The latest edition of TACHELES – the alternative conference on autonomous and connected driving – took place on May 22–23, 2025, at the CyberForum in Karlsruhe. This year, many familiar faces met even more new ones. The event welcomed experts from the automotive and supplier industries, researchers, and members of the Open Source software development community.

All open – All in? Source, Data, Coopetition for Autonomous Driving
This year’s big question was whether the third TACHELES event could live up to the success of the first two – and the answer is clearly yes. With over 100 participants, the event, organized by the FZI Research Center for Information Technology and supported by the Ministry of Transport of Baden-Württemberg, fully met the expectations. The topic clearly hit the mark.

Collaboration as the key to the Software Defined Vehicle
Two very different worlds, which are often skeptical of each other, came together at the conference with a clear message: more cooperation is needed. On one side are car manufacturers and their highly specialized suppliers, who have mostly focused on proprietary software. On the other side is the Open Source community, which relies on collective intelligence. Universities and research institutions find themselves in the middle, trying to stay connected to both sides.

Exactly how and to what extent these groups can collaborate on software development for autonomous driving remains an open question – even after this year’s conference. However, everyone agrees that working together makes sense. Resources are limited, while the need for innovation and technology development is huge if real progress is to be made in autonomous driving.

Talks, workshops, and panel on business models, simulation, successful collaboration, and data
Throughout the talks, workshops, and the panel discussion, the differences between traditional automotive development and the Open Source approach were a common theme. While there is mutual understanding, and everyone knows that developing a Software Defined Vehicle requires new ways of thinking, it's still unclear how quickly and effectively both worlds can come together and collaborate in concrete ways.

Despite these uncertainties, participants viewed the conference as a valuable starting point for further discussions and even potential joint development projects.

A successful format – now established
In close collaboration with the FZI Research Center for Information Technology, EICT designed, developed, and organized the TACHELES format for the third time – covering everything from logo and visual identity to marketing, speaker and participant management, event logistics, catering, registration, and on-site support. After three successful editions, this unique conference on autonomous and connected driving is now firmly established. A fourth edition is already planned for 2026.

www.tacheles-avf.de

Photo: FZI/Sandra Göttisheim