COVER STORY:MESSAGE
Focusing on the Three Value Areas of the “Environment,” “Resilience,” and “Security and Safety”
Toshiaki Tokunaga
Executive Vice President and Executive Officer, Head of Systems & Services Business, Hitachi, Ltd.
The pace of digital transformation (DX), which reshapes society and business through digital technology, has accelerated globally since the emergence of the COVID–19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the world continues to face a variety of other challenges, including climate change, aging social infrastructure, and a rising incidence of cyberattacks, and it is against this background that Hitachi is focusing on the three value areas the “environment,” “resilience,” and “security and safety” to build a sustainable society as it seeks to improve people’s quality of life (QoL) and enhance value for its corporate customers.
Taking the lead in this Social Innovation Business and serving as a driving force behind Hitachi Group is the IT Sector of its operations.
Since the launch of Lumada in 2016, Hitachi has built up a strong track record of addressing the challenges facing society and business through digital solutions that combine its strengths in operational technology (OT), IT such as artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics, and product expertise.
In July 2021, GlobalLogic, Inc., a company that applies its advanced digital engineering and experience design capabilities to delivering digital innovation to customer businesses, joined the Hitachi Group. Hitachi is transforming itself into a digital company engaged in social infrastructure DX on a global scale.
Hitachi is engaging in collaborative creation with customers to ensure that DX will create a better society, drawing on various data to identify the challenges facing society and business while also utilizing its innovative digital engineering capabilities to develop and supply solutions that address these challenges. Furthermore, integrating these solutions into existing customer systems demands very reliable system integration (SI) skills. SI has become an area of strength for Hitachi’s IT sector thanks to its past experience building mission-critical social infrastructure systems in Japan, including a railway seat reservation system and an online system for banks.
This strength of Hitachi in digital technology is also essential for the cyber-physical system (CPS) cycle, which exploits the Internet of Things (IoT) and involves the use of AI and other software running in cyberspace (on the cloud) to visualize and analyze collected data so that solutions to challenges can be provided in the form of real-time feedback to physical space (existing systems and other equipment). Hitachi is making a strong push for DX in social infrastructure, using the term “mission-critical IoT” for such reliable, high-performance CPSs that generate value while also protecting important data and systems from both cyber and physical security threats.
“Mission-critical IoT” That Leverages Hitachi’s Strengths to Pursue DX in Social Infrastructure
The following are some of the initiatives being undertaken by Hitachi as it accelerates its growth in becoming a global digital company.
As a global DX partner, Hitachi is seeking to use these activities as a way to overcome societal challenges and create a society where people can live secure, safe, and comfortable lives. The world can look forward to more such initiatives by Hitachi in the future.