Smart city pioneer NTT West Group and Macnica, the world leader in autonomous driving EV buses, partner on next-generation regional transportation system

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation (Headquarters: Miyakojima Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, President President: Taizo Kitayama, NTT Business Solutions) and Macnica (Headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, President: Kazumasa Hara, hereinafter Macnica) are working to improve society as a result of concerns such as a decrease in route bus service due to a shortage of drivers due to the 2024 issue. We will begin a partnership to accelerate the social implementation of autonomous driving services to resolve issues. Through this partnership, the three companies will fully support the social implementation of autonomous driving in local governments.

1. background purpose
Due to labor shortages due to the declining birthrate and aging population and the 2024 problem, social issues such as maintenance of regional transportation and driver shortages in the transportation industry are becoming more serious. As a solution to these social issues, there is an urgent need to realize sustainable public transportation and logistics that utilize mobility technologies such as autonomous driving.
Against this background, the revised Road Traffic Law will come into effect on April 1, 2023, lifting the ban on driving on public roads with level 4 autonomous driving, and the movement toward technological development and social implementation in the mobility field is accelerating. . Among the services related to autonomous driving, small autonomous driving shuttles that run on specific routes are being tested and commercialized in various parts of the world, and are expected to be implemented in society as soon as possible.
As a pioneer in using ICT to solve social issues, NTT West is promoting regional revitalization through DX (digital transformation) of society and industry, and smart city initiatives in the region, while incorporating innovative technologies from Japan and overseas. I have been working on conversion etc.

Smart city concept of NTT West

NTT Business Solutions has contributed to improving the business value of local government and corporate customers by leveraging its ability to propose high-level solutions utilizing ICT. From October 2022, we will promote carbon neutrality by providing a one-stop solution "N.mobi" that provides total support from EV introduction to operation and energy management when local governments and corporations convert their business vehicles to EVs. is.

Macnica has supported the demonstration and implementation of autonomous driving EV buses by NAVYA of France, which has sold more than 200 buses in 25 countries around the world as a technology trading company. in April 2023, it took over the assets of NAVYA of France and established a new company GAUSSIN MACNICA MOBILITY with the aim of developing zero-emission independent mobility with GAUSSIN MACNICA MOBILITY was established to work on social implementation of Level 4 autonomous driving. The company also provides comprehensive support for the practical application of mobility services using autonomous driving, including the provision of the remote mobility management system required for the operation of autonomous driving and the design of sustainable business models.

Mobility service using Macnica 's autonomous driving EV buses

Against this background, the three companies will integrate the strengths that each company has cultivated and accelerate the resolution of social issues and the realization of regional revitalization through the social implementation of autonomous driving services.

2. Partnership overview
In recent years, in the field of mobility, technological development related to autonomous driving and MaaS (Mobility as a Service) has progressed. Evaluation is an urgent issue. In order to address these issues, the three companies will work together to provide total support, from consulting to operational route design and the establishment of an operation center, for demonstration experiments and full-scale introduction of smart mobility in regional transportation. We provide one-stop services related to optimal model design, cloud, network, charging facilities, etc., and fully support the social implementation of autonomous driving in local governments.

Partnership image for providing autonomous driving EV bus solutions

3. Division of roles
NTT West: Utilizing the following strengths of NTT West, we will provide one-stop advanced services.
● Sales to local governments: Regional consulting capabilities by a specialized organization that accounts for local governments, and support utilizing more than 200 bases in the western Japan area (Toyama, Gifu, 30 prefectures west of Shizuoka)
● Provision of communication services, data center services, etc.

NTT Business Solutions: We will provide a variety of solutions related to NTT Business Solutions' autonomous driving EV buses.
● autonomous driving introduction engineering and support
● Smart city services such as city OS, cloud, data linkage platform, etc.
● EV-related solutions: N.mobi (provision of EV vehicles and EV charger services, provision of autonomous driving EV bus systems, etc.)

Macnica: Leveraging the know-how that Macnica has cultivated through past demonstrations of autonomous driving EV buses, we will provide the following Services & Solutions.
● autonomous driving EV bus: Provision and implementation support of autonomous zero-emission mobility
● Remote mobility management system: Providing a real-time, interactive and integrated remote monitoring, management and control system.

Four. About future developments
Through this partnership, we aim to contribute to regional transportation maintenance, solving social issues such as the 2024 problem, and realizing regional revitalization through the social implementation of autonomous driving services, as well as aiming to realize the digital garden city nation concept advocated by the government. Specifically, we will provide a variety of services such as urban development using human flow analysis data in conjunction with city OS, on-demand transportation services, information services such as payments, coupons, and public relations aimed at maintaining sustainable local transportation, infrastructure inspections, and medical Maas. Through this service development, we will support the lives of local governments and residents by leveraging Macnica 's technological capabilities and the NTT West Group's community-based consulting and social implementation capabilities.