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2024.08.30
Interview with Group CTO
Tap Water Philosophy - A Challenge to the Next-Generation
Future Lifestyle Pursued through Technology Future Vision: Tatsuo Ogawa, Group CTO, Panasonic Holdings Corporation
Series:
- Panasonic GREEN IMPACT
- R&D
Toward the achievement of an ideal society offering material and spiritual affluence, the Panasonic Group aims to solve global environmental issues and help its customers stay healthy, safe, and comfortable throughout their lives. In July 2024, the Corporate Technology Sector of Panasonic Holdings Corporation (PHD) developed the Technology Future Vision, which outlines the direction of research and development activities while looking toward lifestyles in 2040. Tatsuo Ogawa, PHD Executive Officer and Group CTO, announced the future vision for realizing "a co-caring society built on thoughtful choices," a society where individual choice naturally leads to caring for each other and the planet, as well as the relevant technology strategy. We interviewed him about his thoughts on the vision and the initiatives needed to embody it.
What is the Technology Future Vision?
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Tatsuo Ogawa, Executive Officer and Group CTO, Panasonic Holdings Corporation
PHD's Corporate Technology Sector has set forth the mission to "create a world you would never experience without us." To drive the creation of new businesses and expand existing ones in operating companies with a focus on "environment" and "lifestyle," the Corporate Technology Sector will enhance the Group's business competitiveness through technological innovation. They identify core technologies across the Group, develop them for future competitiveness, and enable the acquisition of new organizational capabilities.
Two years after the transition to the operating company system, the Corporate Technology Sector formulated and announced its Technology Future Vision. They regard it as the basic concept underlying the future technology strategy, and they will work to create new business opportunities with various possibilities in mind.
Ogawa: The era of seeking material affluence has come to an end. As our everyday norms continue to change, what kind of society should we pass on to the next generation? When we envisioned the future, we targeted 2040 since we viewed 2030 as too soon, but 2050 too distant for some industries.
We analyzed the impact on technological evolution and society using a new framework based on the Future Vision Program.*1 This is our unique design-driven management method, allowing us to determine the future we aim to achieve for 2040 from a human-centric and future-driven perspective.
While the progression of global warming is a concern, the spread of renewable energy, the expansion of the digital transformation, and the improvement of labor productivity through AI are expected to progress thanks to technological advancements. By 2040, we believe that our norms will change even more significantly.
We continued to speculate and discuss various issues to identify challenges in the gap from the current state, and we solidified our image of a society where individual choice naturally leads to caring for each other and the planet.
*1 This refers to PHD's independent efforts to clarify the gap from the current state, maintain a human-centric (people, lifestyle, society, environment) and future-driven perspective, and thus enhance the inherent competitiveness of businesses, based on the meaningful future society we envision, without being bound by conventional approaches or PHD's own perspective.
![](http://news.panasonic.com/uploads/tmg_block_page_image/file/26225/20240206_ALL_1045.png)
This is how the Technology Future Vision emerged. This concept has been visualized using concrete images.
Ogawa: The upper part of the diagram represents the real world, while the lower part represents the cyber world.
The diagram illustrates how resources and energy are introduced into society from the upper-left side of one large CPS (cyber-physical system). Through the activities of various stakeholders, these resources are distributed to communities, households, and individuals, and data related to the environment and lifestyles are returned in the end.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, we reconsidered what kind of society we should aim to develop while reflecting on what is really necessary in our daily lives. This thinking process led to the future we aim to achieve, which is a society where individual choice naturally leads to caring for each other and the planet. The following diagram defines the three factors that play key roles in developing such a society and the state where all these factors are fulfilled.
![](http://news.panasonic.com/uploads/tmg_block_page_image/file/26226/special-03-img03.jpg)
(1) Maximizing resource value (energy, goods, food):
Safe, green and affordable energy and resources flowing through our everyday lives.
(2) Creating meaningful time:
Nurturing the use of our time allows us to live each day with a sense of fulfillment.
(3) Caring for the self and tolerant relationships with others:
A harmonious state of mind and body encourages co-caring relationships with those around us.
