Scania: Perfect road traffic information powered by 6G – but what about privacy?

The drive to make road transport safer, more effective and less polluting has been going on since the automobile’s introduction. One of the most recent pushes is the one for so-called cooperative intelligent transports systems (C-ITS), where vehicles and other participants in the road system share information about their position and other data.

We have seen the introduction of road infrastructure-based sensors with cameras that can detect, for example, what pedestrians and other so-called vulnerable road users are doing. This detailed and up-to-date picture of the situation on the road has especially big promise for the nascent area of autonomous vehicles.

At Digitalize in Stockholm 2022 Scania organized a panel titled Perfect road traffic information powered by 6G – but what about privacy? In the talk, the panel explores the implications of a specific technology in the coming 6G telco generation, namely joint communication and sensing (JCAS), which is based on equipping cell phone towers with radar-like capability and thereby being able to detect the environment and traffic participants in the vicinity of the tower including pedestrians, bicyclists, and even dogs. Due to potential very good coverage and resolution, this could be a major step forward in enabling autonomous vehicles and transport systems. But will business confidentiality and privacy concerns stop this vision?

Moderator:
Ulrik Janusson – Technology Leader Connectivity, Scania CV

Panellists:
Katarina Fast Lappalainen – Assistant Professor in Law and IT, Stockholm University
Kristian Jaldemark – Vice President Sales, Carmenta Automotive
Valentin Tudor – Senior Researcher, Ericsson

Link to talk on Youtube: https://youtu.be/xQN-XL-vUe8

Link to Digitalize in Stockholm 2022 panels: https://digitalizeinsthlm22.se/panels/