News Releases

Hitachi Hosts “Hitachi Social Innovation Forum 2017 TOKYO”

The Largest Scale Hitachi Group Event in the World

Tokyo, September 19, 2017 --- Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) today announced that it will host “Hitachi Social Innovation Forum 2017 TOKYO” on November 1 and 2 at the Tokyo International Forum, a convention center in Tokyo metropolitan area. The goal of this Forum, the largest scale Hitachi Group event in the world, is to share ideas with customers about achieving a better future, and to create opportunities for open discussions.

Hitachi positions this event, which has been held a total of 19 times, as a flagship among independent events held in North America, Europe, Asia, and other regions around the world. This year, it expects to see a total of more than 37,000 visitors over two days. Through a diverse program that includes lectures, business sessions, seminars, and exhibitions based on the theme of “Ideas that change society's future,” Hitachi, together with customers and partners, will examine concrete activities ranging from the present to the near future in the context of the Social Innovation Business that utilizes digital technologies.

In a Keynote Speech entitled “Social Innovation leads the Change in Today's World,” Hitachi, Ltd. President and CEO Toshiaki Higashihara will talk about how Hitachi will lead changes in the world, like the digital transformation and the 4th Industrial Revolution, with the Social Innovation Business, which Hitachi has promoted through Collaborative Creation with customers and partners. He will also discuss specific activities, and explaining Hitachi's vision.

In a Special Speech entitled “Bridging the Tradition with the Future; Suggestions for the Modern Society,” Dr. Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize Winning Author, Scientist and Author of “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” will offer suggestions for deriving “the essence of modern society and the best path to take forward” from the histories of humans and civilization. Dr. Noriko Arai, Director of the Research Center for Community Knowledge, National Institute of Informatics, will talk about the possibilities and limitations of AI, and about a society where humans and AI co-exist; Dr. Sian Beilock, President of Barnard College, USA, will discuss cognitive sciences for creating innovation; and Dr. Akie Iriyama, Associate Professor at Waseda Business School, will present a lecture offering viewpoints on creating innovations, and will offer hints on changing the environment surrounding business and accelerating new collaborative creation.

In the Business Sessions will feature discussions on seven themes, including the areas where Hitachi is focusing its efforts, such as Power and Energy fields, as well as Industry, Distribution, and Water fields, Urban field, and Finance, Public and Healthcare fields. Hitachi executives, along with leaders, experts, and managers active in a wide range of fields throughout the world, will engage in discussions and offer a glimpse into the rich future made possible by Social Innovations. Discussion topics will include “IoT Accelerates Business & Social Innovation”; “Energy Reform Introduced by Distributed Energy Resources”; “Medical x AI in Digitized Era for Our Better Future”; “From Value Chain to Business Ecosystem, 'Connecting' Creates New Value and Innovates Business Models”; “Future City of Digital Society”; “Blockchain Technology will Change Life and Society”; and “How Should We Act Now for Sustainable Future?”

At the exhibition venue, Hitachi will introduce a broad range of case studies in the Social Innovation Business, which continues to evolve in countries throughout the world. A broad range of hints for accelerating social innovations through Collaborative Creation with customers will be divided into a total of eight zones – “ENERGY,” “INDUSTRY,” “URBAN DEVELOPMENT,” “FINANCIAL,” “HEALTH CARE,” “Connected by Lumada,” “SECURITY,” and “WORKSTYLE INNOVATION” – and will be introduced through exhibits focusing on more than 20 themes, including hands-on and 3D exhibits, intended to pique customers' interest and encourage active dialogue. Hitachi will also emphasize the appeal of its Social Innovation Business through more than 60 easy-to-understand seminars, which will present solutions to the management issues facing customers, along with case studies of those solutions.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer society's challenges. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2016 (ended March 31, 2017) totaled 9,162.2 billion yen ($81.8 billion). The Hitachi Group is a global leader in the Social Innovation Business, and it has approximately 304,000 employees worldwide. Through collaborative creation, Hitachi is providing solutions to customers in a broad range of sectors, including Power / Energy, Industry / Distribution / Water, Urban Development, and Finance / Government & Public / Healthcare. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.