Autonomic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Smart Mobility LLC, has signed a MoU with Alibaba Cloud to 'bring to China the Transportation Mobility Cloud (TMC)'. The TMC is described as an open, cloud-based platform developed by Autonomic for connected cars.
Enabled by Alibaba Cloud in China, the TMC will also provide standardised data and infrastructure for developers to 'help them deliver better experiences, like helping residents plan transit journeys, manage a large-scale fleet for a ride-hailing business, or even routing self-driving cars on busy streets'.
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Under the agreement, the two companies aim to empower multiple parties in the transportation ecosystem – automakers, large-scale fleet operators and application developers – to enhance vehicle connectivity and mobility experiences for Chinese customers
Both companies will also 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 said they believe this 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.
Both companies also agreed to explore new collaboration opportunities in the transportation and mobility sectors.
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By GlobalData"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."
"Alibaba Cloud and Autonomic share the same vision of redefining the future of vehicle connectivity through technology," said Simon Hu from Alibaba Cloud. "With our new collaboration, we will be able to empower the transportation ecosystem and ultimately benefit the end users."
In February 2018, Ford Smart Mobility announced its acquisition of Autonomic to accelerate innovation and delivery speed in mobility initiatives like 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.
"This partnership between Autonomic and Alibaba Cloud marks another significant milestone in our cooperation with Alibaba in China, and supports our vision of becoming the world's most trusted mobility company," said Peter Fleet, Ford group vice president and president of Ford Asia Pacific. "Working with Alibaba, we aim to help shape the future of mobility in one of the world's largest and most dynamic markets."
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.
Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com), the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, claims to be among the world's top three IaaS providers according to Gartner, and the largest provider of public cloud services in China, according to IDC. Alibaba Cloud provides a suite of cloud computing services to businesses worldwide, including merchants doing business on Alibaba Group marketplaces, start-ups, corporations and government organisations.
