Message from the President June.2021

Published by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Information and Communications in Japan 2018 cited X-Tech as a trend to use digital technologies and new ICT in various industries and businesses and as creating new values and systems. It is thought that X-Tech is now bringing about changes at a higher speed than in the year when this report was published.

With respect to X-Tech, I pay particular attention to those domains related to life. This is what is most important in building a sustainable society. Specifically, they include MedTech (medical care), HealthTech (health), FoodTech (food), AgriTech (agriculture) and CleanTech (the environment). In the domain of medical care, online medical examinations are now become widespread, due partly to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 5G and other high-speed, high-capacity and low-latency communication networks are constructed, robot-assisted remote surgery is being introduced in society. I believe that 5G and other basic technologies supporting X-Tech will further advance to help create in the future products and services hitherto thought to be impossible.

We will organize DX training for all employees in fiscal 2021 as well. DX is the concept of introducing advanced technologies to change people's lives for the better. X-Tech is meant to bring this concept to fruition by combining AI, big data, IoT, 5G, robotics and other basic technologies and to offer new value in the form of products and services in different domains. However, X-Tech cannot be realized with technologies alone. It will only become reality when we have the imagination to think about how to address social issues and to bring happiness to people, together with the design and development abilities to give shape to our ideas and the technical capabilities to make them a reality. All of these attributes are essential.

The DX training is designed to help you understand the concept of DX itself and learn management models for bringing out results, as well as design philosophy and elemental technologies. I hope you will understand them organically, not separately, and that in doing so you will build your capacity to respond to change. When you go through the training, you are asked to imagine at what future opportunities you will be able to apply the knowledge you have gained and to take active part in the session. I look forward to seeing you do well in the new X-Tech markets.