AutoVenture Forum
The Next Logical Step in Automotive Innovation
Inaugural forum held Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at Rock Financial
Showplace - Novi, MI
The innovation process that has served the auto industry well for 100 years
must continue to evolve in response to external stresses:
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Public concerns with climate change that will require
decisive reductions in the greenhouse gasses emitted by road vehicles;
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Volatility in the price of motor fuels that leads
to rapid shifts in the type of vehicles preferred by customers; and,
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Intense international competition that requires faster,
less costly innovation cycles.
Over the last 20 years, auto makers around the world have responded to such
pressures by opening their once vertically-integrated innovation processes
to include suppliers. At the same time, technology opportunities have arisen
from fields once thought unrelated—microprocessors and software, for
example—and from an increasing diversity of sources around the globe.
The next logical step in this progression is to include the entrepreneurial
sector, the proliferation of new ventures with innovative technologies seeking
markets, strategic development partners, and investors.
To accomplish this, ASME and Clemson University are building an open-source
innovation network to accelerate this transition by linking the innovative
capacity of entrepreneurs with the technology base, systems integration, manufacturing,
and market channels of the auto industry. The result would be access to a
breakthrough innovation process for the industry participants and expanded
opportunities for the entrepreneurs.
We are calling this network innovation process the AutoVenture Forum. This
forum will directly match selected entrepreneurial ventures with auto industry
incumbents with the intent to create superior business opportunities for all:
partnerships, investment opportunities, and/or customer relationships.
12 Companies Selected!
After a nationwide search, twelve companies have been selected to present
their innovative products, technologies, or systems for consideration by a
gathering of Automotive industry executives. Each company offers a unique
value proposition at enabling and improving connected cars of the future.