Kobe City Swiftly Adopts Urban OS Solutions without Incurring Upfront Costs through Joint Use of Such Solutions
Assessing Cost-Effectiveness to Serve as Exemplary Model for Adoption of Urban OS Solutions

October 9, 2024
Kobe City
KIDSLINE Inc.
GiXo Ltd.
BIPROGY Inc.
Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.
UDCK Town Management

Key Points of this Press Release

• Kobe City has adopted the Smart Life Pass and Dot to Dot urban OS solutions. These originated with the Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City (Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture) and constitute smart solutions for ensuring healthier living among residents.
• Making joint use of urban OS solutions with Kashiwa City has enabled Kobe City to adopt such solutions without incurring upfront costs while enabling access to such services swiftly upon urban OS adoption. The urban OS solutions are characterized by their high degree of scalability encompassing a data connectivity structure.
• This framework for joint use of urban OS solutions has been selected for inclusion in the FY2024 Project for Facilitating Diverse Regional Partnerships implemented by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Going forward, such initiatives will involve establishing cost-effectiveness assessments and guidelines to be adopted by other municipal bodies in serving as standard exemplary model for implementation of urban OS solutions.

Tokyo, Japan, October 9, 2024 - The, GiXo Ltd., KIDSLINE Inc., BIPROGY Inc., Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd., a leading global real estate company headquartered in Tokyo, and UDCK Town Management announced today that they have facilitated adoption throughout Kobe City of the Smart Life Pass*1 and Dot to Dot*2 urban OS solutions of Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City.

Kobe City has made joint use of the urban OS solutions and the track record of implementing such solutions in Kashiwa City, thereby enabling Kobe City to provide services to Kobe residents without incurring upfront costs just one month after its decision to adopt the urban OS solutions. Going forward, we will assess potential for expanding services enlisting urban OS solutions and applying such services to other municipalities, with the aim of promoting the OS solutions as exemplary practices for rapid adoption of smart city services. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications also hopes that implementation of its FY2024 Project for Facilitating Diverse Regional Partnerships will result in development of models ultimately capable of being deployed nationwide across Japan.

Kobe City (Kobe City Museum) / Childcare support stamp rally and program for trial use of short-term childcare services

■ Joint use of Urban OS solutions

Urban OS solutions had generally been regarded as intermediary information systems connecting community-based assets and community-based services previously. However, although the system’s architecture had accordingly been subject to discussion, emphasis on expanding community-based services had been lacking. As a result, the urban OS solutions encountered issues in that use of the urban OS solutions by local residents did not achieve growth subsequent to their adoption. Kobe City, meanwhile, focused on the Smart Life Pass portal website and the Dot to Dot data connectivity platform, which served as urban OS solutions that had already achieved various accomplishments as services implemented in Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City located in Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture. As such, Kobe City was able to laterally extend the community-based services by making joint use of such solutions while coordinating those efforts with Kashiwa City. This approach has addressed the issue of expanding community-based services previously encountered with respect to urban OS solutions, thereby enabling rapid deployment of community-based services without incurring upfront costs.

The prospect of achieving widespread adoption of urban OS solutions hinges on establishing a business model that can be implemented with minimal upfront costs from the perspective of expanding such community-based services. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications also hopes to see this approach result in a beneficial project given the prospect of developing a business model under which it possible to extend the data connectivity platform laterally across Japan.

■Service implementation

In January 2024, Kobe City embarked on initial efforts to implement the urban OS solutions through implementation of its KOBE Sports & Well-being City Project for supporting health enhancement enlisting the Smart Life Pass and Dot to Dot urban OS solutions. This has involved seeking to demonstrate effectiveness of the project in helping to ensure that the 100 project participants stick with their exercise routines as a result of health promotion measures targeting the participants*5.

In August 2024, the Smart Life Pass portal website and Dot to Dot platform were fully adopted throughout Kobe City, with the childcare support stamp rally and trial use of short-term childcare services carried out within Kobe City as community-based services.

■Exemplary services that enlist the Smart Life Pass portal website and Dot to Dot platform in Kobe City

Through use of the Mygru campaign implementation, administration and management tool provided by GiXo, Kobe City’s childcare support stamp rally enables participants to enjoy first-hand experience of community-based facilities and services that support childcare by using the Kobe City Subway Kaigan Line Free Pass and visiting facilities participating in the Nobinobi Passport scheme. The services also enable registration for mother and father networks and offer other such features for facilitating social interaction.

Subway Kaigan Line / Kobe Oji Zoo (Nobinobi Passport participating location)

Coupons worth 10,000 yen for use with KIDSLINE services are distributed under Kobe City’s program for trial use of short-term childcare services. A distinctive aspect of the program is that it enables participants to use coupons for services on a trial basis. This includes services associated with the urban OS solutions as well as childcare support services provided by Kobe City. The program is designed to provide more extensive childcare options for service users by offering government childcare support as well as by enabling them to combine this with private babysitting services tailored to their lifestyles.