Based on factor (1), we aim to widely distribute safe, green, and affordable energy and resources in the area of sustainability. Regarding factors (2) and (3), we aspire to create a society where we feel a sense of fulfillment in relationships with friends, family members, communities, and nature, and develop co-caring relationships with them in the area of well-being for life, based on the assumption that the state described in (1) above is ensured.
I believe that initiatives to maintain the state where all three factors are fulfilled will contribute to solving social challenges.
What is a co-caring social system? Working to practice the Tap Water Philosophy of the 21st century
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The Tap Water Philosophy advocated by the founder Konosuke Matsushita underlies the formulation of the Technology Future Vision.
Ogawa: Our founder Konosuke Matsushita once said, "If we produce an abundant supply of things we need in this world, like tap water, which can be obtained at very little cost, then it will eliminate poverty." This means that if we could supply large quantities of goods like tap water in Japan at that time, which would flow freely from the faucet, then these goods would be available at lower prices to people around the world, thus helping them overcome poverty. The founder also stated, "Even if an inexhaustible supply of goods is made available, people must first know how to use them."
While valuing this philosophy, by 2040, we aspire to create green energy, which corresponds to Konosuke's view of water, and widely distribute it to people around the world in an efficient manner. We also aim to create a society where people live with a sense of fulfillment and build co-caring relationships. We will work to practice this Tap Water Philosophy of the new era.
The video we created to present the formulation of our Technology Future Vision introduces the concept of a co-caring social system as the underlying basis of society, where green energy is not only widely available, but also accessible, and people live with a sense of fulfillment and build co-caring relationships.
![](http://news.panasonic.com/uploads/tmg_block_page_image/file/26228/240725_S0404.jpg)
Ogawa: The term "co-caring" used here means to envision a community where people help each other without self-sacrifice. We believe that this will be achieved by developing a mechanism to use the earth's and society's finite resources without waste and to offer options that are profitable and beneficial for both oneself and others.
Based on this vision and philosophy, we will prepare to develop new technologies such as human insight and automated iPS cell culture apparatus, in addition to technologies in the areas of energy and circular economy, in which the Panasonic Group has accumulated knowledge over the years. We will narrow down the technologies PHD needs to possess and define our focal areas with co-creation in mind, while technically supporting the roadmap of our future vision.
To this end, the Panasonic Group is working on technologies in a number of areas. Among these technologies, here we would like to introduce perovskite solar cells*2 for making resources flow, cyber-physical system (CPS) for helping people live with a sense of fulfillment, and automated cell culture apparatus for helping people build co-caring relationships.
*2 Panasonic's perovskite solar cells are currently under development, with outdoor field tests being conducted to verify their photovoltaic performance and durability. They are expected to be put into practical use within the next few years.
Energy and resources: Perovskite solar cells
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Perovskite solar cells, which are under development by PHD, represent solutions for making energy and resources flow through our everyday lives. The inkjet coating method is adopted to allow greater flexibility in size and design, depending on the production process, in anticipation of use for various applications.
Ogawa: The highlight of this product is that it can be applied to the windows and walls of buildings, where conventional silicon-based solar cells could not be applied. Unlike those conventional devices, perovskite solar cells do not require high-temperature heat treatment; therefore, a decrease in energy consumption during manufacturing is also expected.
With world-class high conversion efficiency and technology for flexibly adjusting transparency and size, we aim to lead the market in building-integrated photovoltaics and to significantly improve energy generation in urban areas.
By launching the operation of a prototype production line for large-sized modules (1 m x 1.8 m) by the end of 2024 and starting the test marketing for building material-integrated solar cells in 2026, we aim to achieve a renewable energy rate of over 40%*3 in urban areas.
*3 The Strategic Energy Plan issued by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy specifies the portion of renewable energy in Japan’s total power production as 36–38% by 2030. Accordingly, the Panasonic Group aims to contribute to the achievement of 40%, exceeding the target value, in urban areas where power consumption is high.
