Ford takes OpenXC platform into Africa to drive mobile healthcare

Harnessing the power of its advanced vehicles, technologies and commitment to a better world, a new Ford Motor Company pilot program aims to enhance mobility health services in rural areas of South Africa and Nigeria. Ford Project Better World brings together multiple organisations such as World Vision South Africa, and social entrepreneurs to deliver health education, medication, nutrition and basic services to thousands of underserved people in remote areas. The services will be accessed using enhanced mobility and connectivity technologies from Ford vehicles. Ford Motor Company and its philanthropic arm, Ford Fund, have worked for decades on multiple projects globally to advance human welfare.

Two modified Ford Rangers will work as mobile clinics to deliver health services, dispense medication for chronic conditions, and monitor the growth of children in South Africa. The information gathered will aid agencies in tracking the health of children and help with protective services. Each truck is equipped with connectivity technologies including a dual-battery management system that powers a video projector, mobile refrigerator, tablet computer and other equipment to enable child healthcare, protection and gender-based violence awareness campaigns.

In Nigeria, Ford is working with Riders for Health to strengthen healthcare access by training the group’s technicians to maintain their motorcycles, four-wheeled vehicles and trucks in order to deliver medical professionals and supplies to people in rural areas and extend the amount of time vehicles are in service. The vehicles will be equipped with sensors and Ford’s OpenXC technology to collect data designed to make Riders for Health work more efficiently. OpenXC technology will also help create the first accurate maps of remote areas of the West African nation.

Ford Motor Company has been using an interface known as OpenXC to gather vehicle data from a number of different experiments for over a year. While it started off as a car-specific technology, collecting data like GPS location and vehicle speed, OpenXC was later extended to bicycles, and now, motorcycles and dirt bikes. That is especially important for international non-profit Riders for Health, as it means that the group’s entire fleet can now collect potentially helpful data relating to the difficulties faced on a daily basis.

Due to a lack of reliable roads, the group of healthcare workers known as Riders for Health use a fleet comprising Ford Ranger mid-size pickups, and motorcycles. Ford Motor Company has already gathered and analysed data from the Ranger half of the fleet; with this new extension of OpenXC, the automaker can begin to help the motorcycle portion of the Riders’ fleet, as well. Ford’s new sensor kit will be fitted to a total of 50 motorcycles early next year.

“Our goal is to understand what mobility means to people who do not have access to their own vehicles,” said Ford Research Analyst and Project Lead Arthur Zysk. “Ford’s commitment to smart mobility innovation is driving real, measurable change.”

Ford Motor Company, Executive Chairman Bill Ford, commented that automaker’s days as a simple car and truck manufacturer were numbered, speculating that the company’s future function might rather be as a mobility company. Under this direction, rather than necessarily selling cars and trucks directly to consumers, Ford might instead be the keeper of a full, global infrastructure of connected and autonomous vehicles essentially for rent or immediate short-term use, especially in crowded urban areas.

In fact, Ford has already experimented with a model somewhat like this, starting a pilot car-sharing program called GoDrive in at least five different major cities worldwide. According to Bill Ford, that is more in-line with what Ford Motor Company might look like in the future. A consumer might be able to use a smart device to ask the network: I am here and need to get there, how do I do that?” More-connected and autonomous cars are a focus for the automaker in-line with that vision, although the transition from customer-driven automobiles will be a gradual one.

“At Ford, we are looking beyond the traditional role vehicles play in society and are aggressively pursuing solutions to address the human challenges faced around the globe,” said Bill Ford. “Those challenges take us to remote areas where we can use advanced vehicle and connectivity technologies to change people’s lives and make the world a better place.”

Ford’s Smart Mobility plan is still a wide open thing. In effect, it is an initiative to answer the question: How can Ford meet the transportation needs of everyone on planet Earth, apart from making incremental improvements to cars, vans, and trucks? It is important to note that at this phase, the definitive answer is still unknown.

In practical terms, it means that Ford has been conducting numerous experiments beyond the scope of the conventional automaker. The Dynamic Shuttle pilot program, GoDrive car-rental experiments, and data-gathering OpenXC interface are early probes into possible future services. Ford, it seems, is not opposed to expanding into a company which not only designs and manufactures automobiles, but also maintains rental fleets, administers public transit, and offers route-planning guidance, as well.

Millennials, it turns out, are not into cars as previous generations. According to Ford market research, they also generally prefer to live in dense urban centers, rather than in suburban or rural areas. That is at least one demographic on which it is difficult to sell the idea of car ownership.

So, rather than leaving that demographic untouched, Ford is experimenting with ride-sharing, pay-as-you-go rental, and other means of delivering transportation to the masses without necessarily selling the masses a new set of wheels. There will be a place for car ownership well into the foreseeable future – for instance, in less densely populated rural and suburban areas, or where car ownership is culturally seen as an aspiration – but wherever it is not, Ford wants to use Smart Mobility to cover those places.

The Ford 2015-16 Sustainability Report highlights key environmental benchmarks and the ongoing work of the automaker, including its expanded focus beyond vehicle production to developing mobility solutions for the future. Earlier this year, the automaker created Ford Smart Mobility, a new subsidiary to design, build, grow and invest in emerging mobility services using existing Ford innovations, products and technologies.

Driven to deliver a great customer experience, Ford has unveiled new technologies to help people stay better connected behind the wheel. Its latest, FordPass – an innovative consumer experience platform that launched in April – will offer such services as remote vehicle access through a smartphone app, and mobility solutions such as parking and car sharing.

Ford is working, collaborating with startups and technology companies to design and build mobility services. Early this month, Ford and Techstars Mobility, driven by Detroit introduced its 2016 class of startup businesses that will develop future mobility solutions. Launched in 2015, the mentorship-driven accelerator program supports a dozen startups annually that are working on ride-sharing services and technologies, improving the car-ownership experience, and safety and autonomous-driving technologies.

Ford is also experimenting around the globe to solve some of the most complex mobility issues of the future. In the past 16 months, the company has conducted more than 30 global mobility experiments to gain insight into changing consumer transportation preferences. Several ongoing pilot programs include GoPark, which is building a predictive parking system in London capable of directing drivers to streets where they are most likely to find a space; also in London is GoDrive, a car-sharing program that provides vehicles with guaranteed parking at busy locations. At the Ford World Headquarters campus in Dearborn, the Dynamic Shuttle program allows employees and visitors to summon point-to-point rides on-demand.

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