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 on Tuesday 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 NextVisionaries 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 NextVisionaries microsite 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.
