BMW has developed a data hub with Amazon’s cloud computing division, in a sign of how companies are utilizing “big data” to try to increase performance.
“We want to switch from gut-driven decisions to data-driven decisions,” said Kai Demtroder, vice president of data transformation at BMW. “We have a few hundred data scientists at BMW, but the aim is to make the data accessible to everyone.”
Demtroder said the automaker’s “cloud data hub” proved its value as the coronavirus crisis started to affect auto production in the spring, as data from Amazon Web Services (AWS) allowed the German automaker to observe which supplier plants had problems.
“This was a clear case where we had all the data and we could use it immediately to respond to the crisis,” he said.
BMW and AWS have been collaborating together since 2015 and have spent the last year and a half jointly developing the automaker’s data hub.
Up to 5,000 BMW workers will also be trained for using AWS technologies to make better use of data.
The hub will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict consumer demand for BMW vehicles so the automaker can order the right parts from providers, adhere to regulations throughout different markets and automatically check requirements required to design new vehicles.
The worldwide market for cloud storage services is expected to increase from $50.1 billion this year to $137.3 billion by 2025.
Last week, Canadian technology specialist BlackBerry and AWS said they had developed a cloud-based software platform designed to help automakers and providers standardize vehicle data.
