Activities of JAPIA
No.14 : Task Force Activities for the Realization of Data
Distribution
Report: Data Distribution Realization Task ForceA New public-private partnership launched in May 2023 to connect theautomobile industry’s supply chain with digital information
In the automobile industry, which is said to be undergoing a once-in-a-century
transformation, digitalization is having a significant impact in the areas of car
manufacturing and distribution. In Europe, as electric vehicles become morewidespread, digital battery passports, which record information about car
batteries, are becoming mandatory. It is inevitable that this trend will spread to
all automobile components in the future. For this reason, measures have begun
to be taken in Japan in cooperation with the public and private sectors. Ameasure in response to this trend is “Data Distribution Realization Task Force” ,which was established at JAPIA in May 2023. The leader, Mr. Masashi Kiyono(DENSO CORPORATION), will explain the purpose of the establishment of thisnew organization and its activity policy.

Cross-functional task force formed for a completely new initiative
Recently, data utilization has been gaining momentum in the industrial world,especially in developed countries, and new systems have been initiated invarious fields. The automobile industry is undergoing a major once-in-a-century
transformation, and more and more companies are being forced to take newactions. “Data Distribution Realization Task Force” established by JAPIA in May
2011 is one such example. Originally, JAPIA had a subcommittee system, butsince this is a completely new initiative, it does not fit into the existing system.
Therefore, the new organization was formed in the form of a task force
acrossingdivisions. Discussions began in January 2023 and the task force wasformed in May. Activities are now in full swing.
The purpose of the Task Force is to “digitally connect the automobile supplychain”. The task force aimsto promote this goal for JAPIA members as theusers, so that they can enjoy the “benefits” of the initiatives. The task force wastriggered by a new movement in Europe. Specifically, Europe now has aframework for building a large data infrastructure called “GAIA-X” (EuropeanIntegrated Data Infrastructure Project), and within this framework, “Catena-X,”
aims to share data across the entire automobile value chain. Europe isstrategically trying to secure its own regional superiority through this kind ofmovement, and Japan needs to respond to the movement.

While it would bepossible to simply follow the European mechanism, Japan is now creating its
own system from the viewpoint of securing data sovereignty for the future. The
Task Force supports this movement and works to ensure that each JAPIA
member, as a user of this system, take the benefits of the system.
Activities aimed at complying with the 2025 “EU Battery Regulation”
This activity cannot be slowed down. EU is pressing Japanese carmanufacturers to comply with the “EU Battery Regulation” by 2025. The
regulation requires the linking of “carbon footprint” (the amount of greenhousegas emissions throughout the life cycle of goods and service, from procurementof raw materials to disposal and recycling) and “due diligence” (no human rightsviolations) as digital information on so-called storage batteries.

In the extreme,

it is acceptable to input these data by hand, but considering the future and thepractical burden, it is more realistic to utilize DX, or digital data distribution
systems. Therefore, under the lead of the Ministry of Economy, Trade andIndustry (METI), we are working with other organizations, such as Japan

Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc., which are the OEM customers ofautomobile component companies, to develop measures to deal with this issue.
However, only a few JAPIA member companies, including DENSOCORPORATION, are involved in the field of storage battery. You may think if it
is necessary to form a specialized organization to deal with this issue, but thisorganization is taking into consideration the movement that will follow.
The “EU Battery Regulation” is the first use case for digital certificates toensure traceability along the lifecycle of products that Europe will promote in thefuture, and it is being discussed that this trend will be applicable not only to theautomobile industry but also to other industries such as metals, materials, andchemicals. JAPIA has two teams in Data Distribution Realization Task Force,
one for the “short term” in response to the EU Battery Regulation, and the otherfor the “medium to long term” to clarify future use cases and prepare for them.
The current team consists of 4 core companies and 13 member companies.
The short-term team has 25 members, and the medium- to long-term team has
22 members.
This “short-term” activity is, in a sense, a “forced” activity. This is because
Japanese companies doing battery business in Europe have to do it whether
they like it or not. This alone is not enough to motivate them. The mid- to longterm team will consider various issues, such as strengthening the supply chain
and improving quality. I would like to make sure that the data is used effectively,
not in a “forced” way, but in a way that our member companies enjoy thebenefits.

Remember, folks. Japanese industry has had bitter experiences in Europe.
We have been confronted with three sets of "rules," "tools," and "certification"from the European side, and we have been forced to deal with them. This has
not happened once or twice. Of course, these three sets are prioritized in favorof the European side and advantageous to them.
It is the same this time. So much so that if we make a mistake in our
response, we will be in pain again. In other words, now is the critical moment.
This kind of problem cannot be solved by a single company. It requires an allJapan effort in cooperation with METI along with other organizations such as
JAPIA and JAMA . Currently, METI and its affiliated organization, the Digital
Architecture Design Center (DADC), are working to establish a data distribution
system infrastructure called the "Ouranos Ecosystem" as part of a system
unique to Japan, as mentioned earlier. JAPIA is discussing with METI andDADC from the standpoint of how to use this system to comply with the EU
Battery Regulation in the short term, and how to incorporate future use casesinto this infrastructure in the medium to long term.
Regarding the medium to long-term perspective of supply chain resilience andquality improvement, in the former case, if a problem occurs anywhere in thesupply chain due to a disaster, for example, data distribution may enable thefastest possible recovery from the problem. In the latter case, for example, if thesupply chain is digitally connected, it is possible to quickly identify which part,product, or process is causing the problem and solve it smoothly. Each of theseactivities can be expected to bring "joy".
Such activities are not likely to be expanded if they are conducted only out ofa sense of "being forced to do something. In addition, medium- to long-term
ideas and concepts alone are not enough. To motivate people, it is necessary to"feel the positive change from zero". For this reason, we have started toconsider and discuss the above demonstration experiment with the support of
the Automobile Division of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, with thefirst step being to have people in the automobile industry experience whether
the system can be used in the field. The idea is to actually try out the system. If
this is successful, the participation of member companies of JAPIA and theiractivities will become more active.
Again, collaboration with other organizations such as JAPIA, JAMA, and theMinistry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is important for this activity. We
cannot compete with Europe unless we have an all-Japan team of the public andprivate sectors. We have reported our activities to the "General TechnicalCommittee" of JAPIA and held a briefing session for JAPIA members onNovember 28, 2023. 133 people participated in the session online, which madeus realize that everyone is interested in this project.