The automotive industry faces tremendous challenges in addressing decarbonization through electrification, developing future solutions for inclusive, safe and affordable mobility. Many of these changes require a radical re-thinking of existing development processes, with the share of software in modern mobility solutions continuously increasing. The rising importance of the software layer results in the so-called software-defined vehicle (SDV). Automotive software will be developed and adapted in continuous cycles. Therefore an abstraction from the underlying hardware needs to be implemented. As a result, the automotive industry is transitioning to an agile software development process. The dramatic increase of software and complexity, along with the advances of international competition in this domain, calls for an approach, in which non-differentiating software is developed jointly as open source. To address these challenges, the EU, together with industry, governments, and research institutions, have launched the European SDV Ecosystem. To turn this into reality, this proposal outlines the vision and activities for a Coordination and Support Action. FEDERATE (Software-Defined Vehicle Support and Coordination Project) aims to bring together all relevant stakeholders to accelerate the development of an SDV Ecosystem, to foster a vibrant European community and orchestrate the SDV R&D&I activities. The consortium of FEDERATE is formed by major European OEMs, automotive tiers, semiconductor companies, relevant industry associations and industrial SDV initiatives, including the Eclipse SDV WG, and supported by a scientific board. FEDERATE will work towards a common understanding on the vision of the SDV program and create an orchestrated advice for current and future projects in the SDV program. In addition, recommendations for future calls are prepared in alignment with a Roadmap and Joint Vision Document for accelerated SDV R&D&I, created as part of the CSA

The HAL4SDV proposal aligns with the EU Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda 2022 on Electronic Components and Systems. It aims to pioneer methods, technologies, and processes for series vehicle development beyond 2030, driven by anticipated advancements in microelectronics, communication technology, software engineering, and AI. HAL4SDV envisions a future where vehicles are fully integrated into smart cities, intelligent highways, and cyberspace, blurring the lines between inside and outside the vehicle. Assumptions include data-centricity, code portability, efficient data fusion, unlimited scalability, real-time capabilities, and robust cybersecurity. The objectives encompass unifying software interfaces, creating a hardware abstraction framework, enabling Over-The-Air (OTA) updates, designing platform architectures, ensuring hardware abstraction and virtualization, offering hardware support, automating integration, supporting safety features, harnessing edge computing, implementing security measures, and providing essential development tools. By focusing on these objectives, HAL4SDV aims to establish a unified ecosystem for software-defined vehicles, positioning Europe's automotive industry for continued leadership post-2030 while leveraging existing results and technologies to accelerate progress.

The Shift2SDV project aims to revolutionize the European automotive domain by creation of an SDV ecosystem around middleware & API framework enabling collaboration across the automotive value chain. This ambitious endeavour envisions a comprehensive shift towards a modular framework that transcends the limitations of current monolithic systems, fostering agility and innovation through the development of complementary middleware services and software development solutions. Central to Shift2SDV is the development of a cutting-edge middleware framework that provides micro-services to build automotive applications upon, abstracting from underlying hardware components – supporting stepwise migration, open source and proprietary components, in-vehicle safety critical and off-vehicle cloud functionality. It is specifically designed to streamline software development and integration while ensuring compatibility and flexibility with existing and emerging technologies. Key technical objectives include the development of a modern, flexible micro-services-based architecture, middleware framework that simplifies the brand-specific application development, and establishment of a safe and secure system architecture compliant with functional safety standards. Additionally, the project aims to develop an orchestration for efficient resource management, integrate edge and cloud computing, and demonstrate the practical viability of the developed middleware through concrete use cases. To maximize impact, Shift2SDV prioritizes active communication, dissemination, and exploitation of project outcomes, fostering collaboration among stakeholders and existing projects and initiatives aligning technological advancements with market demands. Through these concerted efforts, Shift2SDV seeks to propel European leadership in Software Defined Vehicles, driving innovation and economic growth in the automotive industry.