Calling the BMW i sub-brand visionary is no longer a cool thing to do. As a matter of fact, it has been said so many times that most people could consider it a cliche by now and they’d be right. I guess the same could be said about TED talks, where the world’s brilliant minds come together to show humanity their latest idea. But what if these two joined forces? Well, hold on to your neuron links because it already happened.

The collaboration between the two was announced yesterday during the annual TED Conference in the Canadian city of Vancouver. BMW i is launching a global search for ideas with TED entitled “NextVisionaries”. Here, pioneers, strategists and creatives from around the world are invited to outline their ideas for mobility.

Applications can be submitted now at the NextVisionaries microsite. During a multi-phase selection process over the next four months, a panel of mentors will choose the most impressive, most promising and most groundbreaking proposals. The winning entrant will be given the opportunity to present their visionary idea from the TED stage in New York in November 2017.

This joint-venture is definitely yet another opportunity for those who think don’t have a voice or the support they need to put their world-changing ideas into action to convince the world that their ideas are worth investing in. “NextVisionaries” is providing a platform that is open to everyone and has been designed to enable free exchange of ideas.

“Ever since the founding of project i ten years ago, BMW i has been a visionary pioneer. This spirit of visionary thinking and pioneering action unites BMW i and the TED community. For all pre-thinkers of inspiring and iconic visions around the mobility of tomorrow, we offer a great stage with this unique cooperation,” explained Hildegard Wortmann, Senior Vice President Brand BMW. “TED Talks give the most creative minds and their most fascinating ideas a way to reach curious audiences around the world. The collaboration with BMW i gives us the chance to unearth some of the most exciting new thinking in the field of mobility,” added Lisa Choi Owens, Head of Global Partnerships at TED.

The “NextVisionaries” ideas competition is aimed at a creative community engaged with various aspects of future mobility. The competition theme of “Visionary Mobility” has been formulated to attract the broadest possible spread of pioneering ideas and concepts. Entrants are asked to propose vehicle and technological concepts, hardware and software solutions, and ideas for products and services that have the potential to shape the face of personal transport in tomorrow’s world. Visions can likewise be based around environment-friendly mobility-related processes that conserve resources, or on strategies for creating a society geared towards personal mobility requirements.

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