About VDCN

A national vehicle data backbone for the UK.

VDCN – the Vehicle Data Communications Network – is conceived as the UK's secure, neutral backbone for vehicle telemetry. It provides the infrastructure, standards and governance needed to support fair road-usage charging and wider mobility policy across the country.

Mission

Our mission.

To provide a secure, neutral and universal vehicle data network that enables fair road-usage charging, better mobility policy and safer, cleaner roads for everyone in the UK.

  • Support fiscal reform of road taxation as fuel duty and VED decline.
  • Give policymakers accurate, near real-time usage data for planning and investment.
  • Protect drivers through clear rights, transparency and structured dispute processes.
  • Provide a platform that can evolve with connected vehicles, EVs and autonomy.

Just as other sectors have dedicated communications and data companies that underpin national services, VDCN is designed to do the same for road transport: a secure, regulated network that everyone can rely on, regardless of which vehicles they drive or which services they use.

Definition

What VDCN is – and is not.

VDCN is:

  • A communications and data infrastructure platform, not a consumer app.
  • A regulated service provider, operating under a defined licence.
  • A neutral intermediary between vehicles, data providers and public bodies.
  • A standards-based hub for telemetry, tariffs, billing and audit.

VDCN is not:

  • A vehicle manufacturer, insurer or marketing company.
  • A tax authority or enforcement agency.
  • A platform that resells personal driver data to third parties.
  • Another proprietary telematics provider competing in the retail market.
Capabilities

Core capabilities of VDCN.

1

Data ingestion & normalisation

VDCN connects to OEM and aggregator APIs, validating and normalising telemetry into a standard, tamper-resistant format that public bodies can trust and audit.

2

Charging & billing engine

A central rules and tariff engine applies national and local policies to calculate charges per trip, per period or per zone, generating clear records linked to registered keepers.

3

DVLA & public-sector integration

Secure export processes provide DVLA and other public bodies with billing records, audit trails and dispute statuses, supporting reconciliation and enforcement where required.

Stakeholders

A single network, many stakeholders.

Central government & treasuries

Use VDCN data to design and operate road-usage taxation that is fair, efficient and sustainable, with clear visibility of revenue and behavioural impacts.

DVLA & enforcement bodies

Receive consistent, verifiable billing records with evidence trails, supporting billing, collection and enforcement processes without bespoke data integrations everywhere.

Local authorities & city regions

Define local road-pricing zones and tariffs (e.g. congestion or clean-air areas) that VDCN implements consistently across vehicles and providers.

OEMs & data aggregators

Connect once to VDCN using agreed security and data standards. From there, their data can support all authorised UK road-usage charging schemes and related public-interest services.

Insurers, fleets & mobility services

With appropriate permissions, use trusted data to design usage-based insurance, fleet optimisation and safety programmes, relying on a single canonical record of vehicle usage.