NTT Data Corporation Kansai, SAP Japan, and Zainasu signed an agreement to deliver the information utilisation platform for disaster prevention and mitigation dubbed PREIN to local governments nationwide.
Japan’s climatic variations, rugged topography, and location in both the Pacific earthquake belt and Ring of Fire make the country prone to natural disasters– from violent earthquakes and typhoons to tsunamis. In recent years, SAP technology has been leveraged by some Japanese organisations to help them better prepare for any looming natural hazards.
For instance, Tokyo-based manufacturing company Hakusan Corporation partnered with SAP in 2018 to advance the development of “myShindo”, a smartphone application that measures the intensity of earthquakes with an iPhone/iPod touch/iPad attached at the building frame. The application harnessed SAP Leonardo in creating a more fully-featured product and SAP Cloud Platform for the collection of the intensity data. SAP Japan and Hakusan’s partnership goes all the way back in 2016 under the One Billion Lives initiative.
Developing a Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Platform
In 2019, Oita University Disaster Mitigation and Reconstruction Design Education and Research Center also collaborated with SAP Japan alongside Zainasu Co., Ltd., a member of the SAP Partner Open Ecosystem, to develop EDISON (Earth Disaster Intelligent System and Operating Network). Powered by SAP HANA and SAP Leonardo, EDISON, which leverages Big Data, ML, and AI, is capable of locating spots in the Oita Prefecture prone to disaster as well as building better infrastructure focused on safety. PREIN, a disaster prevention and mitigation platform coined from PREdictive INsights, is a product of the EDISON collaboration.
Sharing about the EDISON development, Disaster Prevention Bureau of the Living Environment Department of Oita Prefecture and the Commerce, Industry, Tourism, and Labor Department of Oita Prefecture commented:
“As the development of advanced technologies such as drones, AI, and satellite data progresses, it is important to utilize advanced technologies in disaster prevention and mitigation. In this prefecture, a study group on the utilization of advanced technologies for disaster prevention (disaster prevention) We have set up a tech study group) and are proceeding with discussions on strengthening disaster prevention capabilities using advanced technology.
Sharing disaster information is also an important theme at the disaster prevention tech study group, and in the prefecture, Oita University disaster mitigation and reconstruction design education and research Based on the agreement with the center, we are promoting cooperation such as providing disaster prevention information to EDISON. We will continue to work to improve regional disaster prevention capabilities while maximizing the vitality of the private sector.”
NTT Data Corporation Joining Forces with SAP Japan and Zainasu
Fast forward to today, NTT Data Corporation Kansai, a part of NTT Data Group, has joined SAP Japan and Zainasu under an agreement to work together for the availability of PREIN in local governments across Japan. (InsideSAP Asia often references articles from websites in other languages to bring you as much information as possible.) Specifically, NTT West Group and NTT Data Group will be handling the sales component while NTT Data Kansai and Zainasu will be taking charge of the launch and operational support.
PREIN can help streamline the disaster response work of local governments with the platform’s capability to centrally manage and perform advanced analytics on disaster risk and forecast information. Moreover, NTT Data Kansai can link the comprehensive disaster prevention information system “EYE-BOUSAI” with PREIN, providing governments a dashboard that shows the degree of risk to enable them to create evacuation plans faster. EYE-BOUSAI is a cloud-based comprehensive disaster prevention system developed by NTT Data that provides real-time information not only in the event of a disaster but also before it occurs to enable both local and private organisations to lead early evacuation strategies to protect lives and properties.
Below is the preview of the project’s implementation methodology:
1. The PREIN platform powered by SAP HANA centrally manages disaster information held “EYE-BOUSAI” and each institution distributes disaster prevention, mitigation, or prediction data
2. SAP Analytics Cloud’s numerical model and ML capabilities provide risk assessment and simulation of disaster risk based on these data.
3. SAP Analytics Cloud acts as a repository for the scenarios required for disaster prevention, mitigation, and disasters as well as the local governments and private companies BCP.
SAP Japan, Zainasu, and NTT Data Kansai’s signing ceremony was held last 27th October 2021 at NTT Data Kansai.
