TOKYO & OSAKA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) and Panasonic Corporation today announced that the two companies have agreed to enter into a business alliance with the aim of achieving “visual service innovations” and “evolution of user experience”*1 toward 2020 and beyond.
A wide variety of initiatives are currently being promoted both by the public and private sectors in Japan with a view to developing and improving various services toward 2020. The most urgent among them include providing quality services and hospitality, called “omotenashi” in Japanese, to visitors from around the world as the number of foreign tourists is expected to continue to rise. There is also a pressing need to develop services that support a society where the physically challenged and elderly feel safe and secure. Against this backdrop, the collaboration between NTT and Panasonic aims to share their technologies to develop new services for the foreseeable future that realizes “visual service innovations” and “evolution of user experience.”
Specifically, the two companies will develop and propose standard models for new visual communication by combining NTT's expertise in broadband solutions and Panasonic's capability in providing high-definition visual solutions. Major areas of collaboration under the agreement include the following:
(1) Visual entertainment
NTT and Panasonic will leverage their combined strengths in high-definition AV devices/systems and broadband services to offer functionality that allows, for example, spectators at a stadium to enjoy their preferred video contents, as well as that delivers immersive images throughout Japan and abroad. The companies aim to apply these synergy effects not only to stadiums but also to a variety of visual entertainment business segments.
(2) Security & safety
The two companies will provide assistance to help ensure a secure and safe living environment with their visual monitoring systems and cyber security technologies. The partners will also make efforts to create a society that is friendly to everyone including foreign visitors and senior citizens by offering services that deliver necessary information on demand.
Going forward, NTT and Panasonic will pursue cooperation in the field of town planning, such as smart cities, to contribute to regional development and examine models that can be applied to overseas projects.
*1 User experience (UX): The term refers to experience and satisfaction obtained by users when using products, systems, or services. It also denotes system/service development indicators for increasing such experience and satisfaction.
About NTT
NTT Group delivers advanced technology and innovative solutions in networking, communications, software, and cloud computing that help transform businesses, governments and societies around the world. NTT Group will deliver convenient, enriched, and reliable services to support our customers as a “Value Partner” that our customers will continue to select. Today, 80% of the Fortune 100 relies on NTT Group as their business partner. NTT Group generates over $105 billion in annual revenues, has over 233 data centers and employs more than 240,000 professionals working in 88 countries.
About Panasonic
Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development of diverse electronics technologies and solutions for customers in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, enterprise solutions and device industries. Since its founding in 1918, the company has expanded globally and now operates 468 subsidiaries and 94 associated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.715 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2015. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for its customers. To learn more about Panasonic: http://www.panasonic.com/global.