Ford will hold an automotive app developer conference on 8 September as part of the Connected Car Expo taking place at CTIA’s Super Mobility Week at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas.

The conference will be followed by an overnight hackathon where developers will be provided data generated by Ford vehicles and from the City of Los Angeles to create innovative apps.

Ford is inviting developers interested in creating innovative apps, that enhance or redefine the automobile’s role in an overall connected life, to join the global Ford Dev team for a comprehensive review of the AppLink technology. Attendees will learn how to create in-vehicle feature sets and explore new capabilities presented with the availability of vehicle-generated data.

Major technology companies host annual developer conferences, but this is the first time an auto manufacturer has hosted such an event. We are extremely excited to partner with the Connected Car Expo, CTIA and the City of Los Angeles, to leverage their combined audiences and data points to create groundbreaking apps.

Immediately following the developer conference, all developers are invited to participate in the 12-hour hackathon. Fifty eligible developer teams will be invited to compete in the Ford Connected Car-Connected City App Pursuit. In addition to the Ford vehicle data, hackathon participants will have access to the more than 200 data sets recently released by the City of Los Angeles (data.lacity.org) to create their apps.

The city’s Chief Innovation Technology Officer, Peter Marx, will participate in the event to provide insight into Los Angeles’ data sets, including examples of lessons learned with data including crime, collisions, airport traffic, mobility metrics, traffic counts and more.

Competing teams will receive additional on-site support from the Ford Dev team throughout the CCE event and will present their apps to a panel of expert judges on 11 Sept. Ten finalists will be invited to compete in the Pursuit finals, displaying their innovations during the Connected Car Expo at the LA Auto Show, 18-20 Nov. The grand prize winner will receive a prize package including a feature announcement with Ford on stage at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show.

The Connected Car Expo at Super Mobility Week is presented by the Association of Global Automakers.