BERLIN and EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands, July 28, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HERE, the location cloud company, today announced that it has appointed Ralf Herrtwich to lead the company's fast-growing Automotive Business Group. In his role, Herrtwich will focus on bringing the power of HERE's Open Location Platform into vehicles as well as accelerating the deployment of location technologies to support autonomous driving. He will start at HERE in the position of Senior Vice President and member of the HERE leadership team on October 1. "Our Automotive Business Group is of crucial importance for HERE. To lead it we were looking for a strong and ambitious expert with an impressive track record in automotive R&D and innovation management. With Ralf we have found exactly the right person for this role. Under his leadership, our Automotive Business Group will continue to innovate, deliver and grow," said Edzard Overbeek, CEO, HERE. "I am thrilled to join the HERE team at a time when mapping technology is about to make the next big leap. In recent years I have worked in one of the most advanced self-driving car programs in the industry and have learned a great deal about the role maps and location services will play in an autonomous future. It is not just what we can provide to such vehicles that genuinely excites me, it is also what these vehicles can add to our future maps through the sensors by which they observe their outside world. Using these inputs, we will be able to create the most complete virtual representation of our world in real-time," said Ralf Herrtwich. Herrtwich joins HERE from Daimler AG where, since 1998, he has held various roles. He currently serves as Director Vehicle Automation and Chassis Systems. During his time at Daimler he initiated its groundbreaking Mercedes-Benz S500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE Project which culminated in the world's first autonomous long-distance drive in rural and urban traffic on public German roads in August 2013, powered by highly-precise 3D maps from HERE. Prior to Daimler, Herrtwich held various senior management and leadership positions at RWE and IBM. He holds a Diploma and a Doctorate in Computer Sciences from Technische Universität Berlin, where he has also served as an Honorary Professor since 2009. Media Enquiries: HERE Communications http://company.here.com/newsroom/contacts/ press@here.com About HERE HERE, the location cloud company, enables rich, real-time location applications and experiences for consumers, vehicles, enterprises and cities. HERE is backed by a consortium of leading automotive companies. To learn more about us, including our work in the areas of connected and automated driving, visit http://360.here.com .
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