“Digitally-enabled functions will play a crucial role in the future of the automotive industry. With our new software division, we can develop and test these kinds of functions for our customers directly on site,” says Antonio Gratis, Managing Director of NTC. The focus of the new division will lie on highly automated driving functions, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication as well as connectivity solutions. It represents another step in NTC’s continuous evolution from a unique testing center into an integrated technology hub and is closely integrated into the end-to-end development and validation network of Porsche Engineering.
The software division will open its doors in Lecce, a city that combines a close proximity to NTC and a wide education, talent and partner network. The office is planned to serve as an innovation laboratory in which software experts and engineers will collaborate on state-of-the-art solutions that can then be tested in real-time on NTC’s test tracks – also due to the recently installed 5G network on-site.
“We are proud to establish the software division in this prestigious area,” continues Gratis. “We have profound ties to this region, to its people and the potential they possess, and we are proud that the digitalization of the automotive industry also leads through this territory.”
NTC plans to hire highly specialised professionals, including IT engineers, software architects, developers, and computer science graduates for the new division. Besides that, the promotion of digital skills of its workforce as well as the extended collaboration with local partners, as for example with the University of Salento, will represent central pillars in the software initiative of NTC.
Nardò Technical Center
Nardò Technical Center in Puglia—since 2012 operated by Porsche Engineering Group GmbH—develops and tests connected and intelligent vehicles of the future. Founded in 1975, it now operates more than 20 test tracks and test facilities on more than 700 hectares and employs more than 185 people. Nardò Technical Center offers state-of-the-art engineering services for testing the vehicles of more than 90 automotive companies worldwide. Nardò Technical Center's high-speed ring in Salento is unique in the world with a length of 12.6 kilometers, allowing vehicles to be tested under extreme conditions. Throughout its history, Nardò Technical Center has hosted tests of considerable importance, in several cases setting records of international significance.
About Porsche Engineering
Porsche Engineering Group GmbH is an international technology partner to the automotive industry with locations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Romania, and China. The subsidiary of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG is developing the intelligent and connected vehicle of the future for its customers—including functions and software. Some 1,700 engineers and software developers are dedicated to the latest technologies, for example in the fields of highly automated driving functions, e-mobility and high-voltage systems, connectivity, and artificial intelligence. Their aim is to carry the tradition of Ferdinand Porsche’s design office, founded in 1931, into the future and develop the digital vehicle technologies of tomorrow. In doing so, they combine in-depth vehicle expertise with digital and software expertise.
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