Ford and Autonomic Collaborate with Amazon Cloud on Connected Car Services

author: Michael Cheng   

Ford's plans to become a leader of connected car services are steadily coming to fruition. Leveraging Autonomic, a startup acquired by the company in 2018, the automaker recently announced a multi-year agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The collaboration securely underpins Ford's Transportation Mobility Cloud (TMC) platform, which hosts a plethora of connected car applications, data-sharing programs and smart services. For Amazon, bringing the two parties on the AWS Partner Network (APN) allows the tech giant to deepen its roots within the connected car ecosystem.

Multi-year Global Agreement

The presence of AWS supports Ford expansive vision for the TMC. From the start, the Detroit-based car manufacturer stressed that the cloud platform would be open to automakers, fleet owners and cities looking to reduce time spent on developing their own connected solutions for vehicles. To support collaboration, the TMC does not favor any specific car brands and takes an open approach to development.

"This collaboration will significantly expand our opportunity to deliver the very best experiences to Ford vehicle and mobility customers," said Marcy Klevorn, President of Ford Mobility.

"I am excited that our future cloud standard for connected vehicle solutions will be powered by AWS in addition to Autonomic's Transportation Mobility Cloud."

Businesses creating cloud-based apps for vehicles could utilize the TMC to streamline several aspects of development. All participants under the group would be able to integrate a wide arrange of offerings with similar standards implemented by the platform. According to a blog post published by Ford, the TMC will achieve this through a common data-sharing language between vehicles and automotive apps.

Powering the Future of Transportation from the Cloud

The AWS agreement marks a significant step forward in building the TMC platform. Revealed during CES 2018, the nascent technology is designed to connect services, networks and data across various sources within the evolving auto sector. Ford aims to achieve full (100 percent) compatibility with cars and automotive services by the end of 2019. At the moment, the TMC supports location-based services, real-time alerts for congested areas and service disruption, etc.

There are several use cases such products. For instance, fleet managers may benefit from the TMC's routing, geo-location and vehicle identity features, resulting in optimized delivery schedules. Additionally, developers of smartphone apps could use the TMC to bake in cutting-edge functions that require connected solutions, such as providing updated maps of EV charging stations. With this in mind, the TMC literally becomes a bridge between connected car applications and vehicles on the road.

"This marks the next stage of what has already been an immensely gratifying collaborative relationship with AWS," said Gavin Sherry, CEO of Autonomic.

"One of the many goals we have in common is to build a cohesive framework for vehicle makers and developers, allowing them to focus on creating some of the best experiences for customers who use our connectivity systems."

The TMC has actively grown its network of participants since its inception. The platform's partners currently include: Alibaba Cloud, Aptiv, Swarm, rideOS and Dashero.

Michael Cheng

Michael Cheng is a legal editor and technical writer with publications for Blackberry ISHN Magazine Houzz and Payment Week. He specializes in technology business and digesting hard data. Outside of work Michael likes to train for marathons spend time with his daughter and explore new places.