It’s about 2,500 miles from the spiritual home of the automotive industry M and A deals in Detroit, Michigan, to the heart of the tech world in Silicon Valley – but the gap between the two is narrowing rapidly.

As automotive companies try to focus on their future amidst a frenzy of technological development, their counterparts in the tech world clearly see a connected future for transportation and mobility.

Much like the aviation industry was transformed by avionics in the last century, the automotive sector is on a similar trajectory now, with connected electronic systems taking a bigger role in the control, monitoring, communication, safety and navigation of the vehicle.

The pace of electronics adoption in the auto-industry is blistering. However, unlike the aviation industry, who had time to develop the required electronic skills in-house, automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must partner with the tech-sector to equip themselves for success.

Choosing the right technology partners as these two industries converge is vital, particularly as the two industries move at different speeds. It is what auditor KPMG calls ‘the clock speed dilemma’.

The automotive sector is familiar with timescales in the 5-7 year range, while Moore’s Law has governed the pace of technology development for the past 50 years.

The semiconductor sector, where Moore’s Law was formed, has an unmistakable characteristic: it doesn’t wait to be asked to make better, faster and smaller chips, it does so automatically as a core part of its industry DNA.

And while some data-native companies – technology firms with ambitions in the ‘intelligent mobility’ sector – try to overtake and outmanoeuvre Detroit, the automobile OEMs who can figure out how to collaborate most efficiently with their tech partners, may well be the ones who thrive as their sector is transformed.

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