Dev:Radar 2024 – Shaping the future of automotive tech

October 31st, 2024

Picture this: a room buzzing with energy, creative minds sparking new ideas, and the future of automotive tech unfolding before your eyes. That’s what Dev:Radar 2024, WirelessCar’s annual developer meetup, brought to Gothenburg and Beijing last week. With conversations around AI, smart vehicles, cybersecurity, cloud, and OTA, this event wasn’t just a conference – it was a playground for innovation and collaboration. Developers united, not just to learn and share insights, but to reimagine what’s next in the world of connected vehicles.

Connecting, learning, and growing together

The day in Gothenburg began with an inspiring welcome from CEO Niklas Florén, who emphasized the significance of events like Dev:Radar. These gatherings provide an opportunity to connect, share knowledge, learn from one another, and grow – all while having fun together. Niklas also highlighted the mission for WirelessCar: to empower the future of mobility by developing software that makes cars safer, smarter, and more sustainable.

– As the automotive ecosystem expands, our mission becomes increasingly complex. Our role is to simplify it. Driving should be easy – not a hassle. By leading the way in automotive innovation, we can create great value for the future, Niklas said.

Niklas Florén at DevRadar 2024 Sweden
Niklas Florén
Henrik at DevRadar 2024 Sweden
Henrik Parkkinen

Navigating cybersecurity in the automotive industry

Next up was Information Security Officer Henrik Parkkinen’s keynote on cybersecurity risks in the automotive industry, setting a forward-thinking tone for the day. He addressed topics such as why we need to contemplate the future of cybersecurity, how to prepare for the unknown, and shared insights into modern cybersecurity strategies for the automotive industry.

– In the coming year, the connected car industry needs to spend time contemplating how things in the future may impact our organizations and industry. The future is not totally unknown to us – we know many things that are coming our way. To prepare for the future, I strongly believe in acting and not reacting. With small efforts, I personally think that an organization can achieve a lot when it comes to future preparedness.

– WirelessCar is actively reflecting, contemplating, and bringing our collective brain power together through discussion and knowledge sharing to better understand what is coming our way. Cybersecurity is a team sport and something we do together as a company, Henrik said.

People at DevRadar 2024 Sweden
Mahshid Golbazkhanian & Monica Murgescu
People interacting and high-fiving at DevRadar 2024 Sweden

Hands-on learning and future-focused innovation

From there, it was a full-speed dive into AWS GameDay challenges and GitHub’s AI workshops, allowing participants to sharpen their skills through hands-on experience. Presentations on topics such as generative AI and smart charging models fueled discussions on the future of automotive tech.

– I’m very excited to listen to the presentation about the Java Native Lambda experiences – a 4-year retrospective on reducing the memory footprint and startup time of Java code in AWS Lambda applications. It’s a project that my team and I have been working on, so I’m very much looking forward to it, said Software Developer Signe Alfonson.

– We enjoyed the keynote on cybersecurity risks in the automotive industry. We also did the Capture the Flag workshop, which was really fun. It was something we'd never done before but always wanted to try. It was great to get some hands-on experience. Next, we're doing the workshop on building generative AI apps on AWS using CDK and Amazon Bedrock, shared Software Engineers Simon Evaldsson and Max Persson.

– This year, AI definitively takes center stage. Dev:Radar has evolved dramatically since we started back in 2019, and 2024 brings a whole new level of excitement. We've not only expanded the range of topics, but we also have more of our own talented colleagues taking the stage. The energy is great, said Monica Murgescu and Mahshid Golbazkhanian, software engineers and event hosts.

The day ended with interactive talks, sparking collaboration and idea-sharing among the participants. As the sun set, the event transformed into an afterwork hangout, where ideas continued to flow long after the last sessions wrapped up.

IMG_2320
DevRadar 2024 China

Dev:Radar in Beijing – cloud, OTA, and telematics security

At the Dev:Radar meetup in Beijing the same week, sessions covered cloud architecture, OTA solutions, system integration, and telematics security, sparking meaningful discussions on how we can continue to shape the future of connected vehicles. Each presentation was packed with valuable, hands-on knowledge, and the energy from both speakers and participants was contagious.

About Dev:Radar – for developers, by developers!

Dev:Radar is an annual event WirelessCar arranges in Sweden and China – by developers, for developers. It offers a unique platform for our teams to come together, explore technical innovations, and address both global and local challenges in automotive connectivity. The purpose is to focus on the tech part of what we do, share knowledge, and boost collaboration throughout the organization.

Would you like to be part of the WirelessCar team? Let’s connect!

Gary Landström
Communication Specialist