Driving Simulation Association

What Driving Simulation Association does

The Driving Simulation Association (DSA) is a French nonprofit professional association founded in 2015 to advance driving simulation across research, development, application, and product domains. Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, the association convenes the global driving simulation community through three primary offerings: the annual Driving Simulation Conference (DSC) Europe, held since 1995 and drawing 300-350+ participants from approximately 20 countries alongside 30-40+ exhibitors; the Driving Simulation Proceedings, an online scientific journal indexed by Scopus since April 2021 that publishes peer-reviewed papers dating back to the 1995 conference; and the 3DAV Explore mobile application, which lets users observe autonomous-vehicle traffic scenarios via gyroscope and VR headset controls. The association also operates an Expertise Services practice covering driving simulation and VR configuration, verification/audit, and motion sickness studies.

DSA is governed by a five-member Executive Board led by Andras Kemeny (President, also Renault Expert Leader Immersive Simulation and Arts et Métiers Professor) and Florent Colombet (Treasurer, Renault Technocenter), with representation from Arts et Métiers and Université Gustave Eiffel. Corporate donating members include Ansys, AVSimulation, Cruden, VI-grade, and AI Motive, while participating OEMs include Renault, Stellantis, and BMW. The association has executed strategic alliances with the European Training and Simulation Association (ETSA, 2020), the Société des Ingénieurs de l'Automobile (SIA, 2019), and the DSC Europe VR Technical Committee (2020), and formed the VRise joint venture with SCALE-1 Portal in 2025 to commercialize cybersickness mitigation tools.

DSA's business model combines subscription recurring revenue from individual and corporate membership fees (which unlock proceedings downloads, conference discounts, wiki contributions, and a free expertise session), transaction fee revenue from DSC Europe registration and exhibition, and a freemium layer for the Proceedings journal (free to read, member-only to download). Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market motion is community-led, relying on organic content marketing, the annual conference, seminars, and digital channels (website, LinkedIn, YouTube) to attract and retain members across automotive manufacturers, simulation technology providers, and academic researchers globally.

Name

Driving Simulation Association

Legal name

Driving Simulation Association

Website

https://driving-simulation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Driving Simulation Association is a French nonprofit that convenes the global driving simulation community through the annual DSC Europe conference, a Scopus-indexed Proceedings journal, expertise services, and the 3DAV Explore mobile app. It serves automotive OEMs, simulation technology providers, and academic researchers worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Automobile Driving Schools (611692)

SIC

Services-Racing, Including Track Operation (7948)

akta.pro primary industry

Motorsport Driver Training Schools & Racing Academies (MPAKAJAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Autonomous Driving & ADAS Perception (HDAAAEAI)

Keywords

• Driving simulation
• Professional association
• Scientific conference
• Motion sickness research
• Autonomous vehicle testing

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulogne-billancourt

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: Annual membership fees providing access to various benefits including proceedings downloads, conference discounts, wiki contributions, and expertise services.
2. Conference registration: Revenue from DSC Europe conference and exhibition registrations. Members receive reduced registration fees.
3. Proceedings access: Proceedings are free to read for everyone on the proceedings website, but a DSA membership is required to download papers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Driving Simulation Association is a nonprofit professional association that convenes and serves the global driving simulation community. It organizes the annual Driving Simulation Conference (DSC) Europe, publishes the Scopus-indexed Driving Simulation Proceedings, runs a tiered membership program, offers paid Expertise Services in driving simulation configuration and motion sickness, and distributes the 3DAV Explore mobile application for autonomous vehicle visualization.

Product overview

The Driving Simulation Association (DSA) is a professional community organization rather than a traditional software product company. Its portfolio consists of five main offerings: the 3DAV Explore mobile application for observing autonomous vehicle traffic scenarios; the annual DSC Europe conference and exhibition for driving simulation researchers and practitioners; the Scopus-indexed Driving Simulation Proceedings scientific journal; a membership program providing access to conference discounts, proceedings, and community resources; and Expertise Services offering consulting on driving simulation and VR technologies. These offerings work together to serve the driving simulation community of developers and users.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Driving Simulation Proceedings: Online scientific journal indexed by Scopus, publishing papers on driving simulation since 2016
• DSC Europe
• 3DAV Explore

