Hyundai Motor Group announced that its direction for future mobility will be shaped by a human-centered philosophy. In a keynote speech delivered by Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) Euisun Chung at the Mobility Innovators Forum (MIF) 2019, the Group announced its commitment to realize innovation for the progress of humanity. Hyundai Motor Group believes that technology and innovation should be directed towards serving the needs of people. So this year’s theme, human-centered mobility, was chosen to highlight the importance of designing new mobility concepts that support the flourishing of people and their communities.

“Cities and mobility services were developed for humans from the very beginning,” said EVC Chung. “That’s why we are making a wide range of efforts to study a human-centered future from a broader humanities perspective.” To this end, Hyundai Motor Group has set up the Human-Centered City Advisory Group that comprises experts from various fields such as engineering, urban planning, and psychology. With input from the advisory group, Hyundai Motor Group has been developing a blueprint for future cities since early this year with the aim of publishing the research results by 2020. Hyundai Motor Group has also been conducting the 2050 Future City Project to make predictions on future cities in different regions to serve as a guideline for future smart city development.

The Mobility Innovators Forum 2019 is a conference hosted by Hyundai CRADLE to bring together leaders from different disciplines like technology, energy, policy, design, and academia to discuss challenges and opportunities. This year’s fourth annual event, held at Pier 27 in San Francisco, included networking meetings and a startup arcade with promising startups from around the world.

Speakers included architect Peter Calthorpe, H2Energy chairman of the board Rolf Huber, and Head of Uber Elevate Eric Allison, as well as Rimac Automobili Founder and CEO Mate Rimac and Grab co-founder Hooi Ling Tan. Hyundai CRADLE is Hyundai Motor Group’s corporate venturing and open innovation business, which partners and invests extensively in prominent global startups to accelerate the development of advanced future automotive technologies. CRADLE identifies early-stage startups that enable a range of disruptive and transformative innovations, including mobility services, artificial intelligence, robotics, smart energy, smart cities, and cybersecurity.