tFord Motor Co. announced today that it will host the auto industry’s first-ever app developer conference on Sept. 8, held in conjunction with the Connected Car Expo at CTIA’s Super Mobility Week in Las Vegas.
tDuring the one-day event, Ford’s development team will provide a comprehensive review of its AppLink technology. Attendees will learn how to create in-vehicle features and explore new capabilities of vehicle-generated data, says John Ellis, global technologist and head of the developer program for Ford.
t“Major technology companies host annual developer conferences, but this is the first time an auto manufacturer has hosted such an event,” Ellis says.
tFollowing the conference, there will be an overnight hackathon where developers will have access to Ford vehicle data as well as more than 200 data sets such as crime and airport traffic, through the city of Los Angeles. Competing teams will then present their app ideas to a panel of expert judges on Sept. 11.
tFrom there, 10 finalists will be invited to compete in the finals, displaying their innovations during the Connected Car Expo at the Los Angeles Auto Show from Nov. 18-20.
t“Combining automotive industry experts with creative app developers at CTIA’s Super Mobility Week is one of the best examples of the transformative possibilities of what we mean when we talk about the connected life,” says Meredith Attwell Baker, president and CEO of CTIA, an industry trade group for the wireless telecommunications industry. “With Ford and the L.A. Auto Show's leadership, this effort will translate into a better and more technologically advanced driver experience, which ultimately means safer roads, reduced traffic, and improved fuel efficiency.”
tFor more information, or to purchase passes for Super Mobility Week, click here. To learn more about the Connected Car Expo, click here.
