Opening Remarks and Opening Session

NTT West Group and Macnica have formed a business partnership to contribute to the social implementation of autonomous driving services in more than 100 locations, toward a new era of resolving issues and creating new prosperity in urban development in Japan by 2030. In this presentation, the heads of both companies will talk about the results of their efforts one year after the partnership, new issues that have emerged, and their vision for co-creation.

Regarding efforts toward full-scale implementation of autonomous driving

Mr. Kengo Ienabe, Director of the autonomous driving Strategy Office, Logistics and Road Transport Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, will give a speech on the current situation and issues of autonomous driving in Japan after the autonomous driving demonstration research project and social implementation promotion project, as well as future efforts such as formulating legal requirements for the full-scale implementation of Level 4 autonomous driving and supporting autonomous driving projects in various regions.

Initiatives and town development to introduce autonomous driving in Tobetsu Town, Hokkaido

In order to put a stop to the rapid decline in population due to the aging of the population and the declining birthrate, Tobetsu Town is working to attract people and businesses by creating a new town face around the new station, which was established together with local businesses. We will introduce the efforts made so far and future prospects for autonomous driving demonstration project, which aims to create a sightseeing space where people can experience cutting-edge technology in the midst of rich nature.

The role of autonomous driving in urban development

We will introduce the significance of introducing autonomous driving buses from the perspective of urban development, and the necessary thinking on how to proceed, including demonstration experiments. In addition, the three parties will hold a discussion on the role that the establishment of next-generation regional transportation will play in urban development, and the future outlook for autonomous driving. We will share concrete ideas, including regional needs and success stories from around the country, and deepen the discussion on realizing regular service.

NTT Group's autonomous driving Assistance Service: Background to Entry and Future Aims

As the aging population and declining birthrate continue to make the labor shortage more pronounced throughout society, the driver shortage is becoming an even more serious social issue due to the 2024 problem. As one of the means to solve such problems, it is believed that the use of autonomous driving services will be essential in the future. In order to contribute to solving this problem, the NTT Group is working on various initiatives related to autonomous driving support services. In this session, we will introduce our efforts with May Mobility, a leading American autonomous driving technology company in which we invested in November 2023 and acquired exclusive sales rights in Japan.