Addressing Community Infrastructure Issues withInternational Standards
Kazutomo Hasegawa

Intellectual Property Strategy OfficeIntellectual Property Global Head Office
Legal and Intellectual Property UnitFujitsu Limited

1. Introduction

As a tool for creating and expanding markets, international
standards have a certain enforcement power as well as the power
to enable “rules changes” for resolving social issues. Examples
include domestic laws that are linked to international standards
and the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement[1] of theWorld Trade Organization (WTO). The setting of indicators forevaluating services specified by international standards and theprocurement requirements that are conditioned on those indicators
can also serve as a form of enforcement of rules changes.
In line with promoting digital transformation (DX), Fujitsu
is moving forward with the smart city concept as a digital meansof resolving community issues. In contrast to conventional ‘hard’approaches such as widening roads to reduce congestion, thesmart community represents digital approaches, such as using
ICT technology to construct a regional transportation system thatoffers users the optimum means to reach their destinations.
As part of this effort, we introduce here an initiative foraddressing community infrastructure issues with digital measures
based on international standards of rules-making[2]. The main
objective of the initiative is to assess community infrastructurewith indicators set according to international standards andpropose improvements to local governments and other authorities
based on the assessment. The initiative is also intended toencourage local governments in Japan and other countries to adopt
digital measures and change the rules for resolution of community
issues and improvement of infrastructure. This is a shift awayfrom the price-oriented assessment trend in ASEAN.

2. Development of international standards
related to infrastructure export strategy

Regarding international standards in line with government
infrastructure system export strategy[3], Fujitsu has had a leadingrole in the development of international standards for theinfrastructure of smart communities, for which a huge demand isexpected. It has conducted demonstration projects and promotions
in collaboration with related organizations and companies in Japanand other countries.
2.1 BackgroundIn 2015, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, andthe Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, andTourism, and other institutions predicted a cumulative demand

Taro Fujimoto

Cross-industry Division
Public & Healthcare Business UnitFujitsu Japan Limitedfor infrastructure in the tens of trillions of dollars by 2030. TheUnited Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were alsoannounced in that year, which explicitly target sustainable (smart)infrastructure development.
However, orders for Japanese infrastructure systems havebeen slow in ASEAN, possibly because Japan’s “high-qualityinfrastructure” [4] has not been valued in a cost-competitive
business environment.
2.2 International standards for assessment of smart
community infrastructure
To enable objective assessment of a “ high-qualit yinfrastructure” that is resilient, inclusive, and provides sustainable
performance, efforts have begun on international standardizationof the items used to assess “smart community infrastructure”
in support of smart cities. In 2012, ISO established TC 268/
SC 1[5, 6] with Japan as the Secretariat, and published ISO/TS 37151 (Smart community infrastructures − Principles
and Requirements for Performance Metrics)[7] in 2015. Thatinternational standard (or technical specification, to be precise)facilitates buyer modeling in the international procurementof smart community infrastructure for energy, water, waste,transportation, and ICT, etc. (Figure 1). It provides common
metrics in assessing performance, making the intentions ofproviders and buyers easy to understand.
The fourteen needs defined by ISO/TS 37151 are arranged inrelation to residents, community managers such as governments
and infrastructure operators, and the environment (Table 1).
The actual metrics are selected according to the purpose of
the community. For example, increasing the availability of railtransportation to provide round-the-clock operations might beconvenient for residents, but the operational efficiency of railway
operators will decrease, maintenance costs will rise sharply, andthere will be a contrary effect on mitigating climate change.
Striking a balance is the smart approach when such conflicts exist.
2.3 International standard for assessment and improvement
methods
ISO 37153 (Smart community infrastructures − Maturity
Model for Assessment and Improvement)[8] was developed andpublished in 2017 as a next step to provide guidance for assessmentand improvement from the viewpoint of sustainable communities
development as set forth in the SDGs. A prominent feature ofNew Breeze Spring 2023

9

■ Figure 1: Common metrics for providers and buyers■ Table 1: F ourteen needs defined by ISO/TS 37151

ISO 37153 is that assessment levels (values) can be expressed from
1 to 5, as in a school report card, so that non-experts can easily
understand the results of an assessment (Figure 2).
In the example presented in Figure 2, the blue dashedline represents the target levels and the red line represents theassessment results (current levels) for a particular community.
This feature enables the stakeholders in smart community
development (local governments, consultants, vendors, and service
operators, etc.) to discuss improvements on the basis of a common
understanding of the current state of the community.
ISO 37153 specifies the principle of assessing the state ofcommunity infrastructure on a five level scale (1 through 5) byusing a maturity model that references CMMI[9, 10] (Figure 3). In

10New Breeze Spring 2023

a smart community infrastructure, each of the fourteen needs is
identified by one or more metrics, and each metric is assessed by
the five reference levels of ISO 37153 to obtain the current levels(Figure 2). By setting the target levels among stakeholders inadvance, the chart in Figure 2 makes it possible for them to see ata glance the divergence of the current levels from the target levels.
ISO 37153 also describes an assessment and improvement
process that uses the maturity model. The standard successively
applies the PDCA cycle for continual improvement of community
infrastructure, as shown in Figure 4. By applying this cycle, it isalso possible to construct a smart city in a stepwise way from asmall start.

