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Toyota Motor Corporation recently opted for IBM (News - Alert) to build and design a new application development platform that will foster the creation of in-car services and will further improve the driver experience.

Under the terms of this partnership, both Toyota and IBM will work together to create an onboard devices and application development environment for Toyota Open Vehicle Architecture.

Officials said that the single development platform will bring together an ecosystem of mobile app developers and content providers that provide content for T-Connect, which is Toyota's new telematics service.

App developers and content providers, with the help of the IBM platform, will be able to better collaborate on building and designing apps for in-car services. The platform will also offer a Software Development Kit for developers of onboard device applications.

Company officials also said that the software allows onboard devices to work on a single application platform, which makes it easier and faster to design and develop applications.

A report issued by the GSMA (News - Alert) and conducted by research firm SBD noted that the global connected vehicle market is predicted to be worth nearly $53 billion in 2018. As the automotive industry continues to produce new vehicles with advanced in-car technology, the demand for developers is increasing.

"As the industry continues to move toward bringing fully connected vehicles to market, new requirements for leveraging innovations in technologies like mobile continue to emerge," said Dirk Wollschlager, general manager, Global Automotive Industry, IBM, in a press statement. "The connected vehicle transformation will require collaboration across disciplines. We are proud to start on that path with Toyota and nurture the power of its thriving ecosystem."

This new project between IBM and Toyota will help accelerate application development and deployment as well as enhance in-car services that will shape the future of connected vehicles.