Jan. 26, 2021
Hiroshima University
Higashihiroshima City
Sumitomo Corporation

Agreement Concluded on Comprehensive Collaboration for Instituting Society 5.0 and Smart Cities in Higashihiroshima City and Environs

Hiroshima University (Location: Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture; President: Mitsuo Ochi), Higashihiroshima City (Mayor: Hironori Takagaki), and Sumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer: Masayuki Hyodo) (hereinafter collectively referred to as “the three parties”) today (January 26) concluded an “Agreement on Comprehensive Collaboration” (hereinafter, “the Agreement”) to institute Society 5.0 and smart cities in Higashihiroshima City and environs. The three parties are aiming through the Agreement to create a new model of industry-university-government collaboration for regional revitalization.

This Agreement seeks to promote the creation of an innovation-conducive environment and the international application of academic research, human resources development, and industry-university-government collaboration, and to contribute to global development from Japan and the region.

Based on its founding principle of “a single unified university, free and pursuing peace,” Hiroshima University is aiming to practically apply “science for sustainable development” through a virtuous cycle of integration to globalized world and regional revitalization. It has been collaborating with Arizona State University in the US and local governments in its own region in pursuit of efforts to achieve SDGs and Society 5.0 with international application in mind. The Agreement will accelerate this virtuous cycle and set Hiroshima University on a course to becoming a university offering suitable world-class research and educational environments for a new post-coronavirus era.

Higashihiroshima City put forth a vision of becoming “an international academic research city in a rich natural setting willing to take on the challenges of the future” in its “5th Comprehensive Plan for Higashihiroshima City” formulated in 2020. Together with devising measures to utilize advanced technologies such as AI and Big Data and to solve regional issues, the city will be working with companies and universities to bring about “user-friendly cities of the future.”

To help Hiroshima University make a successful digital transformation, Sumitomo Corporation will be setting up an open “local 5G” lab in The International Exchange Center to be newly established. The company will pursue joint research on 5G use with the university and other private companies, utilize data on movement/behavior within the university, conduct demonstration testing of light mobility, and extend these efforts beyond the campus to the surrounding area. In addition to developing mechanisms for generating innovation from the university, Sumitomo Corporation hopes to collaborate with the smart city development project to be undertaken in northern Hanoi, Vietnam.

 

[Reference]
<Content of the Agreement>
(1) Provisions on making Hiroshima University’s Higashihiroshima Campus smart and green
(2) Provisions on instituting Society 5.0 and smart cities in Higashihiroshima City and environs
(3) Provisions on supporting the creation of innovations needed to realize Society 5.0 and smart cities
(4) Provisions on academic research needed to realize Society 5.0 and smart cities
(5) Provisions on education needed to realize Society 5.0 and smart cities
(6) Provisions on the overseas application of Society 5.0 and smart cities
(7) Other matters deemed necessary by Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima City and Sumitomo Corporation


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