As the 21st Century progresses, vehicles will become increasingly connected to each other and to the transportation infrastructure. This development will lead to safety and environmental benefits, increased transport efficiency and a range of new entertainment and media services for drivers.

Automotive meets telecoms

With its long history in both the automotive and telecommunciations sectors, Sweden has played and will continue to play a key role in the development of the connected vehicle. Its strong clusters in the fields of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and telematics have sprung up where these industries overlap, and the forward momentum they have generated has attracted a significant number of foreign actors eager to take advantage of Sweden's lead in areas like fleet management systems and intelligent speed adaptation.

ITS implemented

Sweden is among the global leaders in the implementation of ITS. It has the world's most extensive network weather measurement stations which monitor road conditions and send out salting vehicles before the surface has a chance to freeze. Stockholm's congestion charging system, based on full automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), was the first example of wide-scale use of the technology in the world.

Setting standards

Sweden has done the biggest and most advanced experiment in intelligent speed adaptation, and Volvo Cars is in the absolute lead when it comes to the implementation of distance-keeping and lane-keeping systems in vehicles.

Eco-driving

The use of technology to influence driver behavior to reduce fuel use and emissions - so called eco-driving - is increasingly coming into focus. Swedish ITS company Thoreb's real-time traffic information and traffic planning systems are markedly improving the fuel efficiency of bus fleets around the world.