PARIS — (BUSINESS WIRE) — October 3, 2014 — AKKA Technologies and Dassault Systèmes (Paris: DSY), two international companies that are pioneers and trailblazers in their respective markets, today announced a long-term partnership aimed at promoting innovation in the self-driving connected vehicle market. Aware that two leading organizations together, such as AKKA and Dassault Systèmes, can be a powerful driver for industry innovation and growth, Maurice Ricci, CEO of the AKKA Technologies Group and Bernard Charlès, President and CEO of Dassault Systèmes, have decided to join together to address the challenges of the quickly advancing connected mobility market.

With this partnership, AKKA and Dassault Systèmes will offer high-end engineering services and solutions to help the global automotive industry. The topic of driverless and connected vehicles is critical and one of the 34 projects of the “New Face of the Industry” promoted by the French government.

Both companies share the same drive to answer the market’s demand for ever more connectivity, the challenge of cloud-enabled vehicle services, and the move towards “consumer experience” a primary business goal. Smart, driverless vehicles, a result of collaboration between the automotive sector and the digital economy, are a perfect example of the cloud-enabled consumer experience. For AKKA, this means developing the self-driving connected concept car known as the Link&Go, considered one of the best showcases of smart driverless technology. For Dassault Systèmes, it means delivering its 3DEXPERIENCE platform, a cloud-based collaborative business platform, to AKKA and the overall transportation and mobility industry.

AKKA’s engineers will draw upon the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to develop the next generation of its autonomously driving Link&Go concept car, using Dassault Systèmes applications to ideate, design, simulate and validate on a single collaborative platform hosted on the Cloud. The new partnership will help speed up the development of the next Link&Go concept, whose technological advancements will focus on how mobility consumers can benefit from customised and customisable services. Bringing the new vehicle development platform and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform together will facilitate project management throughout the design phase, providing engineers with a unified social collaboration space that encourages the adoption of new technologies and new processes, the pooling of institutional know-how, and the unleashing of a multicultural, global experience approach.

“This partnership is a real technological development that will help create new services to suit the connected world and promote our engineers’ excellence and creativity,” explains Maurice Ricci.

“The challenges of creating mobility experiences of the future are fundamentally transforming the entire industry,” added Bernard Charlès. “What does a car experience look like when you tie it to the cloud, infotainment, mapping and GPS, and so many more services? This partnership will answer those questions, support driverless vehicle development, and address infrastructure integration, such as connectivity to the smart city of the future.”

Find out more: Link & Go – the self-drive connected concept car developed by AKKA Research, AKKA’s R&D centre

It offers self-drive and manual modes with a totally new approach to interior ergonomics. Robotic and high tech technologies converge to support the Cloud & Big Data. The goal of the Link&Go is to blend in with its urban environment. Equipped with cognitive intelligence, it is the user who is at the heart of this highly innovative project. The connected vehicle communicates with the world around it, with other vehicles and with the user’s environment to offer personalised services to suit different profiles.

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About AKKA Technologies

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
Let’s share our passion for technology.”

AKKA Technologies, a European Engineering and Technology Consultancy Group, supports major industrial and service sector clients throughout the various phases of their projects, from R&D and design studies to industrial production. Expertise in a range of complementary fields means that AKKA Technologies can offer real added value to its clients in every market segment, including aviation, automotive, space/defence, consumer electronics, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, steel, energy, rail, marine and the service industry.

Market leader in Germany and France in the automotive and aeronautical industries, and thanks to the mobility of its teams and an international position, AKKA Technologies works on projects at the cutting edge of technology all over the world.

The AKKA Technologies Group has more than 11,000 employees and has a presence in 20 countries: Belgium, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, India, Morocco, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, the U.A.E., the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. AKKA is committed to building a group turning over 1 billion Euros, more than 50% of which will be outside France.

AKKA Technologies is listed on EuronextTM Paris – Compartment B – ISIN Code: FR0004180537.
Indices CAC® Small, CAC® Mid & Small, CAC® All-Tradable, CAC® All-Share

More information at www.akka.eu