On September 8, 2020, TEPCO Power Grid (Headquarters: Tokyo), in partnership with several Japanese companies, announced an agreement on the joint development and demonstration of new digital products and services in support of Japan’s Society 5.0 initiative. The Society 5.0 initiative, proposed by the Japanese Cabinet Office’s 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan in 2015, aims to achieve economic growth and address social challenges through a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space[1].[2] TEPCO Power Grid’s partners are Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, a Japanese insurance company owned by MS&AD Insurance Group (Headquarters: Tokyo); NTT DoCoMo (Headquarters: Tokyo), a major Japanese telecommunication company; and Energy Gateway (Headquarters: Tokyo), an Internet of Things (IoT) platform solutions provider established by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO, Headquarters: Tokyo) in 2018.[3]
The partnership will collaboratively develop a variety of new digital products and services to tackle social challenges--including natural disasters, carbon emissions, and an aging population--by leveraging the four companies’ knowledge and expertise. By the end of FY2020, they will launch a demonstration test of new digital services to support disaster prevention and mitigation, energy savings, and remote monitoring to improve home-based senior and child care by collecting and analyzing residential energy consumption data to identify user behavior patterns and detect any anomalies. The test will be conducted through the DoCoMo IoT Managed Service, which provides customers with turnkey services, ranging from deployment to operations.
In the project, TEPCO Power Grid and Energy Gateway will be responsible for collecting power usage data and providing an application to control the sensors that collect data. NTT DoCoMo will support customers with the installation of IoT products at home and will provide post-installation monitoring services.[4] Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance will analyze power usage data and accident data to better understand fire risk, so that the firm can expand its insurance coverage and offer customers better discounts.[5]
[1] https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/english/society5_0/index.html
[2] https://onuglobal.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/japon_5basicplan_en.pdf
[3] https://www.energy-gateway.co.jp/company/summary.html
[4] https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/biz/service/managed_services/
[5] https://www.tepco.co.jp/pg/company/press-information/press/2020/1552478_8615.html