Red Hat has announced its plans to deliver a functional-safety certified, evolving Linux operating system for the automotive industry. Built from the components of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and in collaboration with exida, this operating system will be designed for continuous updates throughout its lifecycle while still retaining crucial functional safety certifications.

This brings greater flexibility to the automotive software ecosystem, enabling vehicle manufacturers and their partners to focus on innovative driving experiences with confidence in the behavior of the underlying foundation, which will be developed and maintained by Red Hat and continuously certified by exida.

Red Hat has engaged with exida to help prepare for ISO 26262 certification, an international standard governing the functional safety of electronic systems on road-vehicles. The ISO 26262 standard is the adaptation of IEC 61508 series of standards to address the sector specific needs of electrical and/or electronic systems within road vehicles.

The adaptation applies to all activities during the safety lifecycle of safety-related systems comprising electrical, electronic and software components.

Through this collaboration, Red Hat and exida will work towards the continuous certification of the intended Red Hat automotive Linux offering.