Indian consulting and engineering company Tech Mahindra is helping Tagawa in Japan become a smart city.

The company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tagawa to accelerate its digital transformation.

As part of the partnership, Tech Mahindra will leverage its expertise in technologies such as 5G, IoT, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to help Tagawa become a smart city. To support the digital transformation, Tech Mahindra and Tagawa will work together to upskill the local talent with software engineering skills in Japan.

In addition, Tech Mahindra and Tagawa will collaborate on the expansion of local 5G with multi edge computing (MEC), as well as the development of hardware and software using AR and VR. Furthermore, Tech Mahindra will help Tagawa in its vision for the digitalisation of sports facilities, using technologies such as motion cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance accessibility and provide better experiences.

“We thank Tech Mahindra for their cooperation in this public-private partnership with Tagawa,” said Tagawa mayor Kimito Futaba. “We will leverage their expertise in digital technologies to bring about positive change in our city. Further, this partnership will help us achieve our vision for a smart city and provide benefits to our residents and local businesses.”

To realise the smart city vision, Tech Mahindra and Tagawa will collaborate to transform the tourism industry digitally through the use of AR and other technologies, build smart recreational parks, and provide labour assistance using IoT, such as body temperature and physical condition management of cows using AI cameras, and the digitalisation of the tourism industry. Tagawa will also benefit from the development of smart parks and camping grounds, as well as new forms of entertainment such as forest cinemas.

“Digital transformation has become one of the top priorities for organisations and governments today to keep pace with the ever-changing post-pandemic world,” said Manish Vyas, CEO of network services at Tech Mahindra. “Japan is one of the most advanced and innovative countries in the world and our collaboration with Tagawa is a major step forward in strengthening our ties with the country. With this partnership, we look forward to working closely with Tagawa to develop new technologies and services that can enhance the quality of life of Tagawa’s citizens. Further to this partnership, we foresee significant growth across various industries, including manufacturing, health care, telecommunications and media and entertainment.”

The partnership is in line with Tech Mahindra’s NXT.Now framework, which aims to enhance the human-centric experience and focuses on investing in emerging technologies that enable digital transformation and meet evolving needs.

Tagawa, located in the Fukuoka prefecture, used to be the centre of Japan’s coal mining industry and, to this day, Tagawa is known for its famous coal mining dance, which is popular all over Japan. Due to the importance of its coal industry for the modernisation of Japan between the middle of the 19th and the middle of the 20th century, Tagawa was often called Japan’s coal capital. The switch of Japan’s economy from coal to oil as its major source of energy in the 1960s brought an end to the coal industry in Tagawa which led to an era of decline. The city is proud of its coal mining heritage but nowadays is also putting attention to its culture, history and nature.

Furthermore, the city has been certified as an inclusive host town as a result of its many efforts in the field of inclusion, such as hosting camps for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Tagawa’s goal is to become an inclusive city where everyone is welcome and can play an active role. As a cornerstone of the city’s efforts, focus is put on educational reforms and the improvement of child care.

Tech Mahindra is a $6bn organisation with 163,000 employees across 90 countries helping 1279 global customers, including Fortune 500 companies. It leverages technologies such as 5G, blockchain, metaverse, quantum computing, cyber security and AI to enable end-to-end digital transformation for global customers.