SINGAPORE - The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) have agreed to collaborate on research on autonomous vehicles (AV).

A research collaboration agreement was signed on Thursday (Sept 28) between TNO and the Centre of Excellence for Testing and Research of Autonomous Vehicles - NTU (Cetran).

The collaboration aims to accelerate the safe introduction of autonomous vehicles in Singapore and the Netherlands, a TNO spokesman said in a media release on Thursday.

Formed in 2016, Cetran supports the Land Transport Authority in the development of test requirements to enable the safe, large-scale deployment of autonomous vehicles here, with an outdoor test track scheduled to open later this year.

TNO has conducted vehicle platooning tests - where a human-driven vehicle leads a convoy of driverless ones via wireless communications - on public roads, using cars first in 2012, and trucks in 2015.

The two bodies will collaborate on a programme addressing the operational safety and security of autonomous vehicles, with TNO contributing Streetwise, a scenario-based methodology that uses real-life data to generate public road scenarios for the virtual testing of autonomous driving.

Cetran programme director Niels de Boer said: "This specific partnership on AV safety case testing and simulation supports NTU in building a credible engine that will achieve our strategic goals."

Said TNO chief operating officer Wim Nagtegaal: "I am convinced this agreement is a great way to expand our collaboration, jointly developing the safe implementation of autonomous vehicles in an urban environment, with expected results applicable both to Singapore and the Netherlands."

The Government sees AVs as a key part of the Republic's move towards a car-lite future.Three years ago, it formed the Committee of Autonomous Road Transport to chart the direction for self-driving technology.