It is an era where the vehicles that we drive are increasingly becoming tech-heavy. Companies are incorporating new technologies to not just simplify driving, but also using it to optimise their production and supply chains and understanding and analysing customer data. Many companies are either investing in or backing such start-up companies that are developing new technologies and digital solutions.
The country’s largest commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors has launched a new platform to tap start-ups and technology companies as it looks to harness new solutions like blockchain in automobile and wider mobility ecosystem and has launched a platform for the same. TACNet will help connect with start-ups and develop a centre of automobility innovation through partnerships for new technologies and or business models, the company said.
“The automotive industry is undergoing a rigorous transformation phase with new and advanced technologies in manufacturing, digitisation solutions to optimise the operations and supply-chain, innovative and advanced product technologies and disruptive business/service models for engaging the customer and other related stakeholders,” said Shailesh Chandra, president, electric mobility business and corporate strategy at Tata Motors.
The TACNet platform will enable start-ups and technology companies to connect with Tata Motors for innovation and collaboration capabilities and solve existing and anticipated challenges in the cargo and people mobility.
“In the current age of uncertainty and speed of change, the effort of sourcing solutions will need to be driven both through in-house initiatives as well as collaborating with external partners,” he said.
The company is looking for directly applicable solutions for blockchain in the automotive and parking marketplace, natural language processing (NLP) chatbots, demand prediction algorithms, real-time monitoring of BS6 fuel quality and authenticating genuine spare parts.
Aspiring start-ups will be invited to pitch their business, which will culminate into a potential for a strategic partnership with an opportunity to even pilot a project, Tata Motors said on Wednesday.
Last year, Tata Motors had through a subsidiary picked a 26 per cent stake in TruckEasy, a freight aggregator, which it had said would help gain insights into the rapidly growing technology-driven transformation in the logistics space.
