Key Insights from Interchange 2026 Roundtable

Imagine a future where every journey is safer, smarter, and more efficient. This was the central ambition when senior leaders from mobility, automotive, technology, and public sectors came together at Interchange 2026. The challenge we set was how to unlock the true value of connected vehicle services for customers and UK PLC.

The roundtable, held under Chatham House Rule, began with one game-changing goal we should strive for, before pivoting to exploring the value exchange for customers in sharing connected vehicle data. We rounded off the session looking at the barriers to adoption and transition as well as what's genuinely working across different sectors.

Ambition for 2035: Setting the Direction

We began with an envisaging activity. Participants identified their one game-changing goal for connected vehicle services by 2035, where connected vehicle services data could become:

• The new ‘seatbelt’: just as the modern three-point seatbelt redefined safety and its patent given for free to the world, safety-related connected vehicle data should be universally and freely accessible
• Second nature to drivers, like fuel efficiency or battery range: supported by Euro NCAP's 2026 protocols which explicitly score vehicles on hazard warning data sharing for the first time. The value exchange for drivers to share data should be unmistakeable and seamlessly integrated into the vehicle purchase experience, not feeling clumsy or invasive
• Underpinned by a ‘common language’: built on a 'data dictionary' for drivers/customers, OEMS and highways authorities, explaining what data exists, how it can be used, and why it can be relied upon
• Associated with real, tangible value: with developed ways to incentivise customer data sharing by assigning a quantifiable value to contributed data. This value could be applied as a direct offset against various road-related costs, for example Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)

Turning data into everyday value
a compelling proposition is essential

Participants highlighted how the willingness of customers to pay for connected technologies remains comparatively low in developed automotive markets. While customers are often willing to share data from many of their mobile-related applications, they appear more reluctant to share data about their vehicles.

The group saw the challenge being the failure to establish a clear value exchange for customers and building trust at scale. Customers are more likely to share data and adopt new services when benefits are clear, immediate, and relevant to their journeys.

Everyone agreed that our sectors must shift from merely collecting data to using it for meaningful, perceptible outcomes for customers. For example, if customers could see and experience improved safety-driven maintenance of their vehicles in exchange for sharing data.

This would demand a deeply customer-centric approach, acknowledging the diverse needs and priorities across user groups.

Most participants vocally supported more targeted education in this space, a critical intervention to help customers understand how data sharing could improve both individual and collective outcomes in safety and cost efficiency.

Looking ahead - moving beyond pilots and having a clear goal

Success, it was agreed, means the UK moving beyond isolated pilots to integrated, scalable, everyday solutions. Participants underscored the importance of leveraging successful connected services initiatives that are already proven and scaled internationally. This avoids redundant piloting efforts, a graveyard of proof of concepts, and would help accelerate deployment.

For example, international precedents, particularly from Nordic countries, demonstrate significant advancements in utilising connected vehicle services for critical applications like winter maintenance.

Recognising the need for a strategic policy focus, the Department for Transport (DfT) recently announced its Connected Vehicle Services (CVS) Framework; an initiative designed to define, standardize, and accelerate the deployment of connected vehicle technologies on UK roads. It aims to establish a consistent "toolkit" for digital roads, moving from policy formulation to funding and pilot delivery.

This prompted further exploration by participants on what specific customer experience might the UK prioritise for optimisation through connected vehicle services - like the Nordics have with winter maintenance. One area could be addressing the challenge of potholes, one of the UK's most pervasive infrastructure issues, with an estimated 1m potholes causing significant safety risks and damage to vehicles.The discussion was fruitful, calling for further conversation and more collaborative efforts. Overall, it highlighted the significant potential of connected vehicle data to transform our journeys, improve everyday life, and help people get where they need to go safely and smoothly.

To explore how National Highways Digital Lab is actively shaping this future and putting people at the heart of data, discover more about our work.