Economic development and technical innovation have led to many new and convenient services that enrich our lives. With these advances, people’s priorities and values have grown more diverse and we expect so much more from our experiences. The pandemic only accelerated the demand for better online interactions as the world went remote on a global scale.
Today NTT is exploring ways to manage better and improve how organizations and businesses offer their services to people living in busy cities.
A smart city is defined as a digitally-enabled modern urban space that uses varying forms of technology such as IoT, electronics, voice-movement activation and sensors to collect data for improved real-time responses and actions. NTT’s vision focuses on creating a common infrastructure and data-driven knowledge that organizations can learn from to enhance experiences.
NTT is working on urban Digital Twin Computing (DTC) to provide new value by globally optimizing services and experiences across industries and, ultimately, every touchpoint throughout a city. This approach captures environments, objects, and people associated with a particular service, such as going to work or visiting a restaurant and creates an online replication of this process to provide a more personalized and seamless experience.
As part of our research, we’re having conversations with governments and enterprises involved with urban development and planning. We are studying to achieve desired personal experiences that align with future lifestyles and workstyles. For now, the focus is on value-providing services and experiences for commercial and office functions across the following five areas:
Digital Twin Computing makes it possible to realize the above solutions by observing and reporting on the state of each building, the movement of people, and the surroundings of the city - all in real-time.
This approach relies on multiple industries and providers working together to influence overall satisfaction and driving value. It requires the secure sharing of information by linking and expanding how and what they offer to customers.
NTT is researching how to make this vision a reality by considering the protection of personal information, assignment of responsibility, legal implications and economic effects. We are continuing to work with partners and institutions to ensure the responsible development of technology.