HITACHI

INTERNET OF THINGS

In the area of IoT, Hitachi focuses on the development of its IoT platform, Lumada, and smart cities.

In 2019, Hitachi was recognised as a visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Industrial IoT Platforms based on its evaluation of Hitachi’s Lumada software. Hitachi’s Lumada IoT platform business is helping Hitachi coordinate its hundreds of businesses and consists of several components. For example, Lumada Maintenance Insights aims to optimise asset maintenance and operations with IoT solutions, while Lumada Video Insights enables smooth operations and businesses using holistic insights from video, IoT, and business data. In September 2019, the company announced its Lumada Manufacturing Insights that uses AI, machine learning, and DataOps to optimise machine, production, and quality outcomes to set the foundation of digital innovation that is essential to Manufacturing 4.0.

Hitachi’s vision of smart cities includes the use of IoT solutions to make cities safer, more efficient, and viable. The company uses Lumada to create IoT solutions that tackle problems related to infrastructure, safety, and transportation, to name a few.

The company also drives digital transformation in other countries. For instance, in Thailand Hitachi signed several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to tighten relations with the government and private enterprises. These include an MoU with the Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EECO) to promote the EEC initiative aimed at enhancing the industrial revolution and an MoU with Thailand Post for collaboration on a proof-of-concept project for digitalized mail services. Moreover, Hitachi Consulting Cooperation, a subsidiary of Hitachi, has been determined to assist in the design of smart city services for One Bangkok, Thailand’s first fully integrated district.

In Japan and in other countries where it operates, Hitachi engages in dialogue and partnerships with governments and advocates for public policies that foster innovation and allow the company to contribute to ‘a more sustainable, connected, and secure society’. For instance, the company works with US policymakers to promote public policies that fuel IoT innovation, while also prioritising safety, privacy, and security.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Hitachi is developing AI-powered solutions to enhance its services and businesses and to support the development of other industries, such as healthcare, shipping, and finance.

Hitachi AI technology was introduced in 2015 as a generalised AI technology used to respond to a wide range of applications. It can learn from large amounts of data and make its own decisions, eliminating the need for people to set up hypotheses in advance. Hitachi has applied its AI expertise in many areas, from countering cyberbullying to strengthening enterprise decision-making by using AI to generate logical dialogues.

Improving sustainability is one of Hitachi’s key goals and, at the same time, one of the biggest challenges for Japan and other countries. Some of the major societal challenges include sustainability of the population and birth rate, employment, fiscal stability and social security, and the environment. To that end, Hitachi contributed to a policy paper assessing the use of AI in achieving a sustainable future for Japan.

As part of its goals to create a safer society through technology, the company is also developing AI-based solutions for security purposes, as well as for defence and military systems (such as autonomous support systems for unmanned vehicles, sensor information integration solutions, and drone use solutions).

ROBOTICS

In the area of robotics, one of Hitachi’s main goals is to develop solutions aimed at improving people’s lives. Back in 2005, Hitachi was one of the first companies to develop a symbiotic robot, and by 2016, the company introduced EMIEW3, a service-assistance robot that can talk and work with people.

Hitachi has been advocating the concept of an ‘autonomous and collaborative robot system,’ which encompasses automation that combines flexibility and efficiency by allowing multiple intelligent robots to move autonomously and collaborate together smartly.