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Hitachi Hosts "Hitachi Social Innovation Forum 2019 TOKYO"

The Largest Scale Hitachi Group Event in the World

Tokyo, September 10, 2019 --- Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501) today announced that it will hold "Hitachi Social Innovation Forum 2019 TOKYO" on October 17 and 18 at the Tokyo International Forum, a convention center in Tokyo metropolitan area, as a venue to seek out opportunities for Collaborative Creation with customers and partners aimed at resolving a variety of social issues, improving people's Quality of Life (QoL) and values for customers.

In the 2021 Mid-term Management Plan, Hitachi is advocating the key message of "Hitachi Social Innovation is POWERING GOOD," and Hitachi is focusing all of its energies on working with customers and partners to realize GOOD things that people around the world dream about, such as improving people's QoL and achieving a sustainable society by improving customer's social, environmental and economic values.

This will be the 21st Social Innovation Forum to be held since the event's inception. This year's Forum, which is expected to welcome around 10,000 visitors, will offer a diverse program including speeches, business sessions, seminars, and exhibitions, and introduce a broad range of achievements from the Social Innovation Business, which combines Hitachi's unique strength in operational technology, information technology and products, as well as Lumada solutions utilizing digital technology and Hitachi's future outlook.

In a Keynote Speech, entitled "Hitachi Social Innovation is POWERING GOOD," President and CEO Toshiaki Higashihara will talk about Hitachi's image of a "better society," and about how such a society can be achieved through the Social Innovation Business.

In a Special Speech, entitled "The Story of Great Innovators & How We Nurture Breakthrough Innovation in Our Lives," Dr. Melissa A. Schilling, Professor of Management at Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, who is an innovation scholar specializing in innovation and strategies in the high-tech industry, will provide a detailed explanation of how innovations are created, including some real-world examples.

The first of two Special Talks will feature a dialogue between Mr. Yoshinori Fujikawa, an Associate Professor at Hitotsubashi University and a leading expert in "Service Management" - idea and academic field of new value creation beyond industries - and Mr. Ko Ishiyama, Representative Director & President at ExaWizards Inc., which utilizes AI to work on social issues such as "super aging." In this Special Talk entitled "The Power of Service Innovation - New Value Generated by the Evolution of Digital Technology and AI - ," these two distinguished guests will examine the power of service innovation using digital technologies and AI in resolving complex social issues.

The second Special Talk, entitled "Designing People Centric Society - Future Led by Vision, Civic Technology and Collaborative Creation - ," will welcome Mr. Naoki Ota, Representative Director of New Stories, who was engaged in Society 5.0 strategy planning and local revitalization as the former Special Advisor to the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, and Mr. Takuya Sato, Chairperson of CODE for IKOMA, who is actively working on to resolve social issues in Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture by utilizing IT. This discussion will focus on global trends and real-world innovation examples in Civic Tech, which aims to resolve social issues through collaborative creation with city residents in order to improve people's QoL.

Speech and Business Sessions will focus on themes in the five sectors where Hitachi is focusing, such as Mobility, Smart Life, Industry, Energy, and IT. Hitachi executives, along with leaders, experts, and managers who are active in various fields throughout the world, will discuss diverse topics and present an image of the promising society made possible through social innovations. Topics to be covered will include: "Social Innovation to Create Value through Digital Solutions"; "Future Mobility with Railway Innovation"; "Revitalizing Japan with Regional Energy"; "Business and Society Explored by IoT"; "Urban Development by Digital Solutions"; "Industrial Innovation, Leading the Transformation of Life and Society"; "Hitachi's Initiative towards Collaborative Creation"; and "Open Innovation Contributing to the Achievement of SDGs."

At the exhibition venue, Hitachi will introduce a broad range of the latest achievements and activities in the Social Innovation Business. This venue will feature some 200 exhibitions, including hands-on and 3D exhibitions, divided into seven zones: Mobility, Life, Industry, Energy, Digital Innovation, Security, and Workstyle Innovation. These exhibitions, which will illustrate the business innovations and new possibilities driven by Collaborative Creation with customers, will arouse visitors' interest and stimulate dialogues. In addition, more than 60 seminars introducing solutions to customers' management issues, along with case studies, will offer an appealing and easy-to-understand exploration of the Social Innovation Business.

About Hitachi Social Innovation Forum 2019 TOKYO

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About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is focusing on Social Innovation Business combining its operational technology, information technology and products. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2018 (ended March 31, 2019) totaled 9,480.6 billion yen ($85.4 billion), and the company has approximately 296,000 employees worldwide. Hitachi delivers digital solutions utilizing Lumada in five sectors including Mobility, Smart Life, Industry, Energy and IT, to increase our customer's social, environmental and economic value. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com.