In an insightful interview with EMobility+, Snehashis Das, Head of Digital Products & Services – Mobility Cloud Platform, Bosch told us about how the company is shaping the new era of digital & connected mobility. He gave us insights about the Mobility Cloud Platform(MCP) and how can an EV ecosystem player benefit by partnering with MCP.
1. Please tell us about how Bosch is shaping the new era of digital & connected mobility?
Bosch has always been at the forefront of technology innovation for the mobility domain. As the mobility industry enters a new era of digital and connected services – the use cases are also extending to the entire life cycle of a vehicle. In 2022, while Bosch is celebrating 100 years in India, we have conceptualized & recently launched the Mobility Cloud Platform (MCP); a launchpad and ecosystem for developing, implementing, and scaling IoT enabled digital products for new age connected mobility solutions. With the Mobility Cloud Platform, Bosch India also has kick-started its journey towards Mobility Store, a one-stop shop for all digital mobility needs.
2. Can you elaborate on the Mobility Cloud Platform? What are the solutions and benefits it provides?
MCP is the core of the Mobility Store which has all the building blocks & services that any startup, SME or enterprise needs to build IoT enabled mobility solutions or digital transformation. An innovative method of development allows them to focus on their key features and differentiators whilst leveraging the expertise of Bosch for building their digital products rapidly and in a cost-optimized manner. It also helps them achieve economies of scale, leverage the technical & business collaboration opportunities in our ecosystem and benefit from a newer approach to problem solving.
3. That sounds exciting. What are your offerings on the Mobility Cloud Platform? What is your roadmap for the EV segment?
The vision of the MCP is to create a level playing field and nurture an ecosystem that has the potential to foster innovation in the mobility domain in its entirety. In line with this vision, MCP offers services in three categories: Infrastructure Services where we curate & orchestrate cloud Infrastructure for Customers with our expertise in Mobility, Peripheral Services which includes Operations, managed DevOps and Business & technical collaborations and the core of our platform is our Software Services, where we have built ready to use middleware compatible with multiple cloud service providers. All these services immensely enhance the capabilities of Customers to focus on innovation.
The natural course for MCP is to bring segment-specific offerings and we are working with our
partners in the EV ecosystem, especially in areas like EV charging & connected batteries. As we partner with more players in this domain, MCP creates tech stacks and services catering to the emerging requirements of the EV domain.
4. Can you explain with a use-case how can an EV ecosystem player, say an EV charging startup, benefits by partnering with the Mobility Cloud Platform?
There are a few areas where we have made inroads and jointly worked on use cases. As a platform, we are able to standardize the common tech denominators through ready-to-use tech-stacks and software services like device management, FOTA & certificate management. We are able unify Connected EV charging points or batteries across cloud service providers with MCP specifications & middleware. It has created the opportunity to cross collaborate and innovate newer business models for our Customers or Partners.
5. How do you see the technology landscape evolving in the mobility domain and what can we expect from Bosch in 2022-23?
In my view, as an industry we have mature technologies; the challenge remains in the adaptation of these technologies to solve mobility use cases. Personally, I think for the next 10 years in India, IoT enablement & blockchain based solutions will play a greater role. Democratization of protocols and frameworks is also important. MCP is actively engaging and collaborating with start-ups & niche players to create solutions for the future. Bosch’s motto is “Invented for life” and participation in efficient, environment-friendly, sustainable mobility is a natural way forward for us.
