Meg Selfe is IBM's vice president of Complex and Embedded Systems

Remember the term “Information Superhighway” that everyone was throwing around a few years ago? The Information Superhighway was all about building a computer network that resembled a multi-lane freeway, swiftly transporting large volumes of data “traffic” from one point to another. Today’s Internet is more or less the result.

Now, we’re on the verge of building a second Information Superhighway. This time, instead of a computer network that resembles a highway, we’ll be building highways that resemble computer networks, roads that can capture and analyze traffic data and share that information with drivers.

Tomorrow’s smarter highways will demand smarter cars, and that’s where vehicle telematics comes in. Telematics systems aim to equip cars to send and receive digital information that drivers can use to make their journeys faster, safer, and more economical. Some examples of telematics already available include automatic emergency roadside assistance such as GM’s OnStar service, GPS navigation systems, vehicle tracking, and integrated hands-free cell phones.

The next generation of telematics promises to deliver an even wider variety of information, as both highways and automobiles increasingly become instrumented. In fact, most cars already have the computing power to handle large streams of data. Owning a modern vehicle is something akin to operating a computer on wheels. The average new automobile contains several millions of lines of computer code, and the value of a vehicle’s electronics and computing power continues to rise. In 1990, the electronics and software in the average vehicle accounted for less than 16 percent of a car’s total value. Today, electronics account for nearly 40 percent of the value of a vehicle.

Next generation telematics promise to tap into the computing power that’s already built into modern cars to deliver new services. That already includes everything from automatically seeking and guiding emergency help in the event of an accident, to remotely locking and unlocking vehicle doors from a smartphone, downloading location-based recommendations on hotels, clubs, or restaurants, or locating a stolen vehicle. In the future, telematics may offer drivers predictive traffic flow by analyzing current conditions and how those conditions might be expected to change based on a variety of factors. Instead of receiving information about a traffic jam you’re already stuck in, you’ll be able to anticipate traffic jams before they happen and avoid them.

Insurance firms are also interested in using telematics to gain more information about drivers’ habits. Currently, auto insurance premiums are based on general data such as the type of vehicle being insured, the age and gender of the driver, and where he or she resides. With telematics, insurance companies could offer cheaper “pay-per-use” plans for drivers who don’t use their car often or don’t drive long distances. Insurance companies could also better manage risk by using telematics to aid in stolen vehicle recovery and crash data recording, and cut down on fraud.

IBM recently announced a venture with Hughes Telematics Inc., a leading developer of telematics, and the German company Daimler Fleetboard to develop software platforms that more quickly deliver telematics services to their customers. By using IBM software as the foundation for its telematics system, Daimler Fleetboard will be able to help clients optimize vehicle usage and routing, and deliver new functionality to vehicles remotely, without having to remove the vehicles from service. The improved telematics will allow Daimler Fleetboard’s clients to reduce fuel consumption by 5 to 10 percent, and to save up to 10 percent in telecommunications costs.

By any measure, telematics promises to play a key role as the second Information Superhighway begins to take shape. In-vehicle telematics is expected to be a standard feature in automobiles by 2015. Smarter cars driving smarter highways may do more to alleviate traffic congestion than adding a new lane to a road ever could.