Sense of fulfillment: Frontline cyber-physical system
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In the area of helping people live with a sense of fulfillment, the Panasonic Group focuses on the development of CPS, among the technologies that will create meaningful time.
Ogawa: Essential work performed in fields such as manufacturing, construction, primary industries, and nursing care involves critical jobs that are indispensable to our daily life. However, in the past few years, workers in these fields have been enduring tough conditions due to labor shortages and other reasons. As the Panasonic Group, we have created household appliances that have liberated people from doing some housework, thus giving them more time for leisure activities. Following this tradition, we will endeavor to free essential workers from labor.*4
*4 The word "labor" here refers to acts to sustain human life. People also need to set aside time for work (acts to create the human world) and activities (acts performed together with others such as communication).
We are working to transform labor-intensive workplaces typified by essential work into environments where individuals can demonstrate their abilities. We will support them with solutions using CPS technology and promote automation, mechanization, and remote and cooperative work, thus increasing efficiency and productivity.
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Moreover, to provide workplaces where workers can achieve growth while taking on challenges and find their jobs rewarding, we will develop technologies that provide operational support and matching of business skills, as well as technologies for visualizing business effectiveness and facilitating interaction with customers. This will help people engage in decent work*5 that is meaningful and fulfilling.
*5 Work that is worthwhile and humane
By promoting these reforms, we aim to help build a society that enables everyone to have greater relaxation and control over their time.
Helping people build co-caring relationships: Automated cell culture apparatus
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Ogawa: As the third factor for developing an ideal society, we will also take on challenges to promote caring for the self and tolerant relationships with others.
Humans live by maintaining relationships with others. In order to build co-caring relationships, I believe we must first establish a harmonious state within ourselves and recognize the differences between ourselves and others. This will help them develop a tolerance for accepting such differences.
Therefore, we will promote technological innovation through three approaches: understanding the state of oneself, building tolerant relationships with others, and enabling customized physical and mental recovery.
One example is the development of automated cell culture apparatus for the physical recovery of seriously ill and other patients.
In current cancer treatment, autotransplantation using a patient's own cells poses a low risk of immune rejection, but it also requires time and money. Therefore, PHD will help promote a new personalized medical treatment for cancer using iPS cells by providing closed-culture apparatus.
Closed-culture apparatus has the advantages of a small-footprint enclosure and low contamination risk, allowing the automatic production of T cells*6 required for personalized medicine for cancer treatment. By leveraging the mechanism and evaluation technologies accumulated through long-standing expertise in manufacturing, we aim to promptly complete a prototype.
We will contribute to the creation of a future society where personalized medical treatment, currently only available at advanced medical facilities, can be easily provided at local clinics, and where everyone has access to regenerative medicine leading to customized physical and mental recovery solutions.
*6 T cells act on the immune system having functions, including the recognition and elimination of infected and cancer cells. Each cell recognizes a single substance, which varies by cell. This property remains the same even after it is changed into an iPS cell.
Promote co-creation and business development with partners to create synergistic value
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Ogawa: In the PHD's Corporate Technology Sector, engineers almost always independently examine business plans and partnership development in the conventional business incubation phase. However, to bring our current vision to life, we have restructured the Business Development Office, which serves as a specialized organization for business development, and established a structure employing staff members with engineering backgrounds as well as extensive experience in new business launches.
We adopted a model called the Three Horizons and are flexibly approaching business development with a view to co-creation with external business partners.
While expanding the circle of people who can resonate with our target state, we are committed to creating the future we aim to achieve, rather than letting the vision languish without progress from a concept or study phase. Without placing an excessive priority on profit, we must take on challenges as a business entity to achieve a society where people make thoughtful choices and build co-caring relationships.
PHD's Corporate Technology Sector will incorporate the Technology Future Vision in its internal projects and continue to make the vision evolve and yield tangible results.
Toward the achievement of a livable future, the Panasonic Group will further accelerate these initiatives and strengthen efforts to create new business opportunities, while helping employees to build co-caring relationships and live with a sense of fulfillment within the organization. Panasonic will promote research and development with this goal in mind.