest of the world. South Korea is one of the most highly innovative nations in technology, and Japan’s unique take on networking and quirky technological developments promises to lend the 5GAA more flexibility in their approach.
The 5GAA was originally started by a group of German automakers, including BMW, who had partnered up with various names in network equipment to help modernize the auto industry and maximize the possible innovations of the upcoming advent of 5G networking. The 17-member board is spread worldwide, and is meant to comprise a diverse knowledge body that can come together to provide one another, and their various industries, with unique insights into the innovations and challenges in their respective fields, and those where they converge. The powerfully innovative association looks to the future of communications and transportation, and will likely be gathering up more companies in the near future.