PACIFIC CONSULTANTS is promoting initiatives based on the Urban Optimization Management ® concept, which aims to solve complex problems faced by cities by effectively utilizing and managing their infrastructure. We spoke with Tomonori TOKITA, General Manager of DX Business Promotion Dept., Digital Service Business Div. about how it differs from conventional problem-solving methods and the expected results.
INDEX
- Digital Solutions for Holistic Urban Optimization
- New Solutions are Needed to Face Diverse Urban-specific Challenges
- What Makes Urban Optimization Management ® Happen?
- Integration of Digital and Infrastructure Consulting
- Services Created from Urban Optimization Management ®
- The Future of Co-creation Pioneered by Data
Digital Solutions for Holistic Urban Optimization
It is easy to say "create a society where everyone can live comfortably," but it is very difficult to put it into practice. This is because it is necessary to consider the present and future lifestyles of people with diverse backgrounds. We, PACIFIC CONSULTANTS, who have been involved in social infrastructures such as urban development and infrastructure improvement for many long years , are keenly aware of the difficulty of this approach. Therefore, we have focused on digital solutions as an approach to solving social infrastructure issues and are promoting activities based on the concept of "Urban Optimization Management ®".
New Solutions are Needed to Face Diverse Urban-specific Challenges
Our society has various infrastructures such as roads, railroads, airports, rivers, and buildings. The maintenance and management of these infrastructures are divided among numerous operators, and are carried out individually according to the budget of each operator.
However, a city is one, and we believe that issues such as congestion concentrated in a city, aging infrastructure, and response to disasters need to be addressed by the city as a whole, not individually.
Therefore, there is a need to monitor and use infrastructure wisely by "capturing the movement of the entire city from data".
Examples include demand control, such as alleviating congestion during peak hours by changing user behavior, such as staggered work schedules, and supply control, such as managing transportation capacity flexibly by temporarily increasing the number of trains during events.
Japan's rail and road densities are among the highest in the world. By using these infrastructures wisely, we can bring out the true potential of cities.
Combining the knowledge and experience of construction consultants with digital technology
Urban Optimization Management ® is a concept and activity for solving social issues that combines our knowledge and experience as a general construction consultant with digital technology. The use of digital technology makes it possible to conduct more sophisticated and efficient surveys and analyses to understand the causes of issues, and to formulate effective and optimal solutions (EBPM: Evidence Based Policy Making). In addition, the use of digital technology can support decision-making and consensus building with various stakeholders in implementing solutions, thereby facilitating smooth problem solving.
From partial optimization relying on individual experience to overall optimization based on evidence
Urban issues are numerous, and they all affect each other. For this reason, we believe it is necessary not only to consider individual measures, but also to take measures aimed at overall optimization to solve multiple issues at the same time.
By using digital technology to capture urban activities from human flow data and consumption and energy data, and by linking these data, it is possible to formulate solutions that are holistically optimal.
The Future Envisioned by Urban Optimization Management ®
According to Urban Optimization Management ®, we aim to create digital services that can respond to the multifaceted nature of cities and be applied in a wide range of areas. By doing so, we aim to realize an ideal society in which people can live comfortably and with peace of mind by eliminating various concerns, frustrations, and inconveniences of urban residents, even in a society with a declining population, falling birthrate, and aging population, where human and financial resources are limited.
- An environment-friendly society
- A society without traffic jams, congestion, and inconvenience
- A society that can avoid the effects of disasters
- Society with vitality in the community, etc.
What Makes Urban Optimization Management ® Happen?
PACIFIC CONSULTANTS' unique digital solutions
We believe that our mission is to solve social issues and that we are a service industry that can affect many people. This is because, depending on the technology and services we provide, we can lead to influencing the manifestation of the effects of social infrastructure, which can have a significant impact on your lives. We are responsible for creating cities, society, and protecting our lives. The concept created to fulfill this role is Urban Optimization Management ®. This concept and approach is realized by leveraging our strengths as a social infrastructure service company, including our knowledge, technology, and experience.
Our three strengths that make the Urban Optimization Management ® possible
■ A wide range of capabilities: Comprehensive capabilities covering all of Japan
Our company is supported by a group of specialized engineers working in various fields. We contribute to solving problems by utilizing our expertise in a wide range of social infrastructures such as urban development and infrastructure improvement, covering not only the Tokyo metropolitan area but also all over Japan, including regional cities.
■Organizing Ability: Coordinating ability to create synergy
Solving urban and social issues requires a bird's-eye view of the whole, while at the same time paying close attention to details. When promoting a project, we plan and draft the project, and demonstrate our coordination skills, including discussion and consensus-building with various parties.
■Pioneering Ability: The ability to take on the challenge of creating technological innovation
We were one of the first in the construction consulting industry to establish a business division for digital services. We are creating new digital services such as human flow data services "Nation-wide Movement Statistics" as a soil for innovation needed to solve problems, utilizing the knowledge and technology of social infrastructure such as urban development and infrastructure development accumulated over the 70+ years since our foundation.
Integration of Digital and Infrastructure Consulting
Currently, the use of big data is the focus of attention in urban development and infrastructure projects, but data is only a means to an end, and it is essential to manage the project with an eye on the method of use and effects ahead of time.
For example, it is necessary to determine the exit points that will produce the desired effects, such as urban development, resilience, environmental preservation, regional revitalization, and safety and security, and then backcast the data from the exit point while keeping in mind how and what data will be used to achieve those exit points, and then combine various data such as human flow and infrastructure.
In this way, by combining data and management, evidence-based urban planning and infrastructure development can be realized, and the desired effects can be efficiently manifested.
Services Created from Urban Optimization Management ®
The first product created by leveraging our strengths is "Nation-wide Movement Statistics". The "Nation-wide Movement Statistics" is a human flow statistics data service created by combining the big data of location information obtained from SoftBank base stations with the human flow analysis and traffic engineering technologies we have cultivated. The service provides statistical data on the movement of 120 million people nationwide, including transportation means, based on the location information of mobile terminals.
>Nation-wide Movement Statistics
* "Nation-wide Movement Statistics" is a human flow statistics data service developed jointly by PACIFIC CONSULTANTS and SOFTBANK and provided by SOFTBANK.
The Future of Co-creation Pioneered by Data
Data is important to us as we seek to solve problems through the use of digital technology. We have developed a variety of digital solutions by combining data provided by our co-creation partners with our own technologies and knowledge. We will continue to contribute to the realization of a society in which people can live peacefully and safely as a social infrastructure service company suitable for co-creation partners who are working to solve urban issues in order to realize a better society.
