Will enhance construction industry safety, productivity and eco performance
Vilvoorde May 2021 — On April 30, 2021 Komatsu Ltd., NTT DOCOMO, INC., Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation and Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. jointly announced today that they have agreed to launch a new company, named EARTHBRAIN Ltd., that will support digital transformation in the construction industry for dramatically improved safety, productivity and environmental performance.
Workstyle reforms are in high demand due to factors including an aging population and shrinking workforce in the Japanese construction industry and the presence of COVID-19 in construction sites worldwide. EARTHBRAIN will now tackle these challenges through digital transformation. The new company will evolve Komatsu’s “Smart Construction1” solution and expand its services worldwide, including for all brands of construction equipment and vehicles operating at worksites. By combining the four companies’ expertise, know-how and technologies, EARTHBRAIN will provide the next-generation of Smart Construction.
Next-generation Smart Construction will incorporate digital twins2 at construction sites based on EARTHBRAIN’s accelerated development and provision of visualization devices and applications for real-time remote monitoring, analyzing and optimizing of terrain, construction equipment, operators, materials, safety and environmental factors. Also, by connecting all construction processes digitally on an open platform and controlling them optimally, EARTHBRAIN will improve safety and productivity and create smarter and cleaner workplaces.
1 Smart Construction is a solution for implementing highly productive, clean and safety worksites by connecting various information at worksites via ICT.
2 Data-based virtual replicas of physical objects or processes for performing simulations and then feeding the results back to the real world.
Roles of partners
3 Digital-Twin Computing (DTC) proposed by NTT is a new computing paradigm that expands on the conventional digital twin concept by freely combining and performing calculations on digital twins of objects and humans in diverse industries. DTC is able to accurately reproduce combinations that could not be comprehensively handled up to now, such as humans and automobiles in cities, and thereby make the future predictable.
Outline of EARTHBRAIN
* USD = 110.71 yen as of March 31, 2021
About Komatsu Ltd.
Komatsu manufactures, sales, and provides service and solution of construction and mining equipment, utilities, forest machines and industrial machinery worldwide. Komatsu will continue to move forward with its stakeholders as it creates value through manufacturing and technology innovation to empower a sustainable future where people, businesses and our planet thrive together. For more information, please visit: https://home.komatsu/en/
About NTT DOCOMO
NTT
DOCOMO, Japan's leading mobile operator with over 80 million subscriptions, is one of the world's foremost contributors to 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies. Beyond core communications services, DOCOMO is challenging new frontiers in collaboration with a growing number of entities ("+d" partners), creating exciting and convenient value-added services that change the way people live and work. Under a medium-term plan toward 2020 and beyond, DOCOMO is pioneering a leading-edge 5G network to facilitate innovative services that will amaze and inspire customers beyond their expectations. www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english.
About Sony Semiconductor Solutions
Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation is the global leader in image sensors. We strive to provide advanced imaging technlogies that bring greater convenience and joy to people’s lives. In addition, we also work to develop and bring to market new kinds of sensing technologies with the aim of offering various solutions that will take the visual and recognition capabilities of both human and machines to greater heights. For more information, please visit: https://www.sony-semicon.co.jp/e/
About Nomura Research Institute
Founded in 1965, NRI is a leading global provider of system solutions and consulting services, including management consulting, system integration, and IT management and solutions for the financial, manufacturing, retail and service industries. Clients from all layers of these individual industries partner with NRI to tap NRI’s research expertise and innovative solutions across the organization to expand businesses, design corporate structures and create new business strategies. For more information, visit https://www.nri.com/en
For further information, please contact:
Komatsu
Corporate Communications Department
Tel: +81 (0) 3-5561-2616
JP00MB_cc_department@global.komatsu
NTT DOCOMO
Public Relations Department
Tel: +81 (0) 3-5156-1366
Sony Group Corporation
Corporate Communications Department
Sony.Pressroom@sony.co.jp
Nomura Research Institute
Corporate Communications Department
Tel: +81 (0) 3-5877-7100
kouhou@nri.co.jp
