Driving New Normal Digital Transformation

While the impact of the 2007 global financial crisis and the March 2011 earthquake in Japan settled after a few years, the lightening spread of COVID-19 has triggered a fundamental shift in personal concerns, working practices, and social priorities, which will likely make the Post COVID-19 “New Normal” permanent. While encroaching infectious diseases and rapid global change has unnerved us all, it has also helped us all focus our mission and our methods. As a social value-creating company, we at NEC believe that, whatever the circumstances, people will always maximize their potential, and that the synergy of people and digital technology will always reap maximum benefit. However, that benefit must be inclusive and that’s why NEC is now more determined than ever  to use our IT, network, and AI expertise to help guide this new normal, and accelerate the digital transformation of companies, communities, and countries in such a way that will guarantee safe, secure, fair, and efficient living for all in a post-COVID world.   

NEC has already leapt into action to alleviate public unease and the impact of COVID-19 by offering telework solutions for businesses and educational organizations. Our AI chatbots have attracted great interest since March and we have provided smartphone apps in countries such as New Zealand to visualize the health and location of users and ringfence infection. 

Changing Post COVID-19 Behavior and Values

The acute sense of danger felt by many during COVID-19 is likely to permanently influence behavior at both a personal and a societal level, and increase interest in other problems that could potentially threaten our safety, livelihoods, and lifestyles, such as future viruses or environmental issues.  

On a personal level, this behavioral shift is being fueled by an increased readiness to work from home, a tendency to reprioritize existing services by, for example, valuing the “touchless” nature of cashless payments over their “efficiency,” and a desire to reevaluate our ambitions and the way we live.

At a society level, the new priority will be to keep society moving under any circumstances considering both economic efficiency and business continuity. Instead of tackling labor shortages, future division of labor between machinery and people will focus on reducing physical contact, ensuring business continuity, and protecting the safety of people working in essential fields such as infrastructure, logistics, or medical care. Another top priority will be ensuring safe and equitable social, medical and educational services for all, anytime. COVID-19 has also emphasized the importance of understanding actual situations by collecting and visualizing various data in order to optimize resources.

Connectivity and Personalization: The Key to New Normal Digital Transformation

Connectivity and personalization are vital to the development of inclusive digital power. In other words, the ability to instantly connect and distribute all kinds of data volumes and create meaningful individualized value from those data.

CONNECTIVITY: 5G/AI Infrastructure, Partnerships and Local 5G Networks

For more than 120 years, NEC has developed global communications technologies spanning satellites to submarine cables with the same motivation: to connect anyone, anytime, anywhere. Today, vast amounts of digital data move across borders, supported by high-capacity optical communication technology on submarine cables. Now, for the first time in the world, NEC will apply optical AI technology to achieve high-speed, low-power, low latency data transmission and help expand capacity.
 
With 5G coming online in Japan in 2020, NEC is looking to accelerate digital transformation by facilitating commercial services that take advantage of 5G networks offering high-density ultra-multi-connections and real-time ultra-low-latency communications. In addition to building 5G networks to connect equipment, data and people, NEC is also using its advanced AI/IoT technologies to derive data insights and support long-term network utilization for maximum value creation. At the same time, we are developing dedicated local 5G networks for companies and organizations that provide isolated, quality communications tailored to unique needs that can help realize innovative business ideas.

To help develop 5G infrastructure, NEC is currently working with Rakuten Mobile to co-create the world’s first fully virtualized cloud-native mobile network, 5G open V-RAN. The network uses open-architecture and multi-vendor equipment for increased flexibility. It offers end-to-end virtualization that separates software and hardware for a higher-quality, lower-cost network. The standalone network format also maximizes 5G capacity and isolates application execution from other processes to minimize computer resource use. Having signed a 5G Strategic Technology Partnership on June 3, Rakuten and NEC are promoting new global social value creation.

Local 5G networks in action:

PERSONALIZATION: World-leading Biometric Authentication & AI Analysis

5G will bring a myriad of new services, but those services will only offer true value if they are suit your conditions and preferences. That requires accurate identification of the individual and sophisticated analysis of his/her needs. NEC’s proven world No.1^* face recognition and other biometric identification technologies can accurately identify individuals from a large pool of people and data. On the analysis side, having pioneered AI technology for over 50 years, NEC has been working on explainable “white-box” AI to ensure individuals receive the best services in the most expedient way. White-box AI now forms the cornerstone of our AI business experience across multiple fields.

Already a world leader in face recognition and fingerprint authentication, NEC’s is working on a Bio-IDiom suite of biometric authentication technologies using iris, voice, ear acoustic, and palmprint facilitates highly accurate, contactless identification. Right now, we are focusing on advanced face and iris identification technologies. In March, NEC began a demonstration using this technology at our Tokyo head office to accurately identify our employees when they walk into the office even when wearing masks. We aim to apply this technology at entrances to factories or medical sites where masks are required, and other contact-sensitive locations.

Authentication/AI technology in action:

AI Drug Discovery Business

Co-create Digital Power for the Common Good

All our connectivity and personalization projects share common threads. They are designed to advance digital transformation, improve individual lives, and contribute to society, and they all require co-creation. COVID-19 has inspired us to come together to develop urgent digital solutions that focus on protecting individual human welfare and humanity as a whole. Going forward, it is our job to work together to develop digital power in a way that lauds New Normal values of safety and sustainability, and enables individuals to shine.

(July 10, 2020)