BlackBerry Opens Research Center for Self-Driving Vehicles

Canada’s BlackBerry Ltd. is opening a research center near its QNX Software Systems unit headquarters outside Ottawa, Ontario, to develop software operating systems for autonomous vehicles.

BlackBerry says it will spend about C$100 million ($76 million) on the center over the next few years to help position the company as a leader in the field. BlackBerry announced in September it will stop making smartphones.

The company aims to hire as many as 600 software developers to support its new focus. CEO John Chen says QNX also is looking for partners such as Google.

BlackBerry acquired QNX, which is known primarily for software used to manage vehicle infotainment devices, in 2010. Early this year CEO Chen noted that QNX platforms could similarly be developed to manage robotic car controls and services based on vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure connectivity.

Bloomberg News reported two months ago that Apple Inc. had hired about two dozen QNX engineers, along with founder-CEO Dan Dodge, to help develop Apple’s operating system for self-driving vehicles. Apple also opened a local office near QNX headquarters.