Porsche will set up a new software division at its Nardò technical centre in Italy, Electrek reports. The car company will take advantage of nearby software experts and engineers to enter a new era of digitalization that will enable highly automated driving and other features in future electric cars.

The Nardò Technical Center (NTC) currently has more than 20 test tracks and facilities on more than 700 hectares (7,000 acres) of land in Puglia, Italy, with about 185 people helping to offer state-of-the-art engineering services at the NTC, including vehicle testing for more than 90 automotive OEMs worldwide.

Antonio Gratis, managing director at NTC, says the new division will focus specifically on developing highly automated driving functions, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, and connectivity solutions.

The new office will open in the city of Leece, where a 5G network was recently established. Porsche expects the area to provide a rich talent pool of IT engineers, software architects, developers, and computer science graduates to pull from.