Message from the President June.2024

In May 2024, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism jointly announced their Mobility DX Strategy. The goal of this strategy is to respond to the mobility-related needs of society and users through the fusion of green transformation (GX) and digital transformation (DX) with a view toward the realization of a prosperous future society.

Going forward, we expect that Japanese companies will facilitate the fusion of hardware and software technologies with a focus on the two fields of GX and DX, and work on the development and supply of new mobility services without being restrained by the boundaries between industries. The Mobility DX Strategy includes these three points:
(1) A drastic overhaul of vehicle development and design and a shift to SDVs (software-defined vehicles)
(2) The provision of new mobility services utilizing autonomous driving and MaaS technologies
(3) The creation of new value through the effective use of data

Regarding (1), major Japanese mobility manufacturers have been already collaborating to standardize the specifications of the platforms that connect software and systems for next-generation vehicles, with an eye toward enhancing their competitiveness in the global market. For (2), efforts will be made to ensure that human mobility and logistics services, areas where there is a serious shortage of human resources, are provided sustainably through the evolution of autonomous driving and MaaS technologies. In addition, new solutions, which feature the fusion of the mobility industry and other industries, have been created to address mobility issues and traffic accidents emerging in different regions, with a view toward the creation of a society that is equipped with safe and convenient transportation systems. Regarding (3), efforts will be made to comprehensively understand the infinite amount of data in the manufacturing-use-disposal life cycle of automobiles. It is expected that data utilization businesses will be created and become vibrant if it is ensured that many partners including partners in different industries facilitate data-based collaboration.

As described above, to create a sustainable society, companies are expected to provide new value by facilitating the fusion of technologies across industries in a boundaryless way while also making the most of their own strengths. It is important for us to spare no effort to understand quickly how society will change and what technologies will be required as a result of these changes, as well as what customers expect from us. Then, instead of being satisfied with orders that meet partially meet the customers' needs, we should propose optimal solutions after looking at the whole picture and live up to customers’ expectations through the fusion of technologies and our human skills. This is what we should pursue as a group of professional engineers.