In 2021, Hokkaido University 's Ambitious Program for Smart Materials Science (SMatS) has started the "Doctoral DX Education Program: Smart City Promotion Support in Furano City, Hokkaido". We will introduce a digest of the online guidance provided by Oracle Japan Co., Ltd., who will cooperate with this class.

Greetings from Professor Koichiro Ishimori (Program Manager/ Vice President of Hokkaido University University)
hello everyone. Recently, the word DX (Digital Transformation) has come to be heard in various scenes. But how many people know the true meaning of DX? I honestly can't answer either. It shouldn't be an easy story to digitize the work that has been processed on paper until now. I think it will be difficult for everyone studying at SMatS and us researchers to understand the true meaning and effects of DX, and to play the role expected of society in the future.

This time, with the cooperation of Oracle Japan, which is making advanced efforts in the IT field, we decided to introduce what kind of activities they have actually done with local governments toward DX. In addition, I would like everyone to participate in the upcoming project "Smart City Promotion Support in Furano City, Hokkaido" and experience the true meaning of DX. Some may regard this as a project that has nothing to do with the specialized field of materials science. However, DX is required in every field of society and is the key to developing that field. By participating in this SMatS-like project, which is an advanced graduate school education, I hope that you will have a correct understanding of DX, which will greatly change our society, and that the experiences you have learned here will be useful in your future career.

Greetings from Kentaro Nanao / Introduction to Oracle Japan
My name is Kentaro Nanao, and I lead Oracle's DX Promotion Office. Many people have an image of Oracle as a foreign-affiliated IT company based in the United States, but we have been operating in Japan for 35 years. It may be a rare foreign company that is listed on the Japanese market. Therefore, please think of us as a company deeply committed to Japan. There is also a Hokkaido branch office in Sapporo.

We have developed our business with the strength of cloud services for building information systems. Recently, we have been particularly focusing on efforts to use IT technology (database management system) to solve social issues. Japan is also trying to focus on promoting Society 5.0 and smart cities as a science and technology policy, and is trying to balance not only economic development but also the resolution of social issues.

Introducing the initiatives of Oracle Corporation as a global company

これはアフリカ中央部に生息するマウンテンゴリラの写真です。しばらくの期間、世界で700頭弱しか生息が確認されていなく、絶滅の恐れが最も強い「絶滅危惧1A類」に分類されていました。オラクルは、このマウンテンゴリラの生態系を解明し、一頭でも生息数を増やそうという研究に30年以上支援をしてきました。研究資金の提供からスタートし、今ではクラウドを利用したデータ管理システムを用意し、研究者がより詳細で正確な生態記録を残せるようにしました。それまでは研究者が、紙ベースで記録していたので、その記録を価値のある情報として共有・活用できなかったのです。（動画：“霧の中のゴリラ” からクラウド上のゴリラへ）今では、1千頭超にまで増え、レッドリストが少し引き下げられたそうです。また昨年来からCOVID-19によって世界中が右往左往している中、2週間で治験を管理するシステムを構築しました。はじめは不具合もあったのですが、失敗を恐れずに、改良を重ねた結果、よりよいシステムがアメリカを中心に使われ始めています。

DX：「変革」について
さて、今日のテーマに移ります。皆さんと一緒に「変革」について考えていきましょう。変革は英語でTransformation（トランスフォーメーション）と言い、最近はDigital（デジタル）が加えられ、デジタルトランスフォーメーション、略してDXと言われるようになりました。DTではないんですよね。「trans」とほぼ同じ様に使われるのが「cross」という言葉で英語圏ではアルファベットの「X」で表されることがあります。このXこそが、DXのXにあたります。

DX example of a dairy farmer
I will introduce an example of how we are working on DX together with the local community. Since this is a rare opportunity, I will use Hokkaido as an example. Everyone knows about drones, right? This is an initiative using the drone. Hokkaido is a dairy farming kingdom, and many dairy farmers have to manage vast lands. So what is important is to grow a lot of good pasture, feed the cows, and produce good quality milk. Cows should be directed to areas with good pastures, and any areas with poor pastures should be allowed to rest. However, with the declining birthrate and aging population in society as a whole, it has become difficult for a single dairy farmer or a dairy farmer with a small family to complete all of these tasks.

Reference: Press releases from INDETAIL and Uno Bokujo

With this background in mind, we focused on the use of "drone" as a bird's eye. Fly the drone over a meadow and record images of the land. By analyzing the images, we were able to instantly grasp the quality of pasture, areas to rest, and so on. That's not all. We took it one step further and automated the opening and closing of gates through which cows pass. Based on the analysis results of the drone, we created a mechanism that automatically opens and closes the gate and guides the cows freely. This system and data management are performed on the Oracle cloud, making it possible to manage vast tracts of land safely and effortlessly. It also has many secondary effects. I was able to use the time that I had spent working for other activities, such as raising my children. Only 2% of pastured cows are milked in Japan. If you can provide a lot of delicious pastured milk, it will also lead to an increase in sales.

このような仕事をしていくと、DXとは何か改めて僕らもよく考えます。DXが2004年に初めて提唱された時の定義は、「デジタル技術の浸透が、人々の生活をあらゆる面でより良い方向に変化させる」ことでした。また、最近の日本政府の方針に目を向けると、経済発展と社会課題解決が両立するSociety 5.0に向けてスマートシティで実験していくと言っています。それを受けて、経団連はDX提言書を発行し、Society5.0実現のためには、DXに加えて、多様な人々の想像力と創造力の融合が重要、と言っています。このように、DXはスマートシティの推進と非常に相性が良いのだと思います。

On the other hand, unfortunately, there are almost no successful examples of DX in Japan. Out of those few examples, Oracle believes empirically that the key to success is to take a bird's eye view. The point is that diverse groups such as industry, government, and academia should cooperate and think together, such as thinking about issues together with groups that have not been connected so far.

A smart city project set in Furano, Hokkaido is about to start. Since Furano City has established ties between industry and government, such as Oracle, I hope that everyone who will become the third ``academic'' will participate in the project and promote the project. looking forward to it.

About “Smart City Promotion Support for Furano City, Hokkaido”
This is Yusuke Matsui from Oracle. From now on, we will be thinking together with everyone about the promotion of a smart city in Furano City. This time, we will ask the graduate students to imagine themselves as employees of an IT company, and propose a DX proposal using IT to the city of Furano, a client, to address the issues the city is facing. Through that work, we will have them experience solving social issues with DX. Going forward, we plan to hold workshops about once a month to deepen discussions and have them experience the cloud environment first-hand, while ultimately having them make presentations on how to solve problems. There are various issues and needs unique to each region. I hope that this project will lead to the creation of new value by investigating them and utilizing digital technology.

Date: April 22, 2021
Organizer: Ph. Discover / Hokkaido University Ambitious Program for Smart Materials Science (SMatS)
Cooperation: Oracle Corporation Japan