Ford and Alibaba have agreed to collaborate on the development of a transportation mobility cloud service, which is designed in part to help large-scale fleet operators in China enhance their vehicle connectivity and mobility capabilities.

Autonomic, a subsidiary of Ford Smart Mobility, and Alibaba Cloud signed a memorandum of understanding to bring to China what is called the Transportation Mobility Cloud, according to Ford.  The mobility cloud, which is enabled by Alibaba, will serve as an open, cloud-based platform that provides standardized data and infrastructure for developers to quickly build value-added software programs for interacting with connected vehicles, the automaker said.

Both parties believe that that partnership will help shape China’s transportation ecosystem by empowering multiple parties – which also includes automakers, public transit operators and software developers – to enhance their vehicle connectivity and mobility experiences for Chinese customers.

Last December, Ford and Alibaba signed a Letter of Intent, agreeing to jointly explore a variety of areas of cooperation including mobility services, connectivity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital marketing as an effort to revolutionize consumers’ mobility experiences in China, Ford said in a release. Both companies will also explore new collaboration opportunities in the transportation and mobility sectors, with the ultimate goal of creating a safer, more efficient and sustainable transportation ecosystem in China