AWS bags multi-year deal to support Ford-backed bid to create open connected car cloud platform

A Ford Motor Company-backed bid to create an open cloud platform to support the future development of connected cars has secured multi-year support from Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The public cloud giant has agreed to a worldwide deal that will see it play host to the Transportation Mobility Cloud (TMC) platform created by Ford-owned entity Autonomic.

The platform is designed to speed up the time it takes automobile manufacturers to create their own connected car experiences by providing them with a ready-made environment where they can access the building blocks they need to create bespoke applications.

These include fleet management applications or those that enable the providers of self-driving cars to accurately map the routes they want their vehicles to take, for example.

“One of the many goals we have in common [with AWS] 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,” said Gavin Sherry, co-founder and CEO of Autonomic.

 “Now, with the announcement of this strategic collaboration, our platforms’ capabilities will expand greatly.”

The platform also offers bi-directional connectivity between the cloud and the cars TMC is tethered to, enabling them to securely feedback vehicle data in real-time which can be made available to software developers and other third parties to hone their connected car offerings.  

The platform is already on its way to becoming the standard connected car technology used in Ford vehicles, according to Autonomic, but its creators have set their sights on making the technology available to other car manufacturers, large-scale fleet operators and public transport providers too.

Working with AWS will play an important role in helping it achieve this goal, while also enabling the firm to ramp up the geographical availability of its platform, and expand its functionality by drawing on the cloud giant’s machine learning, data analytics and internet of things (IoT) portfolio.

“The collaboration with Ford and Autonomic transforms the way automotive customers and partners develop connected vehicle cloud services,” said AWS CEO Andy Jassy.

“Autonomic customers will be able to bring innovative mobility services and differentiated customer experiences to their customers worldwide, by integrating TMC with AWS, the industry’s broadest and deepest cloud platform.”