DENSO Corporation, the world’s second largest mobility supplier, opened its Seattle Innovation Lab, which will strengthen the company’s development of connected technologies and advance its Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform.

The lab supports DENSO’s recent expansion into software-based solutions to complement its hardware expertise, bolsters its North American R&D strategy and helps actualize its long-term plan aimed at creating new value for future mobility. It also furthers DENSO’s exploration of new business domains, such as MaaS, to propel its technology development and contribute to better, safer and more sustainable transportation solutions.

MaaS involves the integration of various forms of transportation services through connected technologies that are accessible on-demand to travelers. In this area, DENSO is already developing cloud computing technology that collects and analyzes data from carsharing fleets and shares it with mobility service providers via the cloud to help improve fleet management.

At DENSO’s Seattle Innovation Lab, the company will collaborate with the city’s many tech companies and universities to further develop its cloud computing technology, including edge computing for automated driving, and speed its platform development for MaaS systems.

The Seattle Innovation Lab is part of DENSO’s global R&D strategy. The strategy includes the recent opening of a similar Innovation Lab in Montréal, Canada, focused on advanced technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), and developmental contributions from DENSO’s other satellite R&D locations in Finland, Israel and San Francisco.