MotorTrend and BlackBerry Announce Inaugural Software-Defined Vehicle Innovator Awards

 MotorTrend, the leading global automotive media company, announced today that it is joining leading software company, BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) to launch the Software-Defined Vehicle Innovator Awards. The new awards program looks to celebrate the innovators and pioneers who are leading the automotive industry’s once-in-a-century transformation from hardware to software which will redefine how cars are designed, built, driven and experienced.

For more than a century the bulk of a car’s value was its mechanical, hardware, and other physical components. However, as personal technology has evolved, software and connected services will soon become the most important drivers of value, and a key differentiator, for automobile manufacturers. With the average new car containing more than 100 million lines of code and thousands of different computer chips already in use, independent research predicts that by 2030, electronics and software will account for 50% of car costs, up from about 30% today. This represents a fundamental shift in the automotive industry, as the software opportunity in autonomous cars will grow from less than one billion dollars today to $25 billion. According to recent forecasts, revenue from software-driven vehicles could account for as much as 50% of the automotive industry’s future earnings. *

As the creator of the most prestigious automotive awards – Car, Truck and SUV of the Year and its annual Power List – MotorTrend is joining forces with BlackBerry, whose BlackBerry® QNX® technology is embedded in over 215 million vehicles worldwide, to encourage OEMs and automotive suppliers to nominate outstanding pioneers, leaders and domain experts in recognition of their extraordinary work using software to push industry boundaries and the driving experience for consumers.

“Speaking with automakers and Tier 1s around the world, nothing is more important to them than software and electronics as both allow them to deliver compelling in-car experiences and differentiate against the competition,” said Mark Wilson, Chief Marketing Officer, BlackBerry. “To that end, we’re thrilled to be teaming up with MotorTrend to recognize and elevate the unsung heroes who have been systematically laying the stakes for the auto industry’s exciting next chapter. I firmly believe that we’ll see more change in the next ten years than we’ve seen in the previous hundred and, given that it’s the software heads that will determine what that future looks like, we felt it was particularly important to create the Software-Defined Vehicle Innovator Awards to recognize and celebrate individuals who are leading the way.”

Nominations are now open for the following three Software-Defined Vehicle Innovator Awards (SDVI) categories:

• Pioneer: This outstanding individual has demonstrably broken new ground within the SDV space through research, development, and application of new automotive software.
• Leader: This exceptional principal is in a senior management position and leads a team that is transforming the automotive industry through the broad adoption and application of software solutions.
• Domain Expert: This critical team member is a subject matter expert within a specific SDV discipline (e.g. advanced driver assistance systems, digital cockpit, over-the-air updates, autonomous, recruiting etc.)

Automakers and automotive suppliers can nominate their employees by visiting https://www.motortrend.com/sdv-form/. Each nomination is subject to a diligent screening process involving representatives exclusively from MotorTrend’s editorial team, who will review the submissions and establish a short list of finalists.

The nomination process closes at 11:59 pm PT on Monday, October 31 and the short list of finalists will be announced in the Fall of 2022. MotorTrend and BlackBerry will announce the first annual SDVI Awards winners during a ceremony on Thursday, January 5 in Las Vegas, in conjunction with CES 2023. For more information and rules please visit: https://www.motortrend.com/sdvawards.

To underscore the importance of the emerging software-defined vehicle age and the need to recognize the industry disruption coming at the hands of these innovators and pioneers, MotorTrend has produced a 22-minute documentary, ’Coding the Car’, and a book by the same title, which are being released as companion pieces with the SDV Innovator Awards announcement. For more information and assets related to the documentary and SDV Innovator Awards please visit motortrendpresskit.com.  

*Source: Lux Research

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About MotorTrend Group

MotorTrend Group, a Warner Bros. Discovery company, is the largest automotive media company in the world, bringing together Warner Bros. Discovery’s MotorTrend TV and a vast automotive digital, direct-to-consumer, social, and live event portfolio, including MOTOR TREND, HOT ROD, ROADKILL, AUTOMOBILE and more than 20 other industry-leading brands. With a monthly audience of 26 million across web, TV and print, and 110 million social followers, culminating in 1.3 billion monthly impressions across all platforms, MotorTrend Group encompasses television’s #1 network for automotive fans, a leading automotive YouTube Channel and MotorTrend+, the only subscription streaming service dedicated entirely to the motoring world. MotorTrend Group serves to embrace, entertain and empower the motoring world.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 215M vehicles.  Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security, endpoint management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry’s vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.

BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere. 

For more information, visit BlackBerry.com