The scope of DOCOMO's recent research and development (R&D) themes has been rapidly expanding from the fields of telecommunications and telecommunications devices to services using mobile phones, and most recently, to artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Amid this change, we have formulated our R&D vision, "Keep creating new futures in pursuit of all 'connections'," to clearly define the direction the R&D departments should follow and to clarify our roles in DOCOMO's Medium-Term Strategy 2020 "Declaration beyond."

The word "connections" represents an idea embodied in our corporate philosophy of the "creation of a new world of communications culture" and signifies a very fundamental aspect of DOCOMO's business. In our business, the word has truly diverse definitions. It could mean a simple "connection" to link all people and things in a safe, secure and more reliable manner via telecommunications networks. It could also mean "relation" to deepen our ties with customers and partner companies by increasing the understanding of their assets through AI and big data, or "matching" to link the needs and expectations of customers and companies to create a new world, where one plus one could be 10, or even 20.

Capitalizing on its technological capabilities, DOCOMO intends to keep creating new futures in pursuit of all "connections" that exceed the expectations of customers.

Leveraging Our Strengths: Open Innovation and
Co-Creation with Partners

One of DOCOMO's strengths in pursuit of all "connections" derives from our open innovation approach. With various technologies becoming increasingly complex, a closed approach to think, create and use everything in-house is no longer suited for swift and efficient research. As for the 5G infrastructure that forms the core of our "Declaration beyond," we have engaged in a series of open discussions from early on with 13 major vendors in the world. As a result, we were able to formulate the first set of 5G global standards six months earlier than planned. I believe that among the world's telecommunications carriers, DOCOMO has submitted the largest number of proposals for standardization of telecommunications and other technologies.

Meanwhile, DOCOMO has been proactively tackling new fields through co-creation and collaboration with partners engaging in a broad range of businesses, including a construction machinery manufacturer and drone operators. I think that the best tactic now is to capture competitive technologies from outside and make them even more competitive by adding DOCOMO's distinctive technologies.

New, Effective Ways of Utilizing R&D Personnel to Lead Full-Fledged AI Services and Faster Issue Resolution

DOCOMO originally started R&D of AI in around 2007. We are in the third boom of the technology, following the first boom in the 1960s to 70s and the second one in the 1980s.

The previous two booms did not result in the practical use of AI. After these booms, DOCOMO has promoted the development of "data scientists" who can play a comprehensive role from identifying issues to devising solutions, while also taking advantage of increasing computing power and high-quality big data collected by utilizing our customer base, making the provision of full-fledged AI services a reality.

Currently, some 1,000 researchers are working for DOCOMO, with about 900 in the Yokosuka Research Park and about 100 in overseas local affiliates. In carrying out R&D activities, what is vital is to capture "the aspirations" of these individual researchers and integrate them into our research fields. Our efforts have already begun to bear fruitful results filled with their aspirations, with the most interesting example being "a spherical drone display," etc.

We also engage in "Top Gun" initiatives, in which our researchers and the corporate sales and marketing departments work together to visit customers and help them resolve their issues. A team of three parties, namely customers, researchers and sales personnel, identifies the root of an issue and finds a solution accordingly. Our "Top Gun" initiatives have drawn much public attention as a unique and unprecedented effort.

Through these new, effective ways of utilizing personnel in our R&D operations, DOCOMO will keep creating new futures in pursuit of all "connections" surpassing customers' expectations.