Alibaba Cloud and Autonomic – a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Smart Mobility – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to bring Autonomic’s ‘Transportation Mobility Cloud’ (TMC) solution for connected vehicles to China.
Enabled by Alibaba Cloud, the TMC will serve as an open, cloud-based platform that provides standardized data and infrastructure for developers to quickly build value-added software programs for interacting with connected vehicles. Alibaba Cloud says this new software could help deliver a better in-vehicle connectivity and mobility experience for Chinese consumers, such as helping residents plan transit journeys, managing a large-scale fleet for a ride-hailing business, and even routing self-driving cars on busy streets.
Both companies also agreed to explore new collaboration opportunities in the transportation and mobility sectors, with the ultimate goal of creating a safer, more efficient and sustainable transportation ecosystem in China.
Autonomic and Alibaba Cloud claim the partnership will be instrumental in shaping China’s transportation ecosystem by empowering multiple parties – including automakers, public transit operators and large-scale fleet operators and software developers – to enhance their vehicle connectivity and mobility experiences for Chinese customers.
“The TMC is positioned to help automakers succeed and meet growing demand for connected vehicles and mobility services in China,” said Gavin Sherry, co-founder and CEO of Autonomic. “Through this partnership with Alibaba Cloud, we will accelerate our vision of creating the largest connected vehicle offering globally, while powering smart cities and vehicle connectivity in China.”
Ford Smart Mobility bought Autonomic in February 2018 to accelerate innovation and delivery speed in mobility initiatives such as the drive toward full connectivity, micro-transit solutions and non-emergency medical transportation.
Autonomic has opened an office and is building a team in Shanghai to further develop and deploy the TMC in China.
Last December, Ford and Alibaba signed a Letter of Intent, agreeing to jointly explore a variety of areas of cooperation including mobility services, connectivity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital marketing as an effort to revolutionize consumers’ mobility experiences in China.
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