Table of contents
…to accelerate the transition to the Software-Defined Vehicle
The transformation of the automotive industry is accelerating. With the advent of the Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV), where software becomes core, the architectures, skills, and ecosystems are being reshaped. In this rapidly evolving landscape, open-source is increasingly emerging as a key enabler.
For OEMs, the challenge is now clear: develop faster while mastering industrial constraints, vehicle lifecycles, and the robustness of software architectures. It is in this context that ACTIA joins the Eclipse Foundation as a Contributing Member, with a clear vision: use open-source as a true accelerator for SDV development. This decision represents a natural evolution for the Group, given its long-standing expertise in vehicle electronic architecture, diagnostics, connectivity, and international standards.
To shed light on this approach, ACTIA presents insights from three ACTIA Group experts: three complementary perspectives supporting a shared conviction: open-source as one of the key enabler of SDV development
A srategic vision: accelerating SDV adoption with open-source
Today, the SDV is taking shape through increasingly software-driven, modular, and connected architectures. High-performance computers, open platforms, secure connectivity, digital services, and data exploitation are progressively transforming vehicles into truly evolving platforms.
In this new model:
- OTA updates are becoming a standard,
- software services extend vehicle value over time,
- HPCs as a central host of vehicle functions,
- Standardization for a rich interoperable ecosystem,
- Cybersecurity without compromises embedded from the early design phase,
- Onboard data opens the door to new use cases.
Joining the Eclipse Foundation allows us to actively contribute to building the software foundations of tomorrow’s vehicle. Our ambition is clear: to contribute and use open-source as an accelerator, bringing our industrial expertise and field experience to SDV projects, in order to help OEMs build open, robust, and sustainable software solutions. For OEMs, open-source has become a strategic lever. It enables them to regain control over their architectures, reduce dependency on proprietary solutions, and accelerate their SDV transformation. But above all, they are looking for partners capable of industrializing these open building blocks: qualifying them, integrating them into complex architectures, and making them operational. This is precisely our role: bridging collaborative innovation with industrial reality. ACTIA operates across multiple segments: automotive, bus, truck, and off-highway, and in all major regions worldwide. This diversity fuels a very concrete vision of SDV, essential to building truly transversal foundations adapted to the diversity of uses and markets.
Shares Renaud HANUS, Chief Technology Officer, ACTIA Group
A momentum driven by market expectations
The SDV ecosystem is taking shape internationally, with particularly strong momentum in Europe and especially in Germany. OEM expectations are evolving rapidly: they are no longer simply looking to adopt open technologies, but to actively engage in collaborative ecosystems.
The SDV ecosystem is currently strongly driven by Europe, with particularly strong momentum in Germany. But expectations are also evolving very quickly in Asia. OEMs no longer just want to adopt standardized technologies: they expect their partners to contribute to communities, participate in standards, and co-develop key software building blocks used in an open software architecture. The challenge is no longer about integrating what already exists, but about actively contributing to building the technological foundations of the SDV. Our engagement in SDV open-source opens up very concrete perspectives, from parts of middleware to complete vehicle diagnostics. Exploratory discussions are already underway with a major industrial vehicle player around integrating SOVD into embedded ECUs. This confirms market interest in open solutions: but above all, in solutions that can be industrialized.
Explains Maik LUSCHTINETZ, CEO, ACTIA IME (Germany)
From open-source to industrial reality
With SDV, diagnostics are evolving toward software-based and service-oriented approaches. Drawing on more than 40 years of field expertise, ACTIA applies this know-how to new SDV architectures, particularly around SOVD (Service Oriented Vehicle Diagnostics). Integrating open-source building blocks requires adaptation, validation, and qualification work to meet automotive-grade requirements. ACTIA also relies on its expertise in international standards, notably within ASAM and the International Organization for Standardization, to ensure interoperability and multi-OEM compatibility.
The SDV is built on an ecosystem model. Open-source makes it possible to pool innovation efforts while allowing each player to adapt and industrialize solutions according to their own constraints. This is precisely the dynamic behind the Eclipse SDV Working Group, which brings together OEMs, suppliers, and software vendors to co-build open and industrializable software foundations. Open-source is never ‘plug and play’. It must be adapted, integrated, and qualified. By joining the Eclipse SDV Working Group, we aim to bring our industrial know-how to this transformation: software customization, system integration, vehicle validation, and long-term maintenance. OEMs need partners capable of turning technical building blocks into robust systems deployable at scale. Our expertise in international standards allows us to bridge open-source with existing normative frameworks, fostering interoperability and multi-OEM compatibility.
Comments Khalil AISSAOUI, Chief Technology Officer, ACTIA Engineering Services
A strategic trajectory
ACTIA’s membership in the Eclipse Foundation is part of a clear trajectory: contributing to an open, industrializable, and sustainable SDV. More than a technological commitment, this represents a strategic positioning in support of OEMs: accelerating innovation, facilitating SDV adoption, and strengthening the openness of vehicle architectures.
By bringing together open-source, standards, and industrialization, ACTIA asserts its role as a long-term partner for OEMs, capable of supporting the ramp-up of SDV: from software building blocks to vehicles in production. At a time when software is redefining automotive competitiveness, ACTIA intends to actively contribute to building the next generation of vehicle platforms: open, robust, and fully mastered by OEMs.
A key role, in a rapidly transforming market.
