The eSync Alliance reflects on a successful Annual Members Meeting
The eSync Alliance enjoyed another engaging and insightful Annual Members Meeting last month, with speakers representing not only the organization, but its members, too. Held every November, the Annual Members Meeting is an opportunity for the eSync Alliance and its members to reflect on the prior 12 months and look to the opportunities of the year ahead.
A year of sustained growth
Shrikant Acharya, Chair of the Board of Directors of the eSync Alliance, used his welcome keynote at the start of the meeting to highlight the outstanding growth achieved by the Alliance over the last year. Membership of the Alliance grew by its highest rate since its incorporation in 2018, with members spanning a diverse range of business types.
Shrikant also celebrated the growth of the eSync technology, as an increasing number of over-the-air (OTA) solutions providers sought to adopt the specification. By working with trade bodies, new and existing members, and OEMs, as well as delivering a comprehensive marketing and communications program, the eSync Alliance is increasingly spreading the word about the benefits of its technology.
Collaboration and community have been key to the eSync Alliance’s growth. In the months ahead, Shrikant asked members to either continue their hard work or consider taking a more active role within the Alliance.
Pushing the Alliance forward
The Annual Members Meeting serves as a platform for each working group to share updates on its activity.
Marketing Work Group Chair, Mark Singer, recapped the Alliance’s activities at CES 2023. This included the COVESA Showcase, which saw the eSync Alliance partner with The Autoware Foundation, SOAFEE and Amazon Web Services to demonstrate its collaborative ability to provide live OTA updates. Mark also acknowledged the use of eSync technology in exhibits and demonstrations across the main CES event. Meeting attendees also had the opportunity to hear more about the eSync Alliance’s PR and social media activity, as well as its growing number of cooperative relationships.
Madhav Gudimetla, Vice Chair of the Technical Work Group, provided the meeting with an update on its actions in 2023. These included the processing of requests from Alliance members, implementing updates to the previous V2.1 eSync specification and managing the release of V2.2 in September of 2023. The group has also been focused on the development of a series of whitepapers, with ‘eSync Compliance with ISO 26262’ published in July and a further four papers pending release.
Finally, Chair of the Compliance Work Group, Uwe de Nardi, provided an update on the work it is carrying out to make the integration of eSync technology as smooth and as risk free as possible for auto makers. This year, this has included development of the Compliance Tool and further refinements to the certification and test case process.
Insight from our members
As an alliance, our achievements stem from the hard work, knowledge, and expertise of our members. The annual members meeting welcomes keynote presentations from our partners, each providing industry insight and valuable learnings that draw awareness to key issues and developments.
This year we were delighted to welcome Florian Baumann, Senior Director, Software, Advanced Vehicle Architecture at APTIV, and John Smrstik of the Jacinto Processors Business at Texas Instruments to deliver two valuable presentations.
Florian provided an excellent insight into sustainable software architectures for the future and discussed how containerization and standardized approaches are important in achieving this in software defined vehicles (SDVs). John provided a vision into the practical significance of a standardized OTA platform for businesses like TI, and referenced the role it will undoubtedly play in enabling the SDV transition.
Finally, Madhav Gudimetla of the eSync Alliance’s Technical and Compliance Working Groups hosted an engaging WP.29 tutorial, based upon the R155 (cybersecurity) and R156 (software installation logging) regulations. Participants were able to strengthen their understanding of how the eSync specification facilitates compliance with these important requirements.
Mike Gardner, Executive Director of the eSync Alliance, said: “The Annual Members Meeting is a great opportunity to consolidate our activities and achievements, and refocus for the year ahead. Everyone involved at the eSync Alliance should be proud of the exceptional growth delivered over the last 12 months. The industry is waking up to the need for a collaborative OTA standard – a solution the eSync Alliance delivers. Next year is set to be another landmark year for us where we’ll continue to increase our reach and welcome more new members into our network.”
The Annual Members Meeting also provides the opportunity to announce new Board of Directors appointments. This year, there was one vacant seat, with one nomination. As such, the Board welcomes representation from Texas Instruments, joining colleagues from Excelfore, Molex, Hella, Aptiv and Joynext.
