On April 20, 2020, Japan Infrastructure Waymark (JIW, Headquarters: Osaka), which is wholly owned by Nippon Telegraph And Telephone West (NTT West, Headquarters: Osaka)[1] and provides infrastructure inspection solutions using drones, announced that it had entered into a capital and business alliance with four utility companies, TEPCO Power Grid (Headquarters: Tokyo), Hokuriku Power Electric (Headquarters: Toyama Prefecture), Osaka Gas (Headquarters: Osaka)[2], and Saibu Gas (Headquarters: Saitama Prefecture)[3]. In addition to the four utility companies, an IT solution provider, NTT Data (Headquarters: Tokyo)[4]; a Tokyo-based venture capital firm, Drone Fund[5]; and an engineering company, Toyo Engineering (Headquarters: Chiba Prefecture)[6] also joined the alliance.
Aging infrastructure and labor shortages are making it increasingly challenging for utility companies to efficiently inspect a large amount of infrastructure, such as power plants, transmission towers, and electric poles. The four utility companies and Toyo Engineering partnered with JIW to improve the efficiency of infrastructure maintenance work by developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and drone solutions. The collaboration will develop AI and drone technologies for monitoring and inspection, ensuring more sophisticated, safe, and high-quality maintenance work. The alliance also facilitates sharing inspection expertise and enhanced AI solutions based on the collected data. [7] [8] [9] [10]
[1] https://www.ntt-west.co.jp/corporate/about/profile.html
[2] https://www.osakagas.co.jp/en/aboutus/corporate_profile/
[3] https://seibugas.com/wp/company_group/%E4%BC%9A%E7%A4%BE%E6%A6%82%E8%A6%81/
[4] https://www.nttdata.com/global/en/about-us/company-profile
[5] https://dronefund.vc/en/about/
[6] https://www.toyo-eng.com/jp/ja/company/outline/
[7] https://www.jiw.co.jp/20200420-infra-tieup/
[8] http://www.rikuden.co.jp/press/attach/200420001.pdf
[9] https://www.osakagas.co.jp/company/press/pr2020/1286672_43661.html
[10] https://www.tepco.co.jp/pg/company/press-information/press/2020/1539425_8615.html