Skip to main content

Hitachi
Research & Development

Raising questions in order to think about an ideal new social system.

Vision Design is Hitachi’s activity for design relative to envisioning the future. “Design to envision the future” is the activity to propose ideal products for the future. Vision Design is slightly different. Hitachi is promoting social innovation business. Various problems are complexly intertwined in the administration of a system that supports society, where one company can no longer present an ideal proposal. In order to explore an ideal system that supports society and the role of Hitachi, Vision Design proposes a future vision as tentative plans for discussions. Instead of proposing Hitachi’s technologies and solutions, Vision Design presents “Questions” and “Sample answers” so that many people can express their ideas about a future social system.

Specific example of Society 5.0

Vision Design is an activity to think about what Society 5.0 means, which is an effort addressed by the Japanese government toward realizing a “super-smart society” ahead of the world by utilizing ICT to bring affluence to people. Society 5.0 is a concept presented in the “Fifth Science and Technology Basic Plan” that prescribes basic guidelines for the five-year (2016-2020) science and technology policy. It is characterized by efforts not only to pursue economic efficiency but also to depict a society where people live through ICT. Then, what is the affluence for people? To initiate discussion on a social system that realizes the affluence of people, it is important to present practical ideas, such as on what people need in society and what services are necessary to address those needs. We present a practical scenario on future life that encourages people to freely share comments, beginning with whether they like the idea presented, and thus leading to discussion on more essential issues.

Technologies having a unique way of staying with people that people alone cannot offer

Hitachi thinks of changing the new society for the better and making it more ideal through the introduction of new technologies. However, some residents may feel stressful or insecure when technologies are introduced to assess the traffic of people walking in the street in order to secure safety. Vision Design also focuses on problems that could be caused by new technologies counter to their original intention, and problems that cannot be solved by new technologies alone. We believe that humanity should be sought from the social system in the future. Technologies have a unique way of staying with people that only such technologies can offer. This may be seen in recognition of the slightest change in a person’s behavior through long-time observation, which people cannot do. We tackle compelling human tasks, pursue technologies that address those tasks, consider an ideal system that could change society, and have discussions toward realizing such an ideal system.

The illustration shows “Energize Our Future Communities,” the vision in the energy region.

The illustration shows “Energize Our Future Communities,” the vision in the energy region.