Candy: As I’m in the rail industry, I was shocked when I heard the news about a train accident. In October 2018, there was a derailment where more than 200 people got injured or lost their lives. This accident made me think about “how easily an organization can lose trust if it fails to think about users. “

Around that time, our project for developing 600 new express cars was launched, which is the largest deal in the Taiwan rail market. Winning the trust of users was our priority. We held countless discussions and came to the following conclusion: we needed to have a customer’s point of view to think about what rail companies and the users of express trains wanted and to provide what they wanted with a spirit of “Sincerity.”

What rail companies and the users of express trains wanted most was to offer or have a “comfortable train trip.” To that end, we came together under “Harmony” for creating safe and comfortable express trains. I think a team where members work together toward a common goal is stronger and achieves bigger results than a team led by one talented member. Our team was just like the first one.

But the first train design we presented to the rail company was not well-received. They wanted something that would be accepted by people in Taiwan. So, we worked with local designers to create a state-of-the-art train design that would exceed the rail company’s expectations. We made a lot of effort to create an innovative train design with “Pioneering Spirit” and finally achieved it. By putting “Harmony, Sincerity and Pioneering Spirit” into practice, we could successfully receive the order of express cars. Our customer told us “We are glad to make a deal with a reliable company like Hitachi.”

Higashihara: Hearing that practicing “Harmony, Sincerity, and Pioneering Spirit” led to project success, I realized Hitachi’s Founding Spirit is shared globally. If Hitachi wants to work for social contribution, we must build trust in society. Our behavior in line with Hitachi Founding Spirit works when it comes to earning society’s trust.

Hirata: In Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, direct discharge of sewage into the sea led to lagoon deterioration and increase in diseases such as diarrhea, which became a serious social problem. The government of Papua New Guinea asked Japan for support to tackle this issue, so Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Hitachi banded together to build a sewage treatment facility

We faced a problem when we tried to get this project off the ground. Residents couldn’t see the point in a sewage treatment facility launched a campaign against building it. So, we spoke with those residents several times about the importance of this project, and carried out activities such as a neighborhood cleanup to fill the gap between what residents were thinking and what we wanted to do. Gradually they came to think “these people are working for us” and became our supporters. For example, the site of the facility was located in an unsafe area, so residents started to patrol the construction site to make sure that it is safe. Whilst construction process went smoothly; we faced another problem: there was no one who could provide training in operational management of the facility. We asked the City of Kitakyushu, the northernmost city on Japan’s Kyushu Island, for help to share Japan’s knowledge about how to operate and manage sewage treatment facility. By cooperating with various partners and sharing knowledge and ideas, we could successfully complete our project and the ocean water quality is beginning to improve.

What this sewage treatment plant brought to the local community is improved Social Value by way of making ocean water cleaner to enhance the health of residents, improved Environmental Value by way of restoring ecosystem, and improved Economic Value by way of increasing the number of tourists who come to visit recovered beautiful lagoon. Increasing these three values at the same, I think our project helped improve the QoL (Quality of Life) of the residents.

Higashihara: In our 2021 Mid-term Management Plan (2021MMP), Hitachi announces its determination to become a global leader of Social Innovation Business and a commitment to improve Social Value, Environmental Value, and Economic Value with customers. This sewage treatment project is precisely increasing these three values.

Let’s continue working together with customers to create new value and take a leading role in building a sustainable society.

Jeffrey: Cardiovascular disease is a global problem and is responsible for about 30% of all global deaths. The ability to detect and diagnose patients with early signs and symptoms is a critical factor in reducing these deaths.

Based on Lumada platform, we developed a solution using machine learning to identify key clinical characteristics among vast amounts of image data from patients with cardiovascular disease. The solution swiftly delivers key information to clinicians to support improved patient outcomes at the point-of-care.

What is groundbreaking for clinicians is the solution enables clinicians to be immediately informed of the early stages of cardiovascular disease in not only adults but children. While clinicians can rely on common symptoms of cardiovascular disease during the screenings for adults, there is not as many standardized methods for detecting the signs of cardiovascular diseases in children, so in certain scenarios, clinicians must go through the process of consulting case reports manually. Our Lumada-based solution can find and analyze the appropriate details within medical records, and then notify clinicians in real-time. This capability enables caregivers to immediately identify the patients where advanced medical care is needed, and importantly, assist with protecting the lives of young patients sooner, rather than later.

