Interview with IYGA2019 Grand Prix Winner

Name: Lin Wujuan
Designation: Deputy General Manager (R&D Center)
Company: Hitachi Asia Ltd.

Tell us a little about yourself and what you do in Hitachi.

I am the Deputy General Manager of Research & Development (R&D) Center, Hitachi Asia Ltd. (HAS). As an innovation strategist and solution architect, I focus on new solution and business creation in the areas of Urban Development, Mobility, Manufacturing & Logistics and Fintech.

After winning the Grand Prix in the Inspiration of the Year Global Award (IYGA) 2019 and being certified as Brand Ambassador, how do you feel?

I feel that our project has drawn lots of attention, and I can explain to more people regarding the social issues that our project addresses.

I think it is my responsibility to create a greater awareness of social issues, and hopefully inspire people to think of new solutions. This is another way for me to contribute to the society.

What social issue did your project help resolve? Who will benefit from your project?

Globally, buildings account for ~40% of the total carbon emission, which has a strong correlation with raising global temperature. In ASEAN countries, due to hot and humid tropical climate, buildings consume large energy, mostly used by air-conditioning for occupant’s comfort. In Singapore, buildings consume more than 50% of the total electricity. As a result, the Singapore government has set a national target to green 80% of buildings in Singapore by 2030, which will help the country save $1.6B per year. Indeed, energy efficiency is one critical factor for the sustainable development of Singapore.

Our solution will accelerate building owners to adopt energy efficient technologies and enable effective building energy management based on human activity and personal thermal comfort. In essence, this project will help to improve building energy efficiency and occupants’ comfort. It will also reduce building carbon emission to provide a greener environment for our next generations.

Can you share how your winning project embodied the Hitachi Values namely Harmony, Sincerity and Pioneering Spirit?

Harmony: The project required close collaboration with many stakeholders, including government agency, building owners/facility managers, consultants etc. With co-creation mindset, we encouraged different opinions, and applied agile development principles to accept new requirements from customer. We also allocated subject matter experts on-site to have a closer discussion with customer so as to ensure timely response to customer’s requests.

Sincerity: We demonstrated our Sincerity by putting tremendous effort in 1) improving the data quality provided by customer; 2) improving end user adoption by organizing many workshops and enhancing the system based on feedback from building owners and industry experts.

Pioneering Spirit: Our solution is the first-of-its-kind in the industry.

Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to encourage more application for the “Inspiration of the Year Award” 2020.

From preparation to eventually winning the IYGA Grand Prix, the whole process was a very valuable experience for me. It helped me to rediscover Hitachi’s founding spirit: Harmony, Sincerity, and Pioneering Spirit.

Because of every employee’s passion and persistence to deliver innovation and maintain the trust from society, Hitachi’s group identity could remain strong for more than 100 years.

So, always believe that innovation starts with you! Please join IYGA2020 to share your project success and inspire the others.