Our value creation:
Fujitsu Uvance

Fujitsu’s world-leading technologies

The Fujitsu Group has focused its management resources on five Key Technologies that are essential for digital transformation (DX): Computing, which enables the processing of massive amounts of data; Network, which connects data; AI, which supports decision-making using data; Data & Security, which maintain the safety of all of these; and Converging Technologies, which support the combination of technology with humanities and social sciences that is needed for people to use data.

In these five Key Technologies, we are either at the top level in the world, or have the potential to be at the top. For example, in the area of Computing, we have the technology to develop and manufacture processors for the Fugaku^*1 supercomputer, which boasts world-class processing capacity. We also lead the world with the world’s fastest quantum simulator^*2 as well as our proprietary Digital Annealer technology for solving combinatorial optimization problems. In addition to the area of Computing, our strengths as a technology company also include ultra-high-speed telecommunications technology that realizes 5G, and beyond that, will realize 6G and the technology to discover causal relationships between various individual data related to people and objects, using AI. Our ability to develop such technologies for providing high value to customers and retain them as intellectual property is our strength as a technology company.

• *1
  Press release on May 30, 2022: “Supercomputer Fugaku retains first place worldwide in HPCG and Graph500 rankings”
• *2
  Press release on March 30, 2022: “Fujitsu achieves major technical milestone with world’s fastest 36 qubit quantum simulator”

Delivering value through the optimization of technology and business

My role as CTO is to connect these technologies with business in order to contribute to the global business growth of the Fujitsu Group. Therefore, my current priority is to combine and incorporate the five Key Technologies within the seven Key Focus Areas of Fujitsu Uvance to provide them as competitive services. We will offer computing power, including high performance computing (HPC), as a service that is available to a wide range of customers, and adding further business applications, we will provide added value that is unique to Fujitsu. We will also realize massive efficiency gains in customers’ plants in the manufacturing industry though the use of 5G. By optimizing these technologies and businesses, we will focus on delivering value to even more customers.

Japanese corporations are known for having a low rate of R&D expenditures relative to their net sales. In fact, the Fujitsu Group’s R&D expenditure is somewhat limited compared to US technology companies. However, I don’t think it is meaningful to make a comparison only in terms of monetary amounts. The important thing is the degree to which we can close and optimize the gap between R&D and business. Based on our original technological capabilities, which US and European companies do not possess, we believe there is ample potential to leverage our presence in the global market by expanding businesses that contribute to solving social issues.

Establishing a research structure that accelerates development

We are also strengthening our global research organization. In November 2021, we established a center in Israel for developing technologies and solutions to support safe applications of AI, followed in April 2022 by the establishment of a research center in India to focus on AI and quantum software. We are now concentrating our technologies at centers under a global research structure for accelerating development.

We also emphasize collaboration with academia at the forefront of technology development. At the aforementioned centers in Israel and India, we are promoting joint research with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Science. Meanwhile, in Japan, we are promoting Fujitsu Small Research Lab, in which the Group’s researchers have permanent tenure or long-term residencies within universities to accelerate joint research and identify new themes. Our policy is to incorporate a wide range of innovative ideas through collaboration.

Stimulating innovation by challenging the limits

To be a trusted partner of customers who want to achieve innovation with the Fujitsu Group, we must make speedy decisions and act quickly without eschewing risks. In the area of technology, rather than the conventional approach of developing a technology until it is 100% complete before exploring applications in the real world, it is sometimes necessary to appeal to customers with new technologies and the potential they offer at the pre-completion stage. Business styles differ significantly between global IT companies, where top-down management is the mainstream, and Japanese companies, which are frontline oriented. To grow our business globally, a change of mindset is required.

Innovation inevitably involves failure. The absence of failure means that one is not challenging the limits. Moreover, to encourage employees to take on daunting challenges requires “organizational transparency,” meaning alignment between the vision set out by leadership and actual operations and the positive environment that such transparency creates. I consider this kind of transparency to be one of the special characteristics of the Fujitsu Group. Our Purpose—“to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation”—and a desire to transform ourselves and succeed globally are shared throughout the entire Fujitsu Group, and I am certain that we have the capability to generate exciting value together with our customers.