MESSAGE

Unleashing creativity: a platform for social co-creation

Kiichiro Toyoda, who played a major role in laying the foundations of the Japanese automobile industry, has been always aware of the inextricable link between academic research and practical technology. At the time of its founding, academic research was of the utmost importance to Toyota, which had a philosophy of contributing to the nation through industry. Kiichiro always kept research close to his business in any business environment, and he devoted his life to research, even as a business owner.
Toyota Central R&D Labs was established in 1960 as a joint investment by the Toyota Group, and it exists within the diverse group of companies that make up the Toyota Group, which share the same ambition of creating industry. This will remain its position in the future.

At Toyota Central R&D Labs, our vision is to realize a symbiotic mobility society for people and the environment that enables the Toyota Group to continue generating innovative value in the mobility area. The automobile industry is a manufacturing industry that adds value to metal resources through a process that involves processing iron ore into steel sheets and then into car bodies, and then assembling as many as 30,000 parts, including drive parts and electronic parts. Effective recycling of resources that have been transformed into automobiles is an energy-intensive process that has a substantial environmental impact. If research can transform this into a reversible process, then I believe that this will show us a path forward to a more sustainable circulation of mobility value in society.

To promote this kind of research, I believe we must provide opportunities for co-creation between practical technology and academic research, which will help to unleash the inherent creativity of researchers.
For science and technology to be widely implemented in society, one of the key factors will be our ability to produce better products and services at minimal cost and just-in-time. To achieve this with innovation and reproducibility, it is essential to back it up with interdisciplinary academic knowledge. At the same time, even the most outstanding academic research cannot be converted into viable products without an understanding of the marketplace and social perspectives as well as practical technology. Toyota Central R&D Labs is a unique platform that brings together engineers and researchers from nine shareholder companies and some 40 technical collaboration contractor companies, all world-class companies, for the purpose of free and open-minded collaboration. I envision the platform as similar to a Michi-no-Eki roadside station where farmers and chefs will collaborate to create the finest cuisine along a road where many people come and go.
Throughout history, technological revolutions have been underpinned by the driving force that is the work of researchers. My intention is to unleash the incredible creativity of our researchers and pave the way for the evolution of society through technological advancement in tandem with researchers. In this, I will strive to embody Kiichiro's ideas as mentioned at the outset.

Chief Executive Officer
Nobuhiko Koga

Toward a symbiotic mobility society for people and the environment

Toyota Central R&D Labs was established in 1960 to achieve academic progress and industrial development through the promotion of scientific research and technological development of the Toyota Group.
In recent years, in addition to energy issues and climate change concerns, global conflicts and divisions have cast a shadow over society. I believe that the core mission of a modern R&D laboratory is to forecast future trends and materialize its vision with an eye to adapting to social and economic change while at the same time creating the flow of change.
We are currently embarking on further innovation in our research and development capabilities under the slogan realization of a symbiotic mobility society for people and the environment for the year 2030. Our efforts to strengthen our capabilities for the future are predicated on three key areas: social scenario analysis, innovation in sustainable manufacturing, and the creation and optimization of “intelligence resources.”

The aim of social scenario analysis is to anticipate future scenarios, particularly in relation to the global environment and biodiversity as well as social systems and rules. This allows us to clarify what kind of effort is expected from the industry and R&D organizations and when to implement such effort, and eventually incorporate this information as part of future potential scenarios. On this basis, we believe that research focusing on social issues such as energy and resource recycling, availability of labor and boosting productivity—areas that contribute to the sustainability of the manufacturing sector—should be the main focus of Toyota Group research laboratories. Furthermore, information is the starting point for industrial advancement, in the context of AI and other forms of intelligent technology in modern society. To this end, we will increase our commitment in research areas that enhance the future value of mobility and energy, such as sensing, communication, and computing using quantum technology to create, transport, use, and manage the valuable data.

As CCO* for a year prior to assuming the position of President, I had many discussions with research institutes, universities, and companies all over the world regarding the future of research and development. I have shared with many people my belief that wisdom is the key for Japan to move forward while maintaining the competitive advantages we have established over many years, given our scarcity of resources and energy and declining food self-sufficiency.
In an era of uncertain prospects, there are high expectations for competitive cross-functional research projects that transcend the boundaries between academic fields and industries. One of the strengths of Toyota Central R&D Labs is that we have many researchers who can identify issues and data obtained from the real world of industry and transform them into a form that is useful through practical research that connects science with engineering. We will continue to take on the challenge of contributing to society by playing our role in R&D projects geared toward achieving a symbiotic mobility society for people and the environment.

President and CRO
Takashi Shimazu

*Chief Collaboration Officer

FEATURE

PAGE TOP