Japan’s government will reportedly team up with the country’s automakers, including Toyota and Nissan, to develop intelligent maps in the country by 2018, a technology key for autonomous driving.

According to the Nikkei Daily, Japan is working towards generating standardised intelligent maps, incorporated with driver data, and will see the country’s automakers, map making companies and the government collaborate on the project.

Intelligent mapping systems provide the essential information required to control self-driving cars, and also provide technology to share location data with other map users.

HERE
The news in Japan follows a report at the end of last week linking German auto supplier Bosch with taking a potential stake in mapping business HERE, as interest in the business formerly developed by Nokia continues to hot up.

Reuters reports the company is in talks with BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen, the consortium that bought HERE last year from the Finnish vendor for €2.8 billion, about taking a stake, while the talks are also designed to ensure that Bosch can continue to offer services to HERE customers.

Amazon, Microsoft, car maker Renault and auto supplier Continental have also reportedly been in talks about taking a stake in HERE.