I think Hitachi is helping to save the lives with Lumada and innovation, and in this sense, Lumada-based innovation in the medical field is the ultimate social contribution. As a global leader in Social Innovation, Hitachi will continue to pursue and deliver notable solutions with Lumada in healthcare and life science domains, and beyond.

Higashihara: We have more than 650 of Lumada case examples (as of December 2019) and have gained insight into the effective use of this platform. Hitachi is using these case examples to overcome various challenges around the world. I truly hope you and your team will continue to drive Hitachi’s Social Innovation Business and make people’s lives better with our digital technologies.

John: Our Smart Energy Islands project aims to provide and optimize clean and low-carbon energy to the community on the Isles of Scilly using our IoT technologies. The Isles of Scilly are a remote archipelago, whose population is about 2,200. Households in the community do not have access to the mains gas network, so they have to rely heavily on electricity for heating and powering their homes. Electricity is supplied by a single undersea cable and is sometimes subject to fluctuations or interruptions, with the diesel backup power station being a high-carbon alternative supply.

To provide a stable supply of clean energy, collaboration between UK government, local organizations, power grid companies, and the community of the Isles of Scilly was essential. Some people in the community were conservative or unsure about the effect of installing new equipment such as IoT sensors and solar panels, which made it all the more important to setup our project correctly from the beginning. So, I made the decision to base myself on the Isles of Scilly part-time, to spend time on the islands to get to know the needs of the people who lived there. By listening to those people and discussing the future with them the project design was set appropriately, and staff members were gradually being accepted by the residents to form a team for tackling challenges.

To complete the project, I took a lead in building ties between relevant teams in Hitachi Europe, Hitachi Consulting, and Social Innovation Business divisions of Hitachi, Ltd. We brought together knowledge and experience accumulated in Hitachi and developed a system that manages and optimizes the renewable entire energy supply on the islands. We could not achieve such tremendous success without building a “One Hitachi” team.

Higashihara: It’s wonderful that you spent your time with your customer on the islands and built a bond with all the stakeholders. In the course of expanding Hitachi’s Social Innovation Businesses across the world, we are required to make quick decisions and take swift actions to catch up with the fast-changing world. We need to go beyond what we are doing right now and transcend the boundaries among business sectors. Let’s make the world a better place with the “One Hitachi” mindset.

Atul: I participated in a project that aimed at providing digital education to 1,698 public schools in Rajasthan with the goal of spreading computer education among children in rural areas. In our challenging 10-year project, we had to make countless discussions with bureaucrats about how to fill a gap in education between urban and rural areas.

There was a visit to school that I still remember vividly. Accompanying director generals, bureaucrats, and ministers, I went to a school that had launched digital education. When I asked one of the students what their teacher’s name was, the student surprised me by answering “Our teacher’s name is Hitachi.” The student continued “Thanks to the new computer classroom, I am now able to receive digital education which I was willing to have but I couldn’t before. In the classroom, I can see the name “Hitachi” posted on various things. So, our teacher’s name is Hitachi.”

When I heard this, I knew our efforts bore fruit and became determined to continue working towards bringing happiness to people and making them smile. We, Grand Prix Winners from six regions, are now certified as Brand Ambassadors and are expected to spread the Hitachi Group Identity among all employees by telling our own stories in respective regions. When I go back to India, I’m going to communicate my wonderful experience of social contribution and how the Hitachi Group Identity helps us overcome various challenges.

Higashihara: In order for Hitachi to expand the Social Innovation Businesses across the world, sharing the Hitachi Group Identity among all the global employees is becoming increasingly important. I hope all of you will enjoy serving as Brand Ambassadors and communicate the importance of the Hitachi Group Identity to your colleagues by telling your precious stories rather than by simply explaining what it means.

Higashihara: This is a very inspiring experience for me to discuss with the members of Hitachi Group companies in various industries around the world. I am proud that the Hitachi Group is greatly contributing to solving various social issues with its broad range of technology skills.

Right now, we are facing varied and complicated issues such as natural disaster, climate change, energy, aging society, poverty, and social disparity. To solve these issues, we need to accelerate collaborative creation with customers and partners with our digital technologies and create new value. Hitachi’s strength lies in OT × IT × product, and we can leverage this strength for creating new value.

We are going to experience a big change in 2020. In order for Hitachi to become a global leader of Social Innovation Business, we once again need to think about what our strong points are and where we are heading. I hope you realize that your daily work contributes to the betterment of society and feel proud about what you are doing. Let’s work together for “POWERING GOOD.”