Live from TED2017 TED Partners

At TED, BMW i announces a search for mobility visionaries (maybe … you?)

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A concept-car sculpture at BMW i at TED2017, April 24-28, 2017, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photo: Marla Aufmuth / TED

Whatever our shared future brings, it’s a safe bet it will involve many bold new ways to get around. So at this year’s TED Conference, themed “The Future You,” TED and BMW i are teaming up to search for promising new ideas in mobility, from visionaries in many fields.

Today at TED, BMW i and TED kick off the NextVisionaries initiative, a search for proposed vehicle and technological concepts, hardware and software solutions, and ideas for products and services that could shape the face of personal transport in tomorrow’s world. Visions could be based around environment friendly mobility that conserves resources — or even on strategies for creating a society geared toward better mobility.

Hildegard Wortmann, Senior Vice President Brand BMW, says: “We want to help give visionaries a platform for promoting their ideas for tomorrow’s world. TED offers the perfect arena for this.”

Applications can be submitted now at the www.nextvisionaries.com microsite, where you can also find information on the conditions for participation. The microsite also serves as a platform for exchanging ideas about new forms of personal mobility. (You can also find details on Twitter and YouTube.) 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. Six winning entrants will present their visionary ideas at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt — and one will speak on stage at a TED event in New York.