At the JVCKENWOOD Group, we place importance on striving to build trust in our business activities through engagement with various stakeholders such as our customers, business partners, shareholders and investors, employees, local communities, and external business partners (governments, NGOs, and other companies). In particular, working in partnership with external stakeholders such as universities, governments, and business partners brings with it the possibility of creating businesses that have a broader impact on society while making use of the strengths of our company, and thus we feel the need to place more focus going forward on forming such partnerships.

Since 2018, JVCKENWOOD, together with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, has invested in Aikomi Co., Ltd., a venture company conducting research and development specializing in non-drug treatment of dementia. Aikomi seeks to provide non-drug treatments customized to each individual patient that encourage interaction and communication with dementia patients, with the goal of answering very unmet medical needs*1 in caring for dementia patients, such as improving the behavioral and psychological symptoms associated with dementia. Two points are considered important in effectively conducting non-drug treatment: (1) pursuing treatment while maintaining good communication among the three parties (patient, family members, caretaker) involved in caring for the patient, and (2) stimulating the various senses, such as sight, hearing, and touch, in line with the circumstances of each patient.

In Aikomi’s efforts to develop a technological platform that stimulates the five senses and monitors behavior customized for each patient using the IoT and AI, JVCKENWOOD is responsible for developing a device that will serve as a point of contact for dementia patients. For this project, at JVCKENWOOD we bring our strengths in the fields of imaging, acoustics, and telecommunications that we have cultivated over many years as well as our proprietary content, including high-resolution sound source*2, as we proceed with the development of various devices that simulate the five senses.

As Japan faces a super-aging society, dementia is an urgent social issue that needs to be tackled. Aikomi’s solution will be implemented for facilities serially from 2019, and we plan to continue making efforts so that the development of non-drug services for dementia patients will develop into a business which contributes to resolving social issues.

JVCKENWOOD, in collaboration with Creww Inc., an operator of Japan’s largest-level startup community, organizes JVCKENWOOD Accelerator 2019, a program which aims at creating new businesses with startup firms, as part of the JVCKENWOOD Group’s open innovation using its management resources. This program is intended to boost the creation of new businesses together with startup firms by making the most of the management resources of the JVCKENWOOD Group, such as its globally deployed brands, patents and other intellectual properties totaling approximately 11,000 in number that it holds as a technology-based company, and sales channels.

For details, please see the link provided below.

JVCKENWOOD Accelerator 2019, an open innovation program aimed at creating new businesses with startup firms (Japanese)

At JVCKENWOOD, we are working on a variety of social implementation projects by collaborating with external stakeholders including different industries, governments, and academia. We will launch new projects in fiscal 2020 and develop an implementation plan as well.

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