Welcome to the 8^th Annual “Focus on the Future” Automotive Research Conferences.  This series, which runs September to July, offers five conferences each year that address topics of importance to the future of the automotive industry.  The first conference this year is our 8^th annual Future of Automotive IT conference that focuses on the role information technology (IT) is playing in the vehicle, in the corporation, and even in the structure of the automotive industry. 

IT continues to be the key enabling technology for company strategy, R&D, product development, manufacturing, sales and marketing, and even the aftermarket.  We continue to see the expanded tracking of company KPIs for monitoring global company performance, modeling and simulation in R&D, product lifecycle management in product development, the Internet of Things in manufacturing, Big Data in sales and marketing, and recall and part tracking in the aftermarket.  When it comes to the future of industry, vehicle IT is the backbone of all advanced powertrain, safety, and connected and autonomous vehicle technologies, as well as nearly all the new mobility platforms. 

We will try to touch on many of these issues during this conference as presenters discuss current and future trends in automotive IT, but we will also discuss some of the limits of IT in the Internet of Things, Big Data, and the more complex vehicle IT systems such as safety, autonomy and new mobility.  It will be an interesting discussion of what the future holds for IT within the automotive industry.

Some of the key questions we will address include: 

• How do companies manage their manufacturing IT strategies globally? 
  
• What changes is the Internet of Things bringing to the plant floor? 
  
• How will Big Data processing allow for better transportation of goods and people? 
  
• How will this apply to interurban situations? 
  
• What marketing Big Data adaptations have auto companies made? 
  
• What improvements have they seen because of these adaptations? 
  
• How will IT security strategies be employed within vehicles? 
  
• What are the challenges facing full and semi-autonomous vehicles from a technical and consumer perspective? 

Confirmed speakers include:

Bruce Belzowski, Managing Director, Automotive Futures, UM Transportation Research Institute, will moderate the conference.

Bryan Goodman, Technical Leader, Machine Learning/Center of Excellence in Autonomous Vehicles at Ford Motor Company will talk about the vehicle, infrastructure, and connectivity issues around Ford’s autonomous vehicle development.

Trever White, Divisional Information Officer, Manufacturing & Engineering Business Systems, Toyota Motor North America – IS, will discuss how his company is adapting Internet of Things technologies into their global engineering and manufacturing system.

Michael Palmer, Director of Research, Peloton Technology will provide his insight into the opportunities and challenges of autonomy in the commercial/heavy truck industry, as well as their recent work in platooning.

Christina Duron-Yu, Director, Industry Solutions: Automotive and Manufacturing - Toyota Motor North America, will talk about how auto companies are using Big Data to leverage social media in their marketing programs.

Pascal Van Hentenryck, University of Michigan professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, and Core Faculty in the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS), will discuss his research on how Big Data analytics will drive on-demand intermodal urban transportation, supporting the improved movement of goods and people.

Other manufacturers, suppliers, government representatives, and consultants have been invited