NTT Group Sustainability Conference
Awards Ceremony2025.5.21

Award comment

Thank you for this prestigious award. I am truly delighted. We as a company believe that our continued data collaboration will contribute to solving social issues despite the various difficulties we face.
The NTT Group feels that the battery traceability we developed in collaboration with the automotive industry and Japanese government is a significant endorsement of our contribution to sustainability. We are confident in and proud of this work and look forward to expanding our business to other industries on a global scale. We look forward to your continued support.

Executive comment

This is a cross-industry project from the perspective of a circular economy, and I believe that its relationship with European regulations was a major catalyst for this project. I am sure that you have had many difficulties in promoting this kind of cooperative effort. My first question is, what is your approach about the team development? And my second question is, what is the feedback and evaluation from users after one year of use?
My third question is as follows: I believe that, in the future, data will be linked across multiple industries, government cooperation, and national borders. I would like to know if you have set any goals for the timeframe, and more specifically, when do you see the plan reaching this stage?

Reply from presenter

As for your first question, as previously mentioned, people are reluctant to release data. Battery and car manufacturers have conflicting interests. It is difficult for them to work together. Therefore, we formed a comprehensive alliance with major parts and automobile manufacturers. In this context, we feel that industry associations are important, and we are gradually creating a flow of support for powerful industry associations. Additionally, we supported the establishment of a steering group that has not been publicized in any way. There are people who should lead the process, so we gave considerable thought to who should be in the foreground and who should be in the background.

As for your second question, we were subject to the European Battery Regulations, but as you know, the implementation of European Battery Regulations has been delayed. Therefore, at this point, we are currently receiving feedback from the demonstration. There are many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and we have received many questions that we did not expect.
Regarding your last question and our outlook for the future, the manufacturing sector, which includes the Japanese automotive industry, is a globally recognized business sector. Our platform is also aware of global expansion and has received several inquiries from the Global South and APAC. However, we still need to establish a cooperative framework in each country; therefore, we have started conducting on-site surveys and matching each framework with leading companies.
In terms of cross-industry, we are also working in the chemical substances sector, but with chemicals, there are manufacturers who make chemicals and those who use chemicals, so the current task force itself is already in a cross-industry situation. We are also looking at who will take the project and I believe this will be a way of pushing the cross-industry button. We would like to take care of this use case.

MVP Award comment

I am honestly surprised. Thank you very much for this opportunity and for the MVP. When I was interviewed by a newspaper earlier, I was asked how I felt about this project. The Battery Traceability Infrastructure has spanned many years and involved many events and hardships, so today's award marks a milestone and I feel that we have now reached the next stage of the project.
As mentioned earlier, this is not only about battery traceability, it also marks the beginning of a project that will combine business and solutions for social issues, such as the circular economy as a data space, and with the help of everyone at the NTT Group, we would like to continue to expand on this idea.

Award comment

Thank you, NTT, for organizing this event. We are very proud to receive this award. We are totally convinced that this project will push NTT Group to maintain its position as main of the technological players in preserving our planet globally.
Thank you for all our team, Belgium, Mexico, Chile, and of course, Spain, and Arigatou gozaimasu, and please meet the zero impact.

Executive comment

What is the motivations and incentives, for credit buyers? how can this be expanded?
For something like water credit, a credit market was created within a government framework that formed a mandatory global framework. Do you think this solution also requires their regulations for expansion?

Reply from presenter

Most of the mature environmental credits are carbon credits, but I see additional potential for this platform. In emerging markets, for example, it can be adapted for plastic credits and energy-efficiency credits, among others. We believe that this has significant potential as many companies want to reduce their footprint and we believe that it is economical for them, which incentivizes this approach. How much potential does the presentation have? I am aware of this systems potential and have discussed it in my presentation. We are moving forward with the cooperation of a wide variety of companies, including those involved in energy/power.

MVP Award comment

Thank you again. It's an incredible honor to receive this award with all the excellent projects awarded. Congratulations to all our colleagues. And I want to share this award with all our team. And thank you again. Thank you for your support, and I think together we can push this project globally.

Award comment

I am from Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. I am extremely happy to be involved in a project that creates new value using resources that generally lie dormant in my hometown where I was born and raised, and to have such a project given this accolade.
In future, we will continue to work with our partners to solve local issues and promote initiatives to maintain the vibrancy of the community.

Executive comment

First, I would like to ask how this project got started and who among the personnel had strong feelings about it.
The other aspect you mentioned at the end of your presentation was the horizontal development of the project. In your opinion, what requirements are necessary for horizontal development? I would like to see the Ibaraki branch (where I used to work) expanding horizontally. Please let me know if you have any ideas regarding horizontal development.

Reply from presenter

First, regarding the first question, it is not about a single individual, but rather a team, which is an incubation group, and as we consider new businesses within the NTT EAST Group. Furthermore, we have been seriously addressing local issues to realize the co-creation of a regional recycling-oriented society, which is the purpose of the NTT EAST Group.

We have many NTT EAST branches and NTT EAST Group companies, including those not in the telecommunications field. We received various comments from customers in the region on a regular basis, and when we went to each region, we saw many unutilized resources caused by regional issues such as population decline. Therefore, the main reason we adopted and initiated this project was to create regional circulation based on energy by combining the unutilized resources.

Second, the future of horizontal development is a significant challenge for us as well. For this project, we selected woody biomass as the energy source. Forests cover approximately 70% of Japan's land area, and I think it is necessary for us to work together with local governments that face challenges in forested areas. It is also necessary for us to work with our various branches and group companies, in a sincere effort to address these issues.
Furthermore, now that we have accumulated the core of thermal energy utilization through the verification experiment, if the NTT group can work in this field, I believe that the scope of horizontal deployment will be further expanded.

MVP Award comment

Since our project began approximately two years ago, the members behind me and those who could not be present today have been collaborating with the community on this project to improve their circumstances.
In this sense, receiving this prestigious MVP award means a lot. However, I believe that this MVP award only marks the beginning of our efforts to create a recycling-oriented society and solve issues in the region. Today, at this sustainability conference, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the various sustainability-related initiatives being conducted by the NTT Group in addition to our efforts. Keeping our concept in mind, I will do my best to expand these efforts further with the NTT Group.