April 30, 2021

TOKYO, JAPAN, April 30, 2021 --- Komatsu Ltd., NTT DOCOMO, INC., Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation and Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. jointly announced today that they have agreed to launch a new company, named EARTHBRAIN Ltd., that will support digital transformation in the construction industry for dramatically improved safety, productivity and environmental performance.

Workstyle reforms are in high demand due to factors including an aging population and shrinking workforce in the Japanese construction industry and the presence of COVID-19 in construction sites worldwide. EARTHBRAIN will now tackle these challenges through digital transformation. The new company will evolve Komatsu's 'Smart Construction1' solution and expand its services worldwide, including for all brands of construction equipment and vehicles operating at worksites. By combining the four companies' expertise, know-how and technologies, EARTHBRAIN will provide the next-generation of Smart Construction.

Next-generation Smart Construction will incorporate digital twins2at construction sites based on EARTHBRAIN's accelerated development and provision of visualization devices and applications for real-time remote monitoring, analyzing and optimizing of terrain, construction equipment, operators, materials, safety and environmental factors. Also, by connecting all construction processes digitally on an open platform and controlling them optimally, EARTHBRAIN will improve safety and productivity and create smarter and cleaner workplaces.

  1. Smart Construction is a solution for implementing highly productive, clean and safety worksites by connecting various information at worksites via ICT.

  2. Data-based virtual replicas of physical objects or processes for performing simulations and then feeding the results back to the real world.

  1. Digital-Twin Computing (DTC) proposed by NTT is a new computing paradigm that expands on the conventional digital twin concept by freely combining and performing calculations on digital twins of objects and humans in diverse industries. DTC is able to accurately reproduce combinations that could not be comprehensively handled up to now, such as humans and automobiles in cities, and thereby make the future predictable.



  • USD = 110.71 yen as of March 31, 2021



About Komatsu

About NTT DOCOMO

NTT DOCOMO, Japan's leading mobile operator with over 80 million subscriptions, is one of the world's foremost contributors to 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies. Beyond core communications services, DOCOMO is challenging new frontiers in collaboration with a growing number of entities ('+d' partners), creating exciting and convenient value-added services that change the way people live and work. Under a medium-term plan toward 2020 and beyond, DOCOMO is pioneering a leading-edge 5G network to facilitate innovative services that will amaze and inspire customers beyond their expectations. https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/.

About Sony Semiconductor Solutions

About Nomura Research Institute

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NTT - Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation published this content on 30 April 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 24 May 2021 10:08:01 UTC.