Fujitsu and University of Aizu to Collaborate on Supporting Rebuilding Efforts Following the Great East Japan Earthquake

Tokyo, April 10, 2012

Fujitsu and the University of Aizu today announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for collaborations to provide support for medium- to long-term rebuilding efforts following the Great East Japan Earthquake. For a period of three years beginning this April, the University of Aizu and Fujitsu will host a course, entitled "Service Science," to train personnel in the promotion of IT-enabled innovation as the first specific step of the collaboration.

In January 2012, the University of Aizu announced its vision for establishing the "The University of Aizu Revitalization Center for Fukushima and Tohoku" (tentative name) with the goal of rebuilding local communities and the economy while helping to revitalize Japanese business, particularly in Fukushima Prefecture. Since then, the university has worked with Fujitsu and other IT companies to advance a variety of initiatives, including training for IT personnel as a way to encourage job creation, and initiatives focused on establishing new businesses and business agglomerations.

Through the new collaboration, which will leverage the strengths of both organizations, the University of Aizu and Fujitsu will promote innovation while pursuing collaboration in a wide range of IT-related areas, including human resources development, the promotion of experimental studies aimed at building smart communities and cloud data center utilization.

More specifically, the University of Aizu will be pursuing initiatives for the "The University of Aizu Revitalization Center for Fukushima and Tohoku" in the following priority areas.

Collaboration Areas for Supporting the Rebuilding Efforts

1. Hosting a "Service Science" training course to cultivate the next generation of innovative leaders

• For a period of three years beginning in FY2012, Fujitsu will be hosting a course pertaining to "Service Science," which is an approach for generating innovation in the service sector by increasing customer satisfaction (added value) and efficiency. This is made possible by integrating personnel, business processes and IT knowledge in order to transform services that conventionally rely on experience and intuition into services that are based on information (evidence). Fujitsu's know-how—which the company has applied in its business through the fusion of personnel, business processes and IT—is a prime example of this approach.
• The first lecture in the series, to be held on April 11, will be a general overview presented by the University of Aizu. In subsequent lectures, Fujitsu will incorporate specific case studies while aiming to promote innovation in the service sector, an area that is expected to become even more important in the future.
• The course will be conducted from a business perspective, supporting the training of personnel who in the future will establish new IT-enabled businesses in the Aizu region of Japan, which is home to many thriving IT ventures, as well as in other areas both inside and outside Japan.

2. Experimental studies aimed at building smart communities

• In fiscal 2011, Fujitsu employed the Aizu region as a model for a study conducted as part of a project sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to support the spread of smart communities. During the study, the University of Aizu also participated in an Aizu regional smart community committee, in which it had an opportunity to engage in multiple discussions with Fujitsu.
• Following this study, Fujitsu has begun to engage in activities aimed at bringing about smart communities in the Aizu region, and the company plans to explore how it can utilize and commercialize local weather forecasting and other technologies from the University of Aizu for improving the accuracy of predictions for power demand and generation.
• In the future, Fujitsu will look at how it can employ supercomputers to perform power supply-and-demand simulations and implement energy control center capabilities.

3. Constructing a cloud data center to support innovation

• With regard to the Advanced IT Cloud Center (tentative name) that is being planned by the University of Aizu, Fujitsu will work together with the university in every way possible to leverage its extensive track record and technology developed in the construction of highly reliable, highly secure and energy-efficient data centers.
• Fujitsu and the University of Aizu will consider joint initiatives to transform the diverse data found throughout society into new information, added value and services. Planning will be undertaken to build a data application platform that supports the founding of new industries and business, and to create an environment that nurtures human resources and promotes field research.

Going forward, the University of Aizu and Fujitsu will take steps toward contributing to the rebuilding of Fukushima and Japan, and toward bringing about a prosperous and pleasant society through the power of IT-enabled innovation.