1. Linking Society: Innovation Inspired by Asking Questions – Transformation to a New Digital Approach to Co-creation
Companies have come to recognize the value of collaborative creation (co-creation) over recent years as a means of driving innovation. Hitachi developed its NEXPERIENCE methodology for co-creation with customers and has been putting it to use, including the establishment in 2019 of its Kyōsō-no-mori facility in Kokubunji, Tokyo. While Kyōsō-no-mori has served as a venue for open collaboration with a wide variety of stakeholders, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced Hitachi to update how it goes about engaging with its co-creation partners, and how it generates ideas and shares challenges.
In practice, Hitachi’s co-creation partners include business people, academics, government officials, and local residents, each of whom has a visceral appreciation of the societal challenges in their localities. With working from home having become an increasingly longstanding practice, there have been numerous instances in which these partners have taken actions to resolve their particular challenges by drawing on net-based communities.
Accordingly, “Linking Society: a collaborative media outlet inspired by asking questions” was launched in October 2021 as a news service that can host discussion on the reappraisal of societal challenges and create a shared vision for an inspiring future. By using this forum to highlight the unmet needs in the public, Hitachi is laying the groundwork for co-creation and accelerating societal innovation in a spirit of consensus.
[01]Linking Society: News service operated by Hitachi’s Research & Development Group