Blackberry Partners With Jaguar Land Rover

Jaguar Land Rover

Canadian software company Blackberry Ltd. (NYSE:BB) will officially be partnering with automotive company Jaguar Land Rover to create new automotive technology for Jaguar’s next-generation vehicles.

The multi-year deal was announced March 21 and Jaguar, owned by Indian motor company Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE:TTM), will be licensing Blackberry’s QNX and Certicom technology, along with a team of engineers, in order to develop the next generation of Jaguar Land Rover vehicles.

The engineers will specifically be supporting the development of the automotive company’s Electronic Control Unit (ECU) modules. The first project of the ECU modules will be a new infotainment system.

Jaguar Land Rover’s vehicle engineering director Dave Nesbitt said “working with BlackBerry will enable [Jaguar Land Rover] to develop the safe and secure next-generation connected car [their] customers want.”

A partnership with Jaguar Land Rover, one of the UK’s largest manufacturers, could open more doors for Blackberry to work with other companies under Tata Ltd.

John Wall, Senior Vice President and GM of Blackberry QNX, believes that “we are at a pivotal moment, where innovative automakers, such as Jaguar Land Rover, are realizing they need to take an active role in defining the software architecture for their vehicles.”  

Starting in 2020, all new Jaguar Land Rover vehicles will be electric.

In recent years, the company has started to put more of an emphasis on their car software, including, but not limited to, new car entertainment software and the development of Blackberry Radar – a tracking and monitoring system.

Within the past year, the company has garnered several partnerships with many other companies, including one with Microsoft that was announced March 19.

>>>Blackberry Teams Up With Microsoft

Blackberry now creates some of the most state-of-the-art cybersecurity technology made to protect and reduce hardware, software, applications and end-to-end systems from cyber attack. Do you think this partnership will be fruitful? Leave us a comment below.

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About the author: Nicky graduated with a BA in Journalism and a Minor in English from Kwantlen Polytechnic University. She has written on a variety of different topics including fashion, beauty, entertainment and finance. Her favourite things to do are travel (when she can) and to spend time with friends and family, including her dog Kobe.