Held the "11th NTT Group Sustainability Conference"

1. Event Overview

The 11th NTT Group Sustainability Conference
Grand Prize and Excellence Award winners chosen from the most entries ever!

This year saw the 11th NTT Group Sustainability Conference. It received the most measures ever, with 149 entries coming from 22 countries in order to realize "NTT as a Creator of New Value and Accelerator of a Global Sustainable Society," a pillar of the NTT Group's medium-term management strategy.
For the 11th Conference, six measures were chosen for Grand Prizes and eight were given Excellence Awards.

^*Titles included in this article are as of the date of the award (June 10, 2024).

2.Prize Winners

Grand Prize

Realization of an Inclusive Society through the Employment of People with Disabilities and the DX (Digital Transformation) of Regional Companies

NTT WEST Co-Designing Institute for Polyphonic Society

We have formed a business cooperative with local companies in Oita Prefecture to employ individuals with disabilities together while also using NTT West's ICT products and the know-how of its special subsidiary company Lucent to manage the cooperative business, promoting the modularization of company operations and participation in planning by small and medium enterprises along with local businesses.

After realizing a 95% retention rate after one year of employment (national private-sector enterprise average: 50%) and employing people with disabilities while also improving the efficiency of business affairs, these companies gained know-how while we also worked with them to secure work for people with disabilities. We additionally supported the retention and education of people with disabilities, broadening the reach of our activities by building awareness.

Decarbonizing our data centers for meeting our Net Zero commitment

NTT Global Data Centers

We implemented measures that will lessen the environmental load of global data centers, which are easily affected by factors such as global energy shortages and increases in energy costs. We are also spreading the results and knowledge acquired through pilot projects in multiple locations.
1: Chicago, USA
While power management was previously conducted through Excel, we optimized our amount of electricity used by moving to data tracking.
2: Mumbai, India
By implementing direct contact liquid cooling (DCLC) and liquid immersion cooling (LIC) in machinery, we were able to make annual PUE 1.2-1.25, a major improvement.
3: Vienna, Austria
By using HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil), a second-generation biofuel, in cooling equipment, we have reduced our net emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses by as much as 80%, as well as our nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 8%.
4: Berlin, Germany
By capturing the heat of cooling water that has been heated up to about 60 degrees Centigrade and providing it as heating to a nearby Kawasaki Marien park commercial district, we are contributing to decarbonization and heating that uses waste heat instead of fossil fuels.

Protecting Children's Lives with AI Technology

NTT TechnoCross Corporation

With consultations regarding child abuse at a record high, the work of child guidance centers is under pressure, making improved operational efficiency an urgent issue. For this project, we worked together with the Edogawa Ward Child Guidance Center to develop a high-precision voice recognition model for child guidance centers, providing support for the unique guidance sought from child guidance centers as well as for the accurate recording of information and creation of records. Immediately escalating urgent calls to superiors has contributed to the early detection of and rapid response to child abuse, helping to avoid trouble before it occurs.

Attention was also given to improving worker usability through features such as the automatic display of information required to handle calls and the automatic checking of interview items. This successfully equalized and improved the quality of worker responses unrelated to differences in experience, supported new workers as they handled cases, and reduced monthly labor required per worker by about 10-20 hours. In the future, we expect expansion into other regions, as well as the spread of technology and knowledge into various public points of contact, public health centers, police stations, and fire departments.

Sustainable Crop Protection - Sistema Integra

NTT DATA Argentina

Phytosanitary products were being sold in twenty-liter drums, generating 15,000 tons of plastic waste in Argentina. SISTEMA INTEGRA allowed for certified end-to-end traceability, making bulk sales possible. This eliminated the need for vessels and drums used in packaging, greatly reducing the amount of plastic waste by 22 million plastic vessels.

These efforts also led to monitoring of product inventories, identification of consumed and lost amounts, and reduced operational costs by monitoring and identifying distribution costs and inventories in order to identify losses. They also led to a reduced carbon footprint and the prevention of counterfeit and adulterated goods.

Creating a Community Recycling Society through Smart Land-based Aquaculture

Fukushima Branch Miyagi Division NTT EAST
New Business Development Headquarters NTT EAST

Due to changes in the marine environment, a shortage of human resources, and more, ensuring the stability and supply of fish has now become an issue. Together with the local supermarket ICHII, Okayama University of Science, and others, we engaged in a project to cultivate sockeye salmon on land, a task that was previously thought to be difficult. We became the first to succeed on a large-scale business basis. The project is currently underway, with a target of 1 billion yen of sales during 2025.

