President’s MessageAchieving a Healthy Global Environment, Human Wellbeing, and Economic Growth through Social Innovation Business

In recent years, the business environment has been undergoing constant change due to rapid digitalization and the complex global political and economic situation. The rising prices of resources and electricity, as well as inflation, have had a significant impact on the post-COVID-19 society and people, where mobility of people and goods have returned to a normal state. On the other hand, I believe that we need to step up our efforts to discover new possibilities and to realize a sustainable society by taking a fresh look at the challenges confronting society, which include climate change and demographic change. 

While this has been happening, we have entered the final fiscal year in our three-year Mid-term Management Plan 2024. In this plan, Hitachi laid out its goal of supporting people’s quality of life with data and technology that fosters a sustainable society. With our Social Innovation Business as our sole focus, we have brought Hitachi’s three business sectors together and invited the companies and other partners involved to be part of an ecosystem. We have also promoted co-creation with various customers on a global scale in view of contributing to the preservation of a healthy global environment and considering the future economic growth. 

The aim of Social Innovation is rooted in the mind of Powering Good, realizing the good things that people around the world desire as set forth in the slogan “Hitachi Social Innovation is POWERING GOOD.” We are already working to commercialize key technologies that enable this vision, such as biotechnology that extends healthy life expectancy and supports vibrant lifestyles, generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) that effectively obtains useful information from a large amount of text, and quantum computers that speed up the acquisition of new scientific knowledge while deepening our understanding of physical phenomena. By understanding "Green," "Digital," and "Connective" as three trends driving the social and industrial transformation, we will continue to support customer innovation through solutions that combine IT, OT (Operational Technology), and products. 

This year, 2024, is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Hitachi’s founder, Namihei Odaira. Launched in 1918, immediately after the founding of Hitachi, Hitachi Hyoron (Hitachi Review, in English) became the first technical journal to be published by a company in Japan. It was established out of a desire to publicize newly developed technologies and to serve as a forum for dialogue and debate. Since then, the journal has strived to return diverse benefits to society through researchers and developers expressing themselves in their own words, carrying on the Hitachi founding spirit of Harmony, Sincerity and Pioneering Spirit. Following the launch of an English edition called “Hitachi Review” in 1952, the journal intends to go on presenting the Hitachi Group of today as it continues to take on new challenges in pursuit of progress in social innovation, taking inspiration from the Hitachi corporate mission to “Contribute to society through the development of superior, original technology and products.” Hitachi Technology 2024 likewise presents the latest topics from Hitachi, including technological achievements and case studies of co-creation. Please look forward to a Hitachi Group that delivers innovation to customers around the world and continues its organic growth through “One Hitachi.”