Introduction

Hello, I’m Koji Nishiguchi, Manager of Analysis Group at KTC Data Analysis Division.

Exploring how future-focused research and technology development can address real-world challenges is a key driver of innovation. However, a disconnect often arises between researchers and businesses regarding "research aimed at future needs" and "technologies ready for immediate on-site application." This gap makes it difficult for both parties to collaborate effectively. In this article, we will highlight our efforts to bridge this "matching gap" and share our vision for future initiatives.

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Activity so far

Toyota Motor Corporation operates a division called the Future Creation Center (FRC), dedicated to conducting future-focused research. Through a fortunate connection with the FRC, they joined us at the Data Analysis Division of KINTO Technologies (KTC) as collaborators, assisting with research challenges. This marked the beginning of our initiative. Initially, we addressed specific data science challenges and were able to advance the project smoothly as a novel research endeavor. In traditional data science issues, as described in textbooks, the focus is primarily on the predictions themselves as the main metric of evaluation. However, from a business perspective, the reliability and variability of predictions also play a crucial role. In other words, it is crucial to understand the confidence level of predictions. Over time, several challenges emerged, prompting us to expand our efforts further. At the start, these challenges were relatively manageable, and we were able to turn them into research projects that made meaningful contributions to business outcomes, with the valuable support of FRC.

The challenges of matching

However, a problem arose. It became clear that the constraints and priorities of the projects were different for each side. While both teams aimed to improve user experience, their goals were not the same: KTC focused on product commercialization, while FRC aimed to conduct research for the future, such as securing patents or publishing papers. These differences created challenges, such as mismatched timelines and varying expectations for the level of completion. To work within these constraints, we often had to focus on “technologies that were nice to have but not essential.” As a result, the developed technologies were deprioritized in practice and remained unused. This experience highlighted the challenges of establishing effective collaboration between the "research team" and the "business field."

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Conducting the ideathon

1. Expectations for the ideathon

As one of the solutions, we organized an ideathon. Ideathon is a workshop-style event designed to generate and develop new ideas for tackling challenges in a short period of time. This event brought together participants from both FRC and KTC, aiming to explore ways to leverage each other's technologies and research through open, creative discussions. In the medium and long term, we hoped this collaboration would help both parties identify opportunities for cooperation. For KTC, this meant gaining fresh perspective on how to apply new technologies, while FRC could discover potential "seeds" for future research projects.

	Purpose of the initiative	Expectations for the ideathon
Research side	Research needed for the future	Discovery of seeds for future projects
Business side	Technologies that can be used immediately	Gaining new perspectives

2. Implementation process

To prepare for the ideathon, FRC created a list of technologies that could be introduced. KTC members then provided feedback through a survey, and based on the results, two technologies were selected for the event. On the day of the ideathon, we began with an introduction of the two technologies, followed by a short Q&A session, and then moved into the main ideathon activity.

3. Event summary

• Date: September 2024
  • Schedule: 16:00-17:30 Study session (Introduction of two technologies)
    • Technology A: Recommendation-related technology
    • Technology B: Customer psychology measurement technology
  • 17:40-19:00 Ideathon (25 minutes per table)

Participants: ・FRC: 7 members (1 online) ・KTC: 11 members (3 online) During the ideathon, KTC participants were divided into three groups, rotating through three discussion tables: Technology A, Technology B, and a free discussion table. Each table consisted of 2-3 FRC members and 3-4 KTC members. Most participants were meeting for the first time, so it began with self-introductions and overviews of each participant’s work. This was followed by discussions focused on the table’s theme. The 25 minute sessions went by in no time, and in many cases, discussions were just starting to gain momentum when time ran out. Even so, a project with potential for matching emerged, and FRC researchers and KTC engineers quickly began aligning on the details. While we cannot share specifics, we felt that if KTC's pursuit of "customer understanding" and the research department’s technologies were well-aligned, meaningful progress could be made.

4. Feedback from participants and suggestions for improvement

After the event, we conducted a survey among KTC participants. The satisfaction score was 4.11 out of 5. With the condition of "If the content is interesting," all participants said they would like to join the next event. This shows that the event was meaningful for everyone. However, the following suggestions for improvement were made:

• The explanations during the study session were too long.
• The audio quality in the online presentations was poor.
• The study session should include examples using actual KTC data. More concrete examples are needed.
• The ideathon sessions should be longer.
• The self-introductions and work overviews at the beginning of each ideathon session took too much time, leaving less time for discussion.

We will take these suggestions into account to make future events smoother and more effective.

Future prospects

In addition to the FRC, the Toyota Group has many other research units. When opportunities arise, we aim to exchange ideas with other research teams and create spaces for effective matching. Specifically, we plan to clearly present the technologies and solutions required by the business field, while offering researchers opportunities to apply their work in real-world business contexts. At the same time, by communicating researchers’ interests, such as themes and challenges, to companies, we believe we can bridge the gap between research and business, fostering mutual understanding. Through these efforts, we aim to build a win-win relationship by increasing the number of cases where technologies are effectively applied in practical settings. To achieve this, we must continue to accumulate experience through ideathons and matching events, making collaboration between technology and research smoother. We believe this will speed up the process of bringing future-focused research into practical use and help create a better society.

Conclusion

To connect future-focused research with technologies needed today, it is important to create spaces where the needs and expectations of both sides can be understood.
Through study sessions, ideathons, and workshops like those mentioned, we believe that fostering mutual understanding between researchers and the business side can pave the way for more effective and practical collaboration. By fostering such collaboration, we believe that integrating various new technologies into KTC’s vision of an "in-house development organization with a customer-centric perspective", will enable us to deliver inspiring new experiences to our customers at the earliest. KTC will continue to work with FRC to develop new technologies and explore the practical applications. This is essential for us, as a leading mobility platform provider, to bring not just “mobility” but also “inspiration” to every journey.

（Generated by Microsoft Copilot）

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