Munich / Vancouver / New York. With its all-embracing
approach to sustainability extending far beyond electric vehicles
alone, the BMW i brand has established itself as a pioneering
influence in the future face of mobility. And now BMW i is teaming up
with TED, the non-profit organization dedicated to Ideas Worth
Spreading whose conferences have earned a worldwide following. The
alliance was announced yesterday during the annual TED Conference in
the Canadian city of Vancouver. BMW i is launching a unique, global
search for ideas with TED entitled “NextVisionaries”. Here, pioneers,
strategists and creatives from around the world are invited to outline
their ideas for mobility. Applications can be submitted now at the
www.nextvisionaries.com microsite. During a multi-phase selection
process over the next four months, a panel of mentors will choose the
most impressive, most promising and most groundbreaking proposals. The
winning entrant will be given the opportunity to present their
visionary idea from the TED stage in New York in November 2017.
BMW i and “NextVisionaries”: aiming to completely rethink
personal mobility.
BMW i sees the collaboration with TED as presenting a unique
opportunity to help bring visionary ideas for personal mobility to the
world’s attention. With BMW i Ventures, the brand already helps
selected initiatives and start-ups to develop and implement
trailblazing ideas in the organisation of personal transport. And now,
“NextVisionaries” is providing a platform that is open to everyone and
has been designed to enable free exchange of ideas. “Ever since the
founding of project i ten years ago, BMW i has been a visionary
pioneer. This spirit of visionary thinking and pioneering action
unites BMW i and the TED community. For all pre-thinkers of inspiring
and iconic visions around the mobility of tomorrow, we offer a great
stage with this unique cooperation,” explains Hildegard Wortmann,
Senior Vice President Brand BMW. Lisa Choi Owens, Head of Global
Partnerships at TED, adds: “TED Talks give the most creative minds and
their most fascinating ideas a way to reach curious audiences around
the world. The collaboration with BMW i gives us the chance to unearth
some of the most exciting new thinking in the field of mobility.”
Wanted: visions that will move tomorrow’s world.
The “NextVisionaries” ideas competition is aimed at a creative
community engaged with various aspects of future mobility. The
competition theme of “Visionary Mobility” has been formulated to
attract the broadest possible spread of pioneering ideas and concepts.
Entrants are asked to propose vehicle and technological concepts,
hardware and software solutions, and ideas for products and services
that have the potential to shape the face of personal transport in
tomorrow’s world. Visions can likewise be based around
environment-friendly mobility-related processes that conserve
resources, or on strategies for creating a society geared towards
personal mobility requirements.
Information on the conditions for participation can be found on the
www.nextvisionaries.commicrosite
set up jointly by BMW i and TED, as well as on social media channels
such as Twitter and YouTube. The microsite also serves as a platform
for exchanging ideas about new forms of personal mobility. The entries
submitted will first be edited for composition and content, before
being narrowed down to a smaller selection. The resultant short-list
of six visionaries will then have the opportunity to refine their
concepts and ideas with the help of experts from BMW i and TED. The
best visions will be presented in public for the first time at the
International Motor Show in Frankfurt in September 2017, and a panel
of experts will subsequently choose the overall winner of the competition.
From visionary to TED speaker.
Thanks to its alliance with TED, BMW i will help to ensure the
winning “NextVisionaries” idea reaches an audience that extends far
beyond the company and even the car industry as a whole: the
victorious vision will be presented at a TED event in New York in
November 2017. First, though, the competition winner will undergo a
comprehensive public speaking coaching.
About TED
Founded in 1984, the first TED conferences were held in
Monterey, California. In 2006, TED experimented with putting TED Talk
videos online for free – a decision that opened the doors to a
radically new model for sharing ideas: today there are more than 2,400
TED Talks available for free on TED.com, which are viewed about a
billion times a year. Thanks to the support of thousands of volunteer
translators, there are close to 100,000 published translations of TED
Talks in over 110 languages. TEDx, the licensing program that allows
communities to produce independently organized TED events, has seen
21,500 events held worldwide.
About BMW i
BMW i is a BMW Group brand focusing on visionary vehicle concepts,
connected mobility services and a new understanding of premium
strongly defined by sustainability. BMW i is represented in 54
countries with the BMW i3 electric car for metropolitan areas, BMW i8
plug-in hybrid sports car and plug-in hybrid BMW iPerformance
Automobiles. BMW i opens up new target groups for the company and
serves as an incubator for innovations. Technologies which have
debuted successfully in BMW i cars are carried over to parent brand
BMW’s other models. BMW i is also associated with enterprises
including DriveNow (car sharing in Europe), ReachNow (car sharing in
the US), ChargeNow (easy access to the world’s largest network of
charging points), ParkNow (straightforward location, reservation and
payment of parking spaces), BMW i Ventures (investment in start-up
companies), BMW Energy Services and the Centre of Competence for Urban
Mobility (consultancy for cities).
Contact:
Wieland Brúch,
Spokesman BMW i and Electric Mobility
Phone: +49-89-382-72652
Email: wieland.bruch@bmwgroup.com
Media Website: www.press.bmwgroup.com
The BMW Group
With its three brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the
world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles
and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global
company, the BMW Group operates 31 production and assembly facilities
in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.
In 2016, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.367 million cars and
145,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax was approximately
€ 9.67 billion on revenues amounting to € 94.16 billion. As of 31
December 2016, the BMW Group had a workforce of 124,729 employees.
The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term
thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established
ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain,
comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to
conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.
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