SK Telecom said Wednesday it will form an alliance with four global map developers to launch a global standard high-definition map for autonomous driving.

Dubbed the “OneMap Alliance,” SKT and HERE Technologies of Europe, NavInfo of China and Pioneer of Japan will co-develop the first global HD map for North America, Europe and Asia for autonomous car manufacturers and GPS service providers by 2020. 

The HD map is a digital representation of the road environment that utilizes visual and other types of observations of millions of cars to make self-corrections.

HERE is a leading provider of high-definition mapping that is currently developing the HD Live Map service that will cover more than 1 million kilometers of roads in North America, Europe, South Korea, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates by the end of this year.

SKT will provide its fifth-generation telecommunications and mobile navigation technologies for the alliance, while Europe’s HERE is expected to share with the partners its HD map solutions and other technology standards for the map.

The upcoming HD map will adopt a real-time updating solution that will be crucial for autonomous vehicles to judge driving courses by recognizing any abrupt changes in roads and surroundings, SKT said.

“HD mapping is the key technology for self-driving cars,” said Huh Il-gyu, head of the internet of things and data business at SKT. “The company is planning to provide integrated services of HD map with the car monitoring and smart city system.” 

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)