ORANGE COUNTY, CA, Oct. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ – TribalScale, a global innovation partner, wins the Smart Device Link (SDL) Connected Car Hackathon, presented by Ford and FordDev, at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) Americas. The challenge was inspired by Los Angeles' history of innovation. Participants were tasked with creating an application for the connected car that would leverage emerging technologies.

After 24 hours of non-stop work, 11 teams presented their solution to a voting audience of over 150 and to an industry expert panel of judges. The judges based their decision on four criteria: the solution's degree of innovation, the progress made throughout the hackathon, the solution's use and integration with Human Machine Interface (HMI) and controls, and the overall user experience. TribalScale's team placed first, CarPlay's team finished in second, and NAB Pilot came third.

The TribalScale-built solution uses vehicle and external data (such as GPS, city data, and cameras), to geofence a vehicle. The application leverages object recognition Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify events, locations, and surroundings, and then provides relevant information to the driver. For example, an image of a museum is captured then fed into the AI model, which then returns any relevant information, such as a special exhibit or nearby event of interest, to the driver.

"[TribalScale's] team again proves to be leaders in the rapidly evolving connected car space," said Sheetal Jaitly, TribalScale's Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "We won the Automobility LA Hackathon last year, we've since been working closely with many leading OEMs, and now we're taking home the SDL win. It's incredible to see what's going on and lead innovation in auto-tech."

Throughout the SDL Hackathon, competitors had access to Ford, Toyota, Mazda, Suzuki, and other SDL adapters' technology teams, as well as car development kits, embedded modem APIs, testing, mentoring, and business opportunities. All participants gained first-hand experience with in-vehicle hardware and near-launch products.

"There has been a huge amount of change in the industry for both OEMs and for developers, it's a very exciting field to be in," said Ardy Rahman, Director of TribalScale, US West. "[The SDL Hackathon] gives developers the chance to push boundaries, innovate, and explore the latest in-vehicle technologies. We came in with the intention of learning, collaborating and working with top connected car developers… the win is a bonus and recognizes our work in the industry."

The overnight challenge celebrated creativity and ongoing innovation in the connected car. The Hackathon was part of the larger SDL Connected Car Developer Conference by FordDev at the Mobile World Congress in Los Angeles.

ABOUT TRIBALSCALE: TribalScale is a global innovation partner that helps enterprises adapt and thrive in the digital era. We do this by transforming teams and processes, building best-in-class digital products, and co-creating disruptive startups. Learn more at: www.tribalscale.com

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SOURCE TribalScale