In recent years,
Child abuse has become a serious issue for society.
Learning from the incident in 2010,
Edogawa City Child Guidance Center Heart Port
was established in April of 2020.
The center receives many calls daily.
The total number of consultations in FY2020
was 5,216,
and 2,042 of them were related to abuse.
These figures rank highamong the country's child guidance centers.
I was prepared for a heavier workload
and was concerned that it would betaxing on the body and errors may occur.
Child Guidance Centers take care of the children's lives.
However there isn't enough time
to care for the children and families.
This is a big problem that they face.
To improve a workplacethat deals with human lives,
the government's digital transformation
is vital.
Especially in the area of
efficient systems for handling phone calls,
we found out that NTT TechnoCross
excels in this field.
So we approached them for help.
Mr. Yokoyama and Prof. Wada told us
many children are suffering from abuse,and how the center is struggling
to keep up with the demand.
While thinking of a solution,
I felt that it was NTT's mission
to resolve this.
The guidance center, expert in child welfare,and IT expert came together as one
to launch this project,which was a first for Japan.
I started by studying about
the workplace and abuse,and the three of us
had many discussions.
A huge workload of documenting
follows the handling of phone calls.
They couldn't hire and train new staff
fast enough to meet the demandsof the sharp increase in calls.
Among our many products,
I felt the ForeSight Voice Mining solution
would help to lighten the workloadof handling calls and documenting.
ForeSight Voice Mining
captures calls in text and analyzes them.
An AI product created for call centers.

However, Sumi had cautious
about suggesting it as a product.
It's never been used
at a child guidance center.
It's a work that take care ofchildren's lives after all.
I wasn't sure if it'd benefit the staff.
Others were concerned too.
So We suggested doing a verification first.
We worked with the center and professor
to find the most efficient solution.
In January of 2022,
the solution was officially implemented.
It was a big step toward solving the problem.
After the implementation,
We visited often to follow up.
For example, we did surveys, interviews,
and provided individual guidance
according to usage and proficiency.
We tried our best to help themadjust to the changes at work.
We're grateful forthe implementation and guidance.
Lightening the workloadof calls and documenting.
Generating
important notices and auto-replies,auto-checks of interview content,
and saving of calls in text format
have helped to do just that.
The work efficiency
has improved tremendously.
Even staff with less experiencecan manage it now.
It's great that we get to spend more timewith the children and guardians.
We received many queries from the media.
They couldn't believe
it was done at a child guidance center.
They took up the most difficult challengeof changing society.
I'm very grateful for that.
Now, this measure is being shared acrossall child guidance centers in Japan,
helping with earlier detection
and preventing further abuse.
I hope this will help
save even more children.
We've also received queries from the police,
fire department, and social services.
We're collaborating with group companies,
NTT EAST and NTT WEST,to conduct various verifications.
Together with public institutions
and the locals,

we strive to continue
to resolve social issues.