Dive Brief:
- Toyota announced Monday plans to launch a new unit focused on user experience, product development and data science.
- Toyota Connected, the new unit run by the company's CIO in North America, will use Microsoft's Azure cloud platform for its data science and will work to develop predictive and contextual services.
- Toyota Connected will allow it to consolidate global data center management, analytics and services development, the company said.
Dive Insight:
Toyota's new unit comes at a time when the auto industry has worked to expand connected-vehicle technologies and capitalize on new uses of technology, like incorporating IoT into vehicles. In November, Toyota said it was working to develop an R&D company in Silicon Valley focused on AI and self-driving cars.
Connected, sensor-driven cars are just one part of the IoT market, which is expected rapidly expand this year. As millennials move into business decision-making roles over the next three years, they will expect a business world "where connectivity is integrated, access to information is immediate and monitoring of activities is real time" and they will push for faster deployments of real-time, sensor-driven applications, according to IDC’s FutureScape report.
Zack Hicks, CIO and group vice president at Toyota Motor North America, said the company wants to explore how cars can serve as useful tools, adapting to its driver's habits. On a conference call, as reported by Bloomberg, Hicks used the example of a Dallas Cowboys football fan. If the car recognizes the driver is headed toward a Cowboys game, it could call ahead and pay for parking.
Toyota is basing its new unit out of Plano, TX. Microsoft engineers will be on hand at the facility to support the Toyota's data science efforts, the company said.