■ Figure 2: Example results of community assessment by the method of ISO 37153■ Figure 3: Basic concept of ISO 37153■ Figure 4: Step-wise smart city development using thePDCA cycle

3. Use and dissemination of the developed
international standards

3.1 Demonstration projects and promotion
Fujitsu participated in demonstration projects in Japan andother countries between 2017 and 2019 to promote widespread
adoption of the developed international standards ISO/TS
37151 and ISO 37153. In addition, Fujitsu conducted numerous
promotional activities, including one at the 2018 ASEAN
Business and Investment Summit in Singapore[11].
ASEAN national governments’ understanding of the benefitsof objective assessments of community infrastructure conductedin conformance with international standards made it possible forFujitsu to conduct these activities in ASEAN countries.
Demonstration projects in which Fujitsu participated:• FY 2017 [NEDO]: Study of infrastructure assessment method
trends and application in relation to smart cities (Bekasi,Indonesia)[12]• FY 2017 [Japan Standards Association]: Assessment of ISO
37153 applicability to Kawasaki City[13]• FY 2018−19 [ Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications]: Contracted study of assessment indicators
and assessment processes for smart city construction in
Vietnam (Da Lat, Vietnam)[14]• FY 2019 [Japan Smart Community Alliance]: Study ofinfrastructure assessment method trends and application in
relation to smart communities (Jakarta, Indonesia)
3.2 Issues in using international standards
The projects were demonstrated using the international
standards with the support of the Ministry of Economy,
Trade, and Industry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs andNew Breeze Spring 2023

11Communications, and local universities. Moreover, the businessstudies were repeatedly conducted and the following points wereclarified.
(a) Linking to digital measures
After assessment of the smart community infrastructure by
the method specified in ISO 37153, the point becomes whether
or not the proposed improvements can be linked to appropriate
digital measures.
(b) Trade-off between assessment accuracy and cost
Using the method specified by ISO/TS 37151 to develop
assessment indicators and obtain levels for them from scratch
is labor intensive and expensive[12]. However, many cities inJapan have comprehensive plans, and costs can be decreased
considerably by using the assessment indicators and values
which had been already obtained from those plans[13]. It is thus
possible to make the trade-off between assessment accuracy
and acquisition cost by considering the means of acquiring theassessment levels in light of the purpose of use.
3.3 Application to smart city businessFujitsu is using ISO 37153 in its consultation work andbusiness negotiations in the second smart city boom that beganwith the release of the Integrated Innovation Strategy 2019 andother factors[15].
Our current smart city business takes into account what welearned from the demonstration projects described in section 3.1
and the points described in section 3.2. The following describes
the consultation process: First, we collect data to be used in an
evaluation by an ISO 37153 method by conducting thoroughinterviews with the clients, e.g., a local government. Then, weanalyze the data and conduct objective assessments based onISO 37153. After that, we discuss the results with the clients andpropose improvements using digital measures.

References[1]	Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. “WTO/TBT Agreement,” https://www.meti. go.jp/
shingikai/keiryogyoseishin/pdf/g50913a45j.pdf[2]	Yoshiaki Ichikawa. “Construction of a Collaborative Creation Platform: A New Approach toInternational Standardization,” “Hitachi Review, July 2015”[3]	“Infrastructure system export strategy,” Economic Cooperation Infrastructure Strategy
Conference, https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/keikyou/dai47/siryou3.pdf (in Japanese)[4]	“High-quality Infrastructure,” Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/oda/bunya/infrastructure/index.html[5]	“ISO/TC 268/SC 1, Smart community infrastructures,” ISO, https://www.iso.org/committee/656967.html[6]	“ISO Technical Committee TC 268/SC 1,” Japan Standards Association (JSA), https://webdesk.jsa.or.jp/common/ W10K0500/index/dev/iso_tc268_sc1/[7] “ISO/TS  37151 2015  Smart community infrastructures − Principles and requirements forperformance metrics,” ISO, https://www.iso.org/standard/61057.html[8] “ISO 37153: 2017 Smart community infrastructures − Maturity model for assessment andimprovement”.
https://www.iso.org/standard/69225.html[9]	“Urban Infrastructure Maturity Model published as international standard,”
https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/11223892/www.meti.go.jp/press/2017/12/20171226005/20171226005.html[10]	“Japanese Language Translation of CMMI for Development, V1.3,” Software Engineering
Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, https://resources. sei.cmu.edu/library/asset-view.
cfm?assetID=28776[11]	ASEAN BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCIL. “ASEAN BUSINESS AND INVESTMENTSUMMIT 2018”[12]	“FY29 Achievement Report Survey on Trends and Applicability of Infrastructure
Assessment Methods for Smart Communities,” New Energy and Industrial Technology
Development Organization (NEDO)[13]	“International Standard ISO 37153 Kawasaki City Applicability Assessment Study Report,”
Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc., February 28, 2018.
[14]	“Investigation contract for formulating assessment indicators and selecting assessment
processes for smart city construction in Vietnam,” International Strategy Bureau, Ministryof Internal Affairs and Communications, March 2019[15]	 “Integrated Innovation Strategy,” Japan Cabinet Office, 2019, https://www.kantei. go.jp/jp/singi/tougou-innovation/pdf/togo2019_honbun.pdf

4. Conclusion

Fujitsu has been working with stakeholders in Japan andother countries on development of the ISO/TS 37151 andISO 37153 rules-making international standards and is using
them in proposals for digital measures to address community
infrastructure issues. ISO 37153 enables objective assessment ofcommunity infrastructure. The sustainability of communities
as defined by the SDGs can be increased by assessing theirinfrastructure and proposing improvements based on digital
measures that bring the levels of the current state closer tothe target levels. We will continue to make efforts toward theobjectives of changing the rules for addressing infrastructure
issues such as encouraging local governments in Japan and othercountries to adopt digital measures, and to shift away from thecost-oriented basis for assessment in ASEAN countries. We
would like to build up a track record of accomplishments inaddressing community infrastructure issues with digital measuresin our efforts to expand the ICT market.

12New Breeze Spring 2023

Cover Art
Osumi Sakura shima,from Famous Views of 60
Provinces

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
Source: National Diet Library,NDL Image Bank(https://rnavi.ndl.go.jp/imagebank/)