![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.egmcartech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/ford_your_ideas_main.jpg\" "\\"Ford")
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FoMoCo announced today that it is launched a new consumer site called “Your Ideas,” a place where visitors can submit, share, review and rate each other’s automotive ideas. Think of it as a suggestion box for Ford executives to dig through once in a while to see what consumers are demanding from the Dearborn automaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cFord continues to push the envelope when it comes to engaging consumers in what\u2019s next for Ford cars and trucks,\u201d said Mark Fields, Ford president, The Americas. \u201cWe are going beyond traditional consumer market research, studies and focus groups. Ford is turning to the social Web as an innovative way of generating new vehicle feature ideas customers really want and value.\u201d<\/p>\n
Check out the site over here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Make the jump for the press release<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Press Release<\/strong>:<\/p>\n FORD ENGAGES CUSTOMERS IN \u201cWHAT\u2019S NEXT,\u201d TAKING COMPANY\u2019S OPEN INNOVATION MODEL TO NEXT LEVEL<\/strong><\/p>\n * Ford launches \u201cYour Ideas\u201d on its interactive consumer site, The Ford story (www.thefordstory.com), welcoming visitors to submit, share, review and rate each other\u2019s automotive feature ideas DEARBORN, Mich., April 13, 2010 \u2013 Ford is tapping into one of the world\u2019s greatest and vast resources \u2013 consumers \u2013 to discover the next-best automotive ideas and technologies.<\/p>\n Marking today\u2019s opening of the SAE World Congress, Mark Fields, Ford president, The Americas, announced the launch of a new initiative that furthers the company\u2019s commitment to open innovation. The new \u201cYour Ideas\u201d section of The Ford Story (www.thefordstory.com), the brand\u2019s interactive consumer Web site, will invite visitors to submit, share and suggest ideas and technologies they believe fit in the automotive space.<\/p>\n The pilot session of \u201cYour Ideas\u201d gives consumers the ability to participate in a community-based setting where they can review and rate posted ideas and track what people think about their own suggestions. Ideas that receive the most \u201cthumbs ups\u201d from viewers will be elevated to a most-popular idea list and reviewed by Ford\u2019s Advanced Product Marketing and Planning teams.<\/p>\n The \u201cYour Ideas\u201d forum covers the automotive gamut, soliciting consumer suggestions on categories ranging from vehicle connectivity and comfort and convenience to fuel economy to performance and safety.<\/p>\n Space for sharing<\/strong> \u201cThe Ford Story has connected with customers because it\u2019s a place where Ford is sharing what is happening with the company is a more open and transparent way,\u201d Fields said. \u201cThrough the site, people are telling us they feel a new unity with Ford because they can share their thoughts, stories and insights and take part in two-way dialogue with the people behind our products.\u201d<\/p>\n The announcement of the new idea exchange portal and Ford\u2019s increased effort to directly engage customers in the \u2018What\u2019s Next?\u2019 conversation dovetails with the 2010 SAE World Congress in Detroit, which is themed \u201cEcollaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n Fields helped promote the theme of the premier engineering industry conference on Tuesday morning, speaking about how Ford is embracing greater collaboration with not only customers but other \u201cautomotive outsiders\u201d as it develops the high-impact products that customers want and value.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat a better time or place than World Congress to discuss how Ford is committed to working together toward innovation?\u201d said Fields.<\/p>\n \u201cThis conference is one of the biggest opportunities of the year for the exchange of ideas, providing our engineers the chance to evaluate new technologies and services from companies and sources they haven\u2019t worked with before,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Opening doors<\/strong> Ford is currently working with the University of Michigan \u2013 Ann Arbor, for instance, on the \u201cAmerican Journey 2.0\u201d advanced research project to help define the next frontier of in-car communications. The student collaboration is aimed at responsible development of social networking apps for the car and could help Ford model future iterations of Ford SYNC.<\/p>\n Participating students will show off their course work this spring on a developmental software platform dubbed \u201cFiestaware\u201d built with the help of Microsoft and powered by Intel. Student teams will compete by programming applications that showcase innovative ways to access social networks for contextually-relevant data, plus share vehicle-specific information that could help others. The winning student team will make a road trip to the 2010 Maker Faire, the world\u2019s largest do-it-yourself convention, driving a new Ford Fiesta testing their new apps along the way.<\/p>\n Along with U of M, Ford also has strategic alliances with MIT as well as universities across the globe, including two of China\u2019s most prestigious and recognized, Shanghai Jiaotong University and Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, where joint work with aluminum alloys and other advanced materials is being conducted. A formal Ford strategic alliance with The Boeing Company has also existed for the past 15 years, resulting in numerous and valuable collaborative efforts. Boeing, in fact, recently announced that it\u2019s ready to build its first prototype of Phantom Eye, a high altitude long endurance unmanned aircraft powered by two Ford-developed hydrogen-powered Duratec 4-cylinder engines.<\/p>\n Ford has also opened its doors wider to suppliers. Two years ago, Ford created the Joint Technology Framework, which provides designated suppliers special access to Ford intellectual properties so they can develop products for future commercial use. As a result, Ford is making significant progress in several key automotive research areas, including ultrasonic welding, alternative bonding technologies and new processes for reducing wheel weight.<\/p>\n Newer to the mix is Ford\u2019s aggressive outreach to consumer electronic and technology experts such as Microsoft and Nuance Communications as the company looks for new and innovative ways to leverage existing technologies and cloud computing services by integrating them into the car. These relationships helped Ford build its successful in-car connectivity platform, Ford SYNC, which has now become the operating system behind all-new MyFord Touch driver interface.<\/p>\n \u201cInnovation has always played a major role at Ford,\u201d said Gerhard Schmidt, Ford chief technical officer and vice president, Research and Advanced Engineering. \u201cWe don\u2019t believe that any one company or industry has a monopoly on good ideas; we embrace the fact that every good idea for our customers doesn\u2019t have to start with us.\u201d<\/p>\n – By: Omar Rana<\/em><\/p>\n FoMoCo announced today that it is launched a new consumer site called “Your Ideas,” a place where visitors can submit, share, review and rate each other’s automotive ideas. Think of it as a suggestion box for Ford executives to dig through once in a while to see what consumers are demanding from the Dearborn automaker. 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\n* The Web portal is Ford\u2019s latest demonstration of collaborative efforts to engage \u2018automotive outsiders\u2019 to help share ideas, develop the next must-have technologies, and drive the spirit of open innovation
\n* Ford has been actively modernizing its Advanced Product Marketing, Planning and Innovation Research community to include suppliers, universities and more non-automotive technology experts<\/p>\n
\nSince The Ford Story went live in 2008, the site has logged more than 2.6 million visits, offering passionate Ford owners and those new to the brand the opportunity to post their favorite Ford story, photos and videos; comment about the company\u2019s latest news and products; locate all of the company\u2019s social networking accounts; watch videos and more.<\/p>\n
\nFord\u2019s overarching adoption of the open innovation model made popular by social media, software developers and technology companies has already generated impressive relationships with a growing list of who\u2019s who in the worlds of academia, suppliers, consumer electronics and information technology. Just as impressive are the results and ongoing research projects attached to these relationships.<\/p>\n<\/img><\/a>
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