Experts on self-driving cars from the US, the UK, Germany and Japan gathered in Seoul on Monday to urge for swift establishment of global standards for advanced self-driving cars in order for related technologies to further advance, according to the government here Monday.

An international conference on standardization of self-driving cars, hosted by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, was attended by around 200 experts, who shared information and knowledge on technologies, standards, laws and infrastructure of self-driving cars, and discussed the necessity of international standardization of technologies.

The conference kicked off with a keynote speech from Hyundai Motor Executive Ryu Nam-gyu, who presented Korea’s technological development of self-driving cars and highlighted the importance of setting standards for advanced self-driving cars.

“It is important to have global standardization for (automakers) to expand markets through mobility services and for the safety of self-driving cars,” Ryu said. 

Standardization of self-driving cars is being developed by ISO / TC 204, a technical committees of the International Organization for Standardization, which is responsible for overall system aspects and infrastructure aspects of intelligent transport systems.

Most of the standards for the first and second stages of self-driving cars -- also called advanced driver assistance systems -- have already been developed. Standards for the third and fourth stages are still being developed.

The experts who gathered in Seoul shared each of their nation’s efforts in standardization to boost the commercialization of high-level self-driving cars. Self-driving cars on highways and fallback performances were mainly discussed, according to an official.

Ryu’s speech was followed by Satoshi Hiyama’s, from Honda’s automobile research and development center, who presented Japan’s self-driving system strategies, including its cross-ministerial strategic innovation promotion program.

Japan has set national goals to reduce the number of annual traffic fatalities to 2,500 by 2020 with the development of automated driving systems, including next-generation urban transportation infrastructure.

Steve Shladover, the US representative from the International Organization for Standardization, talked about the current situation of US self-driving cars and prospects.

Siddartha Khastgir and Thorsten Leonhardt, the UK and German representatives respectively, also shared about the current situation of self-driving cars in their nations.

Lee Seung-woo, chief of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, said, “Self-driving cars are an area that urgently needs global cooperation. We hope this conference can become a stepping stone to accelerate global cooperation in the sector.”

Hyundai Motor plans to build mobility service business models, including the operation of self-driving robot taxis by 2021, in cooperation with global companies. 

By Shin Ji-hye(shinjh@heraldcorp.com)