Fujitsu Limited and the City of Kawasaki have announced plans to strengthen their collaboration around digital technologies amidst rapid societal and environmental change to present novel solutions to the various challenges confronting communities, including the threats posed by climate change and COVID-19. Today’s agreement represents an important step to further strengthening the comprehensive agreement (1) initially signed by both sides in 2014, and the partners have identified “Health,” “Safety and security,” “Environment,” and “Work and living” as the four focus themes for the latest phase of the project. At its Kawasaki Plant and surrounding areas, the founding place of Fujitsu and a key base for its research and development into innovative technologies, Fujitsu will work to build advanced models leveraging its AI, 5G, supercomputer capabilities and next-generation networks–technologies that many anticipate will play an important role in building the sustainable cities of the future.
This represents the latest milestone in a fruitful technological partnership between the two partners. Since 2017, Fujitsu and the City of Kawasaki have been working together to contribute to a safer community through initiatives that include a project to mitigate damage from natural disasters like tsunami through the use of supercomputers.
To respond to challenges emerging in this new era, Fujitsu and the City of Kawasaki will leverage the latest computing and next generation network technologies to widely implement a Social Digital Twin (2) in the project’s four priority areas. The Social Digital Twin digitally reproduces information in real time related to the economy, society and the environment, and will play a key role in the partners’ efforts to contribute to the fulfillment of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The two companies will also establish a citizen-participation living lab to connect citizens and businesses with eye toward realizing its vision for a sustainable “future city.” In July, they will begin to collect citizens’ “voice” and perspectives through the use of digital technology and conduct design thinking workshops. Students will also participate in internships that aim to solve societal issues, such as envisioning a sustainable future for the City of Kawasaki. Furthermore, Fujitsu and the City of Kawasaki will promote inclusive urban development centered on its citizens, including the exploration of new ideas that emphasize diversity through the use of ICT at the Kawasaki City School for the Deaf.
To make Kawasaki the “Happiest City” through attaining sustainability and contentment for its citizens, the City of Kawasaki is promoting activities around the concepts of “creating a safe hometown” and “powerful industrial urban development” in harmony with growth and maturity. Through collaboration with Fujitsu, Kawasaki will implement a variety of leading-edge technologies in areas closely related to the lives of local residents. Through such measures, the City of Kawasaki will strive to further increase the value of communities by making them more livable.
As part of its vision for a “Trusted Society,” Fujitsu is working to create a resilient society that prioritizes the environment in which people can live with confidence and peace of mind. This initiative demonstrates Fujitsu’s ongoing commitment to realizing a sustainable society through innovation, quickly offering services based on the advanced models it creates together with the City of Kawasaki and expanding them throughout Japan and beyond.
(1) comprehensive agreement:
Kawasaki City and Fujitsu Sign Framework Agreement (Press Release 2/19/2014)
(2) Social Digital Twin:
Technologies that digitize society in a comprehensive manner, ranging from interactions among people, things, and events (micro scale) to social phenomena (macro scale), and contributes to the solution of varied, complicated societal problems.
