Hitachi and UTokyo Joint Research

H-UTokyo Lab.

The process of creating knowledge or value has changed tremendously in recent years with advances in ICT, globalization and changing values of people. An era of great transformation has arrived where the way society or the economy is, and the structure of industry, are expected to undergo rapid change. Earlier this year, the Government of Japan, led the world in announcing a vision for a “Super Smart Society*1” through “Society 5.0*2” where issues in society are resolved and new values are created to accommodate such changes, leading to a prosperous lifestyle for all.

The University of Tokyo (“the University”) believes that the collaborative creation of knowledge, drawing not only from one discipline but bringing together a diverse and global perspective to connect the knowledge is imperative in resolving complex global issues faced by society. To date, the University has brought together the achievements from its many faculties to resolve issues as well as contributed to government policy. It is the vision of the University to serve as “a global hub for knowledge collaboration contributing to the 21st-century global society”*3 by promoting the synergy that will connect the “creation of knowledge” to “the use of knowledge.” Through the new Laboratory, the University is promoting collaborative creation between industry and academia by sharing visions and actively drawing on the synergy to enhance the creation of new value for society.

Hitachi, Ltd. (“Hitachi”) on the other hand, has been implementing Social Innovation Business that combines and leverages its vast experience in infrastructure technology and advanced IT, accelerating initiatives in collaborative creation with customers and partners, as well as through open innovation, to deliver the optimal solutions for societal issues by creating new value through digital technology.

The University and Hitachi decided to combine their respective efforts and collaborate under a new scheme of “collaborative creation (co-creation) by industry and academia” to create visions and innovations that can help realize a “Super Smart Society” (Society 5.0), which is expected to bring prosperity to humankind. We established the “H-UTokyo Lab” within the University to be the central command for such initiatives. This lab will undertake two projects. The first one is “Habitat Innovation,” where we have tried to create a smart city concept suitable for Society 5.0 and implement it in real urban settings. The other one involves “Energy” in which the energy systems that can support Society 5.0 are studied from various perspectives. Joint research is being promoted while sustaining organic collaboration between these projects. Moreover, we plan to actively share the content and results of such joint studies with the society by utilizing events such as open forums.

*1 Super Smart Society: A society which can attend in detail to the various needs of society by providing necessary items or services to the people who require them, when they are required, in the amount required, thus enabling its citizens to live an active and comfortable life through high quality services regardless of difference in age, sex, region and language, etc.
*2 Society 5.0: Activities related to the realization of a shared vision for a “Super Smart Society” where the cyber space and the real world (physical space) are intricately connected. The naming describes a new type of society that will be led by innovations in science and technology, following on from hunter-gatherer, pastoral-agrarian, industrial and information.
*3 The University of Tokyo: Vision 2020 http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/vision_2020.html

Habitat Innovation Project

The habitat innovation project will be undertaken with the aim of realizing Society 5.0 through innovations in “habitats” (human settlements), based on an approach that integrates “manufacturing (engineering and technological development)” with “community design (development of suitable land, social design).”
The project is intended to achieve the following three goals.

[1] Image of a future city that aims to improve “Human Security and Well-being”

To build a model of an integrated system of hard technology and soft policies which transforms habitats (dwellings) and to present an image of society that improves “Human Security and Well-being” by inducing innovation based on the two aspects of technology development and policy proposals.

[2] Challenge resolution model that implement “Society 5.0”

To propose policies to quickly realize a next-generation city that will improve the goals of the entire city (overall optimized solutions) and QoL of citizens and individuals (partial optimized solutions), while autonomously maintaining a balance between them, and to propose a challenge resolution model for target cities.

[3] Business model based on the synergistic effects of combining the strengths of Hitachi with the strengths of University of Tokyo

To build advanced urban infrastructure utilization systems through the development of “Big Data” utilization technologies, and to build a business model of habitat innovation through social implementation based on “knowledge collaboration” with stakeholders in target cities.

Habitat Innovation Project Phase2

In the “Habitat Innovation” project, the activities for Phase 2 (2020-2022) will be undertaken under the new system (scheme) described below, based on the results of Phase 1 (2017-2019) in which sharing of the vision and development of the system/technology will be undertaken.
The aim is to build a smart city (Society 5.0) implementation methodology, promote social implementation domestically, and share information on a global basis.

For more information on research themes:click here

Energy

The theme of “Energy” is the study of ideal energy systems, particularly electric power systems that will support a data-driven society in Society 5.0. As a Global Base for Knowledge Collaboration it shares “Vision Goals” (proposals) of electric power systems to support Society 5.0 at the same time as it strives to solve technical challenges and policy and systemic challenges which have been identified to deal with social challenges such as global warming, exhaustion of resources, a falling birth rate, the aging of society, and regional differences.