NTT group and Hanshin Expressway jointly study the implementation of new traffic management using digital technology that contributes to the rectification of urban road traffic

Summary

In April 2023, the following four companies, NTT Corporation (NTT, headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Akira Shimada, President & CEO), NTT DOCOMO, INC. (NTT DOCOMO, headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Motoyuki Ii, President:), NTT Data Corporation (NTT Data, headquartered in Koto-ku, Tokyo; Hiroshi Honma, President and CEO) and Hanshin Expressway Company Limited (Hanshin Expressway, headquartered in Kita-ku, Osaka; Koichi Yoshida, President), have started jointly to conduct a study (the Joint Study) to implement a new traffic management system ^*1 utilizing digital technology by integrating assets owned by both the NTT Group and Hanshin Expressway.
　This joint study aims to realize a new traffic management system using digital technology that contributes to the alignment of urban road traffic by organizing and examining necessary technical elements, operational methods, and information to alleviate daily traffic congestion and traffic congestion caused by large-scale construction projects and large-scale events, and by verifying the effectiveness of the system, and to investigate trials at the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, etc.

Overview of the joint study

This joint study emphasizes balancing the diverse mobility needs of individuals with the rectification of urban road traffic and aims to achieve this through the implementation of new traffic management through initiatives (1) and (2) below.

Figure - Overview of the joint study

Role of each entity

^*This joint study is intended for the Hanshin Metropolitan Area as a demonstration field and will be conducted in collaboration with NTT West.

^*1To keep traffic in a more desirable state through traffic control and information provision.

^*2"Digital Twin Computing (DTC)" is the construction of digital replicas of things and people found in the real world. Systems that could not be handled comprehensively until now can be reproduced with high accuracy, enabling predictions of the future.
https://www.rd.ntt/e/iown/0003.html

^*3The "IOWN concept" uses innovative technology to exceed the limits of conventional infrastructure, optimize the individual and entire systems based on various kinds of information, and create a prosperous society open to diversity. It is a network and information processing infrastructure including terminals that can provide high-speed, large-capacity communication and innovative technologies centered on this concept.
https://www.rd.ntt/e/iown/0001.html

^*4The 4D Digital Platform provides various sensing data collected in real time of people, things, and events, including information on latitude, longitude, altitude, and time. It is a platform that enables data fusion and future prediction in cooperation with various industrial platforms by syncing and integrating with high accuracy. Using NTT's IOWN concept as a foundation to support "Digital Twin Computing (DTC)", the technology of NTT Laboratories, and the know-how and assets of the NTT Group, we are proceeding with the commercialization of functions from fiscal 2021 and their expansion through continuous research and development.
https://www.rd.ntt/e/4ddpf/

^*5As of the end of December 2022