Products and services

• Driving Simulation Conference (DSC) Europe Annual scientific conference bringing together driving simulation specialists from industrial, academic, and commercial simulation provider communities to present research and developments in driving simulation technology and virtual reality.
• Driving Simulation Proceedings Online scientific journal, indexed by Scopus since April 2021, publishing papers on driving simulation technology, virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, ADAS applications, and human factors. Free to read for everyone; downloads require DSA membership.
• DSA Membership Professional community membership program providing access to conference discounts, proceedings downloads, wiki contributions, seminar registration, and job/traineeship posting capabilities for individuals, enterprises, and institutions in the driving simulation field.
• Expertise Services Advisory and consulting services based on DSA's 25 years of experience covering driving simulation and VR use cases, technology configuration setup, experimentation verification and audit, and motion sickness studies. One free session is offered to corporate members.
• 3DAV Explore Application Mobile application that allows users to observe traffic situations involving autonomous vehicles, including complex lane merging scenarios, with gyroscope-based viewpoint control and VR headset support for immersive viewing.

Quantifiable outcome

• Proceedings indexed by Scopus since April 2021
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• VRiseminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 March 2025Joint venture between DSA and SCALE-1 Portal, offering immersive technologies and applications. VRise develops solutions for combating cybersickness in virtual reality, including the VRise Removal plugin.
• DSC Europe VR Technical CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 October 2020Technical committee composed of simulation specialists from prominent companies and major car manufacturers across Europe including Renault, BMW, Daimler, Magneti Marelli, and IRT SystemX. Responsible for advancing technical standards in driving simulation.
• ETSA (European Training and Simulation Association)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2020Strategic Associate Membership Agreement between ETSA and DSA. The partnership supports the growth in mutual networking opportunities and ETSA's mission to promote Modelling, Simulation & Training (MS&T) Industries in Europe. DSA will enhance its communications and share the latest news and innovations in driving simulation fields with a wider community.
• SIA (Société des Ingénieurs de l'Automobile)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 14 March 2019Partnership between DSA and French Society of Automotive Engineers for promotion and success of events related to Simulation. DSA members can benefit from the SIA Member price for SIA events. Joint collaboration on simulation conferences and exhibitions.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE): Global professional society for systems engineering with annual international symposium and working groups. Comparable in structure as a professional society running conferences and publications, though its domain (systems engineering) is broader than driving simulation.
• VDI — Verein Deutscher Ingenieure: Germany's largest engineering association, with extensive conference programming and publications. Comparable to DSA as a professional engineering society running events, but at a vastly larger scale and broader engineering scope.
• Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI): Largest nonprofit organization serving the unmanned and autonomous vehicle ecosystem with major industry events (e.g., XPONENTIAL). Overlaps with DSA in autonomous-driving community engagement but is broader in scope (drones, robotics, maritime).
• SAE International: Premier global automotive engineering professional society with a broad portfolio of conferences, journals, and standards. Comparable to DSA in that both are nonprofit professional associations serving automotive engineers with conferences and peer-reviewed publications, but SAE operates at far greater scale and broader scope.

Regional players

• Société des Ingénieurs de l'Automobile (SIA): French society of automotive engineers organizing conferences and technical events in France. DSA has an existing partnership with SIA; both serve automotive engineering communities primarily in France and offer reciprocal member benefits.

Direct peers

• NAFEMS: International association for engineering modeling, analysis, and simulation, running conferences, training, and publications. Directly comparable to DSA as a specialist professional association organizing an annual simulation community event with academic and industry tracks.
• Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO): International organization dedicated to advancing simulation interoperability through conferences, working groups, and standards. Directly comparable to DSA as a specialist simulation community running annual conferences serving both industry and academia.
• European Training and Simulation Association (ETSA): European association promoting Modelling, Simulation & Training industries. DSA has an existing Strategic Associate Membership with ETSA; both organizations serve simulation professionals through events and industry advocacy in Europe.
• IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society: IEEE technical society focused on intelligent transportation systems and autonomous vehicles, organizing flagship conferences (IEEE ITSC) and journals. Closely comparable to DSA in serving the autonomous-driving research community with annual conferences and peer-reviewed venues.
• FISITA: International federation of automotive engineering societies running global congresses and technical events. Comparable to DSA as a federation-style association serving automotive engineers with international conferences, though at a broader vehicular-engineering scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6hkVvA4aPjh2aeyEPJI-kg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/driving-simulation-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Driving Simulation Association