[Web and Automotive] shift into high gear on the Web - Intecs and ISTI-CNR position paper

Intecs is an italian large enterprise privately held that operates in the following domains: aerospace, defense, transportation, telecommunications. One of the most relevant activity for Intecs is the design and development of smart systems, based on the M2M paradigm, from the sensors to the application software passing through the communication middleware, applied to the automotive and mobility markets. Intecs is active both in industrial partnerships and in national and international R&D projects. Intecs is an ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) member, active in the ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) and M2M technical committes, is an AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open Systems Architecture) premium member, a GENIVI member and also operates within the OneM2M.org. The Signals & Images Lab is a Research Laboratory of ISTI-CNR working in the fields of signal processing, image understanding and artificial vision. The Lab was born on the consideration that sensorial information is increasing its importance in both our daily life and the most advanced technological and scientific contexts. In particular, visual and audio information is becoming the most significant part of the global information to be processed, understood and manipulated. Nowadays, more than 35 people actively participate to the Lab, bringing together expertise ranging from computer science to mathematics, from physics to engineering. The general goal of the Lab is to increase the knowledge in the fields of signal processing, image understanding and artificial vision, in both theoretical and applicative contexts. This is achieved by studying and developing models, computer-based methods and machines for the formation, elaboration, analysis and recognition of images and signals, and by applying these methods and techniques to several sectors of the public and private society having strategic, scientific and technological interests. Carrying out these activities, the Lab has paid great attention to the development of semantic web technologies with the strong conviction that the web is the ideal platform for offering a rich range of benefits and smart services connected to the understanding of multimedia information. The Lab has participated to W3C activities including the Multimedia Semantics (MMSEM) Incubator Group. The Lab is currently involved in both Italian and European projects for infomobility and smart traffic management. The main focus is the design and development of innovative algorithms for real-time image understanding for the analysis of traffic flows and parking lot availability. The lab is interested in the possibility to integrate --thanks to the web-- real-time information derived from pervasive sensor nodes inside the car and scattered along roads and cities with traffic models for personalized services. Viewpoint: Transportation systems are evolving towards Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), where there is closed loop interaction between vehicles/drivers and the transportation infrastructure, as enabled by cooperative V2X communications and cellular networks. While some of the enabling technologies are entering their mature phase, e.g., traffic flow sensors and IEEE 802.11p, there is still the need of a complete integrated solution that can take the most benefits from a real-time analysis of the data gathered and appropriate reaction on the transportation system. This requires a higher level of intelligence to be integrated into the sensing and communication infrastructures, with decentralized aggregation and decision for robust and timely decisions to be taken. Finally, an additional and significant improvement can be brought by using tools that enable a pro-active decision making process, with the integration of predictive mo