The Waterloo, Ont.-based tech company is set to announce its newest service: the Security Credential Management System, which will allow vehicles and traffic lights to securely exchange information. BlackBerry said the service is necessary for the development of smart cities. It will first be used in a 16-kilometre autonomous vehicle test track by Invest Ottawa, the city’s economic development agency. (Bloomberg)

Talking point: The service is the latest in the company’s shift away from its previous life as a smartphone maker toward a focus on software and security services. Between public interest in smart city development, such as Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk Labs’ Quayside project, and financial resources being put towards such projects, as seen in the federal government’s Smart Cities Challenge, this most recent move by BlackBerry will be ripe with both opportunity and competition. Blackberry joins Alphabet’s Coord and Waterloo-based Miovision—both of which focus on monitoring traffic flows—in this space.