While creating an integrated system that goes from production to processing, distribution, and consumption, we used an abandoned school inside of Fukushima Prefecture as a base, working to utilize disused local assets in our closed-loop land-based aquaculture system and greatly reducing the environmental strain as compared to traditional free-flowing land-based aquaculture systems.

Water preservation by Smart Monitoring

NTT Belgium

In order to reduce lost water through leaks, a social problem facing about 40 percent of all of Europe, we worked with CISCO and others to develop a water usage monitoring system in the city of Liège, which now attempts to optimize its water usage with a particular focus on leaks and backflow. We captured a real-time understanding of the water distribution network through IoT devices, big data, and AI, created a system that prioritizes the replacement of deteriorated pipelines, and used sensors to detect issues such as leaks and backflow. Water-saving infrastructure that optimizes water usage while bringing about sanitation has been installed in 65,000 units out of a total of 245,000 in the city. It contributed to the saving of one million cubic meters of water in 2023, a number that is expected to double to two million cubic meters in 2024.

We are working to routinize and stimulate awareness of water consumption among all involved parties, including citizens and on-site workers, implementing results from Liège in other regions and making measurements to ensure that appropriate amounts of water are drawn by states preparing to enter into water exchange agreements by calculating flow from both parties.

Outstanding Performance

Smart garbage box in Doutonbori

NTT Communications

In Osaka's Dotonbori, the negative effects of litter on sanitation and aesthetics has long been a problem. Starting in November 2023, smart trashcans were installed across the Dotonbori area. We used ICT technology to visualize tourist flows, and in a verification experiment we successfully reduced litter by 40%. We were also able to create a revenue model involving the use of individual trashcans as advertising mediums and promote tourist spending by using them as marketing data.

Women Empowerment - in the Now and Future

NTT India Private Limited

The job turnover rate for women in IT is twice that of men in India, and the proportion of women at NTT India is a mere 15.6%. For this reason, the development of female engineers is an urgent matter, while the social independence of girls in poor families is also another challenge.
This measure supports education that upskills and fosters an entrepreneurial spirit in women, as well as the formation of new careers through employment assistance activities.

Realization of a decarbonized area, combined with historical and tourism town development

NTT Urban Solutions, Inc.

The city of Nagasaki is considered a model "decarbonization domino" region. There we conduct sustainable tourism measures that combine historical culture, nighttime tourism, and decarbonization. We aim to decarbonize and promote tourism in the region, and have reduced CO2 emissions by 58,000 tons while circulating 400 million yen within the region through the local consumption of local electricity.

Digital Accessibily: Inclusion & Experience

NTT DATA Brasil

We are promoting inclusion through support using digital technology for the visually impaired who have difficulty using face recognition systems, voice assistance for the elderly, and more. Through job training that makes use of individual characteristics, regardless of ability or disability, we created approximately fifty jobs and helped realize clear career advancement, such as the appearance of senior analysts with visual impairments.

BikeShare Service for a Sustainable Society

DOCOMO BIKE SHARE INC.

Docomo Bike Share leads the bike-sharing market as a pioneer, with about 78.3 million times total uses. When compared to equivalent automobile usage, it resulted in a reduction of over 7,000 tons of CO2 in FY 2022.
Locations have increased by 23% compared to the previous year, while systems such as AI-powered bicycle redelivery and contactless battery charging continue to expand and evolve.

CO2Sink

NTT DATA Italy

Together with Calabria, Italy, CO2Sink has established methods of measuring and monitoring carbon stored in vegetation by using cutting-edge technology. In 2022, we successfully measured the amount of CO2 absorbed by approximately 5,600 hectares of forest in real time. By combining it with IoT devices and sanitation data, we have also developed the platform into one that we expect to increase in scale while successfully creating carbon total indicators, increasing the value of forests.

C-Turtle

NTT DATA JAPAN CORPORATION

C-Turtle is a new solution made to address the issue of the effect of reduced emissions by suppliers not being reflected in our company's Scope 3 calculations. We are the first domestic company to enter into an information licensing agreement calculated by a UK NGO, generating much attention, particularly from major domestic companies.

AVATAR Digital twin for sustainable air mobility

NTT Ltd Luxembourg

AVATAR is a digital twin predictive maintenance platform developed with various research facilities in four EU nations in order to reduce maintenance costs and extend the safe life of aviation materials through structural safety monitoring.
We expect its implementation to result in a 30% reduction in maintenance costs and a 20% increase in aircraft safe life, which will also lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

3.Archived Website for the 11th NTT Group Sustainability Conference