In a world in which everyone can claim many things on social media or in an image film, it is more important than ever to be able to present reliable quality labels. Although a certification process may cost time and effort, it’s vital to be able to prove reliability and quality to customers and partners. In this context, NDS.Live certification is not only an urgent must, but also a credible proof of quality and protection of a company’s intellectual property.
The need for certification arises from the “License Agreement”, that all NDS members have signed. This document defines an “NDS Product” that must undergo the certification process to prove that the implementation is compliant with the specification. André Heinrich, Team Leader Functional Software Development TV-I34 in the Vehicle Solutions and Automated Driving division at IAV GmbH, is the independent coordinator of the Validation Certification Board (VCB) for NDS Association. This is where all NDS.Live certification matters come together. He explains: “The most important message is undoubtedly: The use of NDS.Live must be certified! Even if it costs time and resources: There should be no hesitation so that companies cannot become legally vulnerable.”
NDS.Live Certification and Validation
NDS members contribute their intellectual property and know-how to the NDS.Live specifications. “To protect their IP, they have imposed certification on themselves. In the past, this was a PDF document that indicated when a database was certified. With NDS.Live, the certification processes are automated”, Heinrich adds. While NDS.Classic was static, NDS.Live is a dynamic online service that is constantly changing. The certificate is therefore generated automatically. It also documents that a product sold by an NDS member to a customer complies with the standard. NDS offers a regulatory basis, the Certification Process Specification (CPS), established by the Validation Certification Board (VCB). Furthermore, members benefit from tooling software called Certification Kit. The respective service is first subjected to various tests – validation through software which is continuously updated. A positive analysis of the test results leads to certification. The NDS member carries out the tests independently and also prepares the certification, which is checked by the VCB Coordinator. With the publication of the certificate, the NDS member is legally protected. Key questions are answered in the CPS.
Certification Purpose
The NDS.Live certification is the formalized acknowledgement of the successfully passed validation of all requirements defined in an NDS.Live Certification profile. The Certification serves the following purposes:
Certification Components The NDS.Live certification process certifies the compliance of NDS.Live assets and NDS.Live applications with the NDS.Live specification. For certification, NDS Association provides specific tools, the so-called NDS.Live Certification Kit to all NDS members. The NDS.Live Certification Kit uses several certification profiles to cover the certification requirements for the object of certification
The main goal of certification is to ensure that an NDS.Live asset runs properly. Certification verifies that the NDS.Live asset complies with the NDS specification. Certification does not verify the content quality of data, for example, the correctness of geographical data. Certification focuses on interoperability only.
If an NDS.Live asset has been successfully certified, the Certification Lab may generate the certificate and the certification reports for the applied certification profiles. The NDS member company may then provide its NDS.Live service as certified. All certificates shall be published on an NDS repository for documentation.
Do you have additional questions about NDS.Live and its certification? Please send an e-mail to: support@nds-association.org.
Here you can log in to the NDS.Live Developer Portal.
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