Hulic Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Hulic"), ABEJA, Inc. (hereinafter "ABEJA"), ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”), and SECOM CO., LTD. (hereinafter "SECOM") (hereinafter, collectively called "the Four Companies") announced today that they would commence development of a digital transformation (DX) platform for offices (hereinafter "the Platform") and new workplaces implementing the Platform. The Platform aims to improve convenience and productivity for corporate tenants and workers and increase efficiency in sales activities and management for building owners.

Recently, work-style reforms at businesses and the pandemic have changed workplaces for office workers. Workplaces are becoming freer and more flexible, changing from a single, face-to-face, and fixed setting to multiple, virtual, and selectable settings.
Issues are arising in terms of productivity and communication as workplaces continue to change. Digital tools play a more important part in work, such as web conferencing systems and chat tools. On the other hand, building owners are facing concerns about declining demand for rental offices due to the increase in people working from home, in addition to the reduced value of real estate with the aging of buildings and equipment. It is necessary to differentiate office buildings from competing properties by elevating the value according to changing work styles.
The Four Companies begin to develop a DX platform for offices, taking the "market in" approach. The platform connects office equipment, data obtained via the equipment, and digital tools to address the needs and issues of corporate tenants, office workers, and building owners. The Platform will be used to develop and expand workplaces that adapt to new work styles.

■ Accumulation and use of data on the Platform
There is a large volume of valuable data in both the physical and digital space of an office, such as location information of workers, flow of people, and schedules on calendar apps. However, current business offices lack a system that accumulates and uses such data because of the limited connection between equipment and software. The Platform will be developed and implemented to connect and control them. The Four Companies will provide unique services by connecting data between the physical and digital spaces. The services will support higher efficiency and energy saving for corporate tenants and office workers or property operations for building owners.

Conceptual diagram of the Platform

■ Expansion of workplaces with the Platform
The Four Companies will implement the Platform and promote product development at workplaces that are compatible with new work styles while advancing the development of the Platform. The workplaces are expected to provide an environment that can ensure high productivity, using the applications that approach issues specific to teleworking, such as insufficient communication and the work involved in reporting/contacting/consultation.

■ Development of the Platform and formation of ecosystem
The Four Companies will endeavor to introduce the Platform to offices owned by all building owners. This will help address issues for as many corporate tenants and building owners as possible. An API (Application Programming Interface) will ensure open access so that all equipment manufacturers, service providers, and application developers can join the ecosystem regardless of business category. This is because the potential will increase through connections with equipment and the satisfactory provision of original services.

The ecosystem based on the Platform

Hulic
- Planning and development of new services based on results of demonstration experiments at properties, and knowledge and know-how in real estate
- Differentiation of clients' properties from those of their competitors and increase in value added through adoption of the Platform and applications
ABEJA
- Acceleration of the implementation of progressive technology through the use of data obtained from workers who support industries
- Leadership in social reform through innovations using the experience and knowledge of AI platform businesses and tech startup operations　
ITOCHU
- Use of knowledge that has been accumulated through investment in real estate venture businesses
- Promotion and support of development/expansion of the Platform, and planning and development of new workplaces
SECOM
- Use of data obtained from security services including access control and camera images on the Platform
- Provision of the latest safety and security services for building owners and office workers through linkage with the Platform

- Applications to be implemented on the Platform and new workplaces will be developed from August.
- The Platform will be introduced, and the of use of the first application will be commenced in Bizflex Azabu-juban by HULIC*, HULIC's medium-scale flexible office, to be opened in November
- A demonstration experiment will be performed at Office Tech Lab (tentative name) to be constructed at Bizflex Azabu-juban by HULIC for improvement of the application. An additional application and workplace will be released within 2022.