KIDSLINE enables participants to gain first-hand experience in using private-sector services as well as government services on a trial basis

■Scalability of urban OS solutions

Going forward, Kobe City will expand its range of services linked to portal websites and data connectivity platforms enlisting the Smart Life Pass portal website and the Dot to Dot data connectivity platform. The urban OS solutions are characterized by their approach to addressing challenges encountered by local residents by combining integrated services and community-based assets.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has selected initiatives entailing joint use of urban OS solutions carried out by Kobe City and Kashiwa City for inclusion in MIC’s FY2024 Project for Facilitating Diverse Regional Partnerships. Under the project, Kobe City will verify possibilities for extending the solutions to other municipalities, while also establishing implementation schemes, standard system specifications, and guidelines for personal data integration. The aim of this initiative is that of enabling other municipalities to refer to such initiatives and verify cost-effectiveness when adopting their own Smart Life Pass and Dot to Dot urban OS solutions.

■Personal data connectivity using the Dot to Dot platform

Urban development of the Kashiwa-no-ha area has been carried out under the three themes of health and longevity, new industry creation, and environmental harmony. In 2020, this involved launching services of the Smart Life Pass portal website offering healthcare-related services to consumers who live and work in Kashiwa-no-ha. Meanwhile, the Smart Life Pass provides registered users with access to services for daily health management and health advice while also utilizing the proprietary and highly secure Dot to Dot network environment, which accordingly enables users to access new services as a result of data connectivity through the ability to link personal data across partner services. Meanwhile, a key feature of such data connectivity is that sharing of personal data across services does not occur without user consent. The Dot to Dot data connectivity platform is listed in the Catalog of Services/Systems Supporting Best Practices of Digitalization (spring 2024 edition) published by the Digital Agency.

* Dot to Dot is a registered trademark of BIPROGY Inc.

■ Sustainability in the Mitsui Fudosan Group

Based on the meaning of its “& mark,” “to generate new value with society through cooperation, coexistence and co-creation, we forge ahead, innovating,” the Mitsui Fudosan Group views the “creation of social value” and the “creation of economic value” as two wheels of a cart. Accordingly, we believe that the creation of social value leads to the creation of economic value, and that this economic value then creates even greater social value.
Moreover, we identified six Group Materiality priority issues when formulating our new management philosophy in April 2024. These Group Materiality priority issues are (1) Contribute to industrial competitiveness, (2) Coexist with the environment, (3) Health and Vitality, (4) Safety and security, (5) Diversity and inclusion, and (6) Compliance and governance. The Mitsui Fudosan Group will work to address each of the materialities through its core business activities and contribute to the promotion of sustainability.

(References)
・ Group Management Philosophy and Long-Term Vision
https://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/english/corporate/innovation2030/
・ Group Materiality
https://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/english/esg_csr/approach/materiality/

* The initiatives outlined in this release are designed to help address the following two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

< Supplementary Information and Relevant Press Releases (in Japanese)>

• 1. Smart Life Pass
  “SMART LIFE PASS KASHIWA-NO-HA Portal Website for Enriching Residents’ Lives to Launch on November 26”
  https://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/corporate/news/2020/1126_01/ (in Japanese)
• 2. Dot to Dot
  Dot to Dot is a distributed business-to-business data-sharing platform that strikes a balance between utilization of personal data with privacy protection, thereby facilitating co-creation across different industries and sectors. The Dot to Dot platform, jointly developed by Mitsui Fudosan and BIPROGY, was first provided to Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City on November 26, 2020.
  “Mitsui Fudosan and Nihon Unisys developed Dot to Dot, a platform for safe and secure movement of personal data with individuals’ consent”
  https://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/corporate/news/2020/1126_02/ (in Japanese)
  (The corporate name of Nihon Unisys, Ltd. was changed to BIPROGY Inc., effective April 1, 2022.)
• 3. Trial use of short-term childcare services
  Launch of Pilot Program for Short-term Childcare Services using the SMART LIFE PASS KASHIWA-NO-HA: Feedback Closely Aligned with Residents Enlisted to Support Kashiwa City’s Childcare Initiatives
  https://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/corporate/news/2022/1006_03/ (in Japanese)
• 4. Childcare support stamp rally
  Launch of Pilot Program in Kashiwa City for Services to Support Use of Childcare Support for Addressing Childcare Challenges through City-Corporate Partnership
  https://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/corporate/news/2023/1109_01/ (in Japanese)
• 5. Pilot study enlisting participants of the KOBE Sports & Well-being City Project for health promotion initiatives
  Pilot Study on Ensuring Sustained Exercise Routines of Kobe Residents through Joint Use of Data Connectivity Platform
  https://smartkobe-portal.com/web/article/6681548116/(in Japanese)