What is IOWN? Impressions from the NTT R&D Forum 2019 (part 2)
Here are my impressions, part 2, from the NTT R&D Forum (for part 1, please refer to “What is IOWN? – Impressions from the NTT R&D Forum 2019 [part 1])
On Thursday and Friday, the focus was on NTT DATA’s R&D work.
As mentioned in my first post on the NTT R&D Forum, NTT is rather doing the basis research and the network and infrastructure-related research, while NTT DATA is investing in the development of innovative business-focused solutions on top of NTT’s research work.
Tsuyoshi Kitani, Executive Vice President of NTT DATA shared the Technology Foresight 2019 with us, a 3-10-year view of which technologies and business trends NTT DATA considers as the most relevant game changers.
Figure 1: Technology Foresight 2019 NTT DATA (Source: https://www.nttdata.com/global/en/foresight)
The NTT DATA R&D team also demonstrated a huge number of showcases during the break-outs on several topics along the foresight. Here are some examples in various areas of what NTT DATA terms its six Digital Focus Areas (DFAs):
- Data & intelligence (e.g. AI operating management system, FLARE: Fast Learning Aerial Reconnaissance, spatial data analysis, everis Knowler, etc.),
- Intelligent automation (multi-modal AI and explainable AI postal package inspection, hybrid command center, video quality control, etc.),
- IoT (NXT-Mobility Charge),
- Customer experience (Mirage – naval tactical table, indoor positioning technology using geomagnetism, VR full digital office, etc.),
- IT optimization (e.g. everis CAD [cognitive assisted development]),
- Cybersecurity (e.g. BlockTrace for sharing, etc.).
In further sessions the NTT DATA team demonstrated where it stands in terms of use cases and real projects in topics such as:
- Vehicle SOC,
- Quantum computing and related use cases in manufacturing,
- Several AI cases,
- A deep dive into blockchain.
On Friday morning, we started with two further deep-dive sessions: One was to introduce us to NTT DATA’s Digital Design Network, in which Roberto Roggero shared two very interesting examples of NTT DATA’s digital experience in designing new products and services. The last session was on Altemista Cloud, NTT’s own DevOps platform and NTT’s Agile Professional Center, which was launched on a global scale. In the afternoon, we had the chance to visit NTT’s Design Studio Aquair in Tokyo, a state-of-the-art design studio for collaborative work for NTT and its global customers.
To summarize, it was an impressive week, which gave my view on NTT Group’s capabilities further food for thought. If NTT is able to communicate a shared vision and strategy across all NTT companies towards its customers, it has a really outstanding positioning and capabilities. Last but not least, with its impressive power in R&D, NTT Group is well prepared for further challenges and technology-enabled game changers.