Autonomous systems are becoming increasingly prevalent in new vehicles. Due to their environmental friendliness and their remarkable capability to significantly enhance road safety, these vehicles have gained widespread recognition and acceptance in recent years. Automated Driving Systems (ADS) are intricate systems that incorporate a multitude of sensors and actuators to interact with the environment autonomously, pervasively, and interactively. Consequently, numerous studies are currently underway to keep abreast of these rapid developments. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in ADS technologies. It provides in-depth insights into the detailed information about how data and information flow in the distributed system, including autonomous vehicles and other various supporting services and entities. Data validation and system requirements are emphasised, such as security, privacy, scalability, and data ownership, in accordance with regulatory standards. Finally, several current research directions in the AVs field will be discussed.