The Japanese government has adopted a “cloud-by-default principle” that makes cloud services the first choice for public sector information systems. However, this policy still leaves open the question of which of the many different forms of cloud services to adopt based on considerations such as cost or data protection, with options including SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS as well as the choice of public or private clouds. This creates a need for the flexibility to deliver solutions in ways that suit customer’s requirements, such as being able to offer SaaS or to build and deliver systems using IaaS or PaaS. To achieve this, Hitachi has developed technologies that enable use of a common set of tools for implementing and operating solutions in a variety of different formats, combining these as a package for use across all public sector digital solution projects.
The Japanese government is promoting its Society 5.0 vision of a “super-smart society” achieved by systems where there is an advanced level of integration between cyberspace and physical space(1). Use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) will be key to achieving this vision.
In order to provide government services suitable for Society 5.0, the public sector is working on digital government initiatives that seek to re-design these services in ways that include the comprehensive use of digital technology. One such initiative is the “cloud-by-default principle” that makes cloud services the first choice for public sector information systems(2).
Hitachi supplies its platform, Lumada, for open collaborative creation (co-creation) based on its objective of creating a sustainable society through its Social Innovation Business. By the timely delivery of Lumada-based solutions for social innovation, Hitachi is seeking not only to provide customers with enhanced business value, but also to enhance social and environmental value through improvements to public services, thereby helping bring about Society 5.0(3).
The following two sections describe how cloud services are currently being used in the public sector and the requirements and technical challenges for the implementation and operation of cloud-based public-sector systems. This is followed by a description of how the facilitation of system implementation and operation is achieved and how this will be leveraged for future business development.
As noted, the cloud-by-default principle makes cloud services the first choice to consider for public sector solutions. However, this policy still leaves open the question of which of the many different forms of cloud service to adopt based on considerations such as cost or data protection, with options including software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) as well as the choice of public, private, or hybrid clouds.
There are two main ways in which cloud systems are delivered. The first is delivery as a package whereby Hitachi acts as a system integrator and implements the system on the customer’s premises or by utilizing IaaS or PaaS. The second way is delivery as a service whereby Hitachi builds and operates the system and makes it available to the customer as a SaaS. Delivery as a package has predominated in the public sector in the past, with core business systems that handle confidential data being developed individually to run on the customer’s premises. However, because the benefits of solutions that utilize technologies such as AI or analytics can vary from user to user, there is rising demand for “starting small,” meaning initially introducing such solutions on a trial basis. Security requirements are also becoming more diverse, such as allowing some data to be stored on a public cloud. These factors have led to increasing use of delivery as a service.
Fig. 1—Delivery of Materials Development Solution
Depending on where the customer wants the system to be implemented, Hitachi’s materials development solution is available both as a package (installed on premises) and as a service (a SaaS accessed via the web). Despite it being the same solution, the customization of individual systems is needed to satisfy delivery format and other customer-specific requirements.
A materials development solution using materials informatics (MI)(4) is one example from Hitachi’s public sector business of a solution delivered in a variety of forms. Materials development is a field experiencing an intensification of global competition with a need to find ways of developing materials ahead of competitors through the timely analysis of large amounts of simulation data and testing results for the three-dimensional structures and other properties of new materials. MI is a set of techniques for the rapid analysis of data like this that relates to new materials.
As materials development involves investment in research by publicly funded research institutions and private-sector businesses, there is demand for ways of keeping data on analyzed materials in-house. To satisfy this requirement, Hitachi’s MI solution is available both as a package and as a service (see Figure 1).
Delivery as a package means the materials development system is installed on the customer’s premises or on their private cloud. Delivery as a service means it is made available as a SaaS on a monthly contract. Whichever delivery option is chosen, the functions can be customized as needed to suit a variety of customer requirements. By using the techniques for system implementation and operation described later in this article, it is possible to combine flexible customization with rapid solution rollout based on a choice of different delivery formats(5).
While solutions like that for MI that provide the flexibility to adapt to different requirements are suitable for a wide range of customers, ways also need to be found to reduce the cost of developing, implementing, and operating these solutions. This section describes the technical requirements for enabling the rapid rollout of solutions in a variety of formats while also allowing for flexible customization of the system configuration for customers with diverse needs.
Fig. 2—Overview of Facilitation of Cloud-based System Implementation and Operation
Function 1 uses de facto standard technologies for function modularization and sharing. Function 2 simplifies the task of setting parameters that vary between system platforms. Function 3 uses monitoring data model conversion to enable the same software to be used for monitoring across multiple clouds.
This section describes how cloud-based system implementation and operation can be facilitated to overcome the challenges identified above. Figure 2 shows an overview of how this is done.
The following describes the available functions in terms of the above-mentioned challenges.
This article has described ways of facilitating system implementation and operation to encourage use of the cloud in the public sector where greater use of cloud services is anticipated. This enables the systems needed to implement particular solutions to be customized as required by different users and delivered rapidly and at low cost on different platforms in different forms.
Hitachi is anticipating growth in hybrid cloud solution businesses, this being one of the areas where the practices described in this article will likely be deployed in the future. In the public sector, maintaining data security is an important consideration for many customers, with the current trend being toward placing greater restrictions on the handling of personal information. Accordingly, Hitachi hopes to help add value to customer businesses through the operation of its solution businesses that effectively and securely integrate information such as confidential data held by users with advanced digital technologies supplied as cloud services. The intention is to actively pursue the development and delivery of solutions like this that make use of the practices described in this article.
Lumada is being used for solution development and re-use in the public sector. The practices described in this article pre-emptively resolve the issues that arise when supplying cloud-based solutions on Lumada and, by incorporating these functions into Lumada, Hitachi plans to look into expanding their use to other businesses in the future.
