Sweden Forms New $64M Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems R&D Program for Crash Avoidance and Injury Prevention; Pioneering Safety Program Enhances Country's Internationally Recognized Telematics & Automotive Cluster
Los Angeles, CA, May 2003 -Sweden, the internationally recognized leader in automotive safety and telematics, today announced the formation of a new applied R&D program for Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems (IVSS).
The IVSS program, which is open to international companies and partners, will focus on the development, testing, and implementation of systems and smart technologies for crash avoidance, injury prevention, and upgrading the road holding capabilities and crashworthiness of cars and commercial vehicles. The $64M program includes initial partners from leading Swedish and international companies and universities and will run through the year 2008.
"This new IVSS program is unique in the industry and focuses on two areas that have been historically very important to Swedes, namely vehicle safety and injury prevention," said Rolf Rising, Director and Head of IT and Electronics, Invest in Sweden Agency. "It is now possible for automotive and related companies to participate in, collaborate, and benefit from the research that is taking place in Sweden under the program."
IVSS Program: Invites International Participation Already home to a strong automotive and world-class telematics cluster, Sweden offers the new IVSS program an open gateway to the global car and truck industry. Sweden has a long tradition of well-recognized leadership in safety systems for cars and trucks, as demonstrated through the success of strong brands like Volvo and Saab. The IVSS program aims to lay the foundation for and introduce new technical safety solutions within vehicle and road-side systems and create access to unique knowledge and competence in Sweden to be utilized for research, education, design, and evaluation.
The IVSS program is open to Swedish companies, universities and institutes; foreign companies with a Swedish entity; or foreign companies in partnership with a Swedish actor. Invest in Sweden Agency will assist foreign investors with opportunities for taking active part in the IVSS program. Such opportuniti es may be developed together with Swedish companies, universities, and institutes.
Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems Defined IVSS's are systems and smart technologies for crash avoidance, injury prevention, and upgrading of road holding and crash-worthiness of cars and commercial vehicles enabled by modern IT. Both infrastructure dependent and vehicle autonomous systems are included in this definition, as are systems for improved safety for unprotected road users.
IVSS Areas of R&D Focus The IVSS program is organized under the umbrella of the Council for Vehicle Research. Here IVSS will constitute a separate branch with its own steering committee and program director. The committee will determine to what extent the program will finance different R&D projects within the following focus areas: --Driver support & human-machine interaction systems
--Communication platforms, internal and external
--Sensors and embedded systems
--Intelligent roads and informatics
--Dependable and fault tolerant systems
--Crashworthiness bio-mechanics and injury prevention
--Vehicle safety & chassis design
Current IVSS Partner Group Members: --Invest in Sweden Agency
--Saab Automobile
--Scania
--Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems
--Swedish National Road Administration
--Scandinavian Automotive Suppliers
--Volvo Cars
--Volvo Trucks
IVSS & New $400M Telematics Science Park A significant amount of the IVSS program research and development will take place in Sweden's new Lindholmen Science Park, based in the heart of the Telematics Valley region. The park focuses on stimulating growth of hi-tech, knowledge-intensive, research-based companies and is built on the premise of cooperation between universities, trade and industry, and the community. The park plans to employ over 20,000 people and is positioning and profiling itself in the fields of telematics, mobile Internet, and electronic media. The primary players in the park include: Volvo Car Corporation, Business Region Göteborg, Ericsson, and Chalmers University of Technology, which was recently chosen to design and execute the Global Active and Passive Safety course for General Motors engineers, which began in January 2003.
About Invest in Sweden Agency Invest in Sweden Agency was established by the Swedish government to help attract and facilitate foreign direct investment in Sweden - Europe's leading IT cluster and a world leader in wireless and mobile Internet. Sweden provides a strong industrial base, sophisticated multinational customers, active utilization of information technology in both the public and private sectors, an advanced infrastructure, and a highly skilled workforce.
ISA assists companies interested in locating manufacturing sites, research and development facilities, sales offices, and customer interaction centers in Sweden by providing free site selection information and other business related services. ISA is headquartered in Stockholm, with offices in New York, London, and Tokyo, a branch office in Los Angeles, and representative s in major European, North American, and Asian cities. For more information, visit the agency's Web site at www.isa.se or call the LA office at (310) 204-6790 or the NY office at (212) 702-8780. Questions can be sent via email to isa@usa.isa.se.
