〜Step into the future with digital transformation〜 Event Report

Planetway Corporation (Headquarters: San Jose, California, USA; CEO: Noriaki Hirao) held the 1st PlanetForum at SHIBUYA QWS in Shibuya Scramble Square. The event was also attended by the Prime Minister of Estonia, Jüri Ratas, leader of the advanced nation which has been attracting attention around the world for its digital solutions.

【Event Report】
The venue was packed with attendees and press. Before the opening address, Planetway screened the interview with Hirao CEO in Davos Conference 2020. The event started with a greeting from Hirao himself.

〜Venue〜


〜Noriaki Hirao CEO〜


〜Moderator〜
Moderator role was filled by university professor and former Nippon TV announcer, Jun Ogura.

Both Prime Minister of Estonia, Jüri Ratas and Counselor, Yôsuke Tsurho gave speeches as guests of honor.
〜Prime Minister Jüri Ratas giving a speech〜


In his speech Prime Minister Jüri Ratas said following:
“I’m very glad to see that Estonian-Japan relations are developing not only between the two governments but also in business level. "In Estonia," X-road "and" Digital ID "have facilitated communication between citizens and governments, made business environment more effective, and returned control of personal data to citizens."

“Japan is facing challenges like population aging, shortage of labor force and intensifying global competition. I believe that Planetway solutions and MOU partnership signed here today will help us to solve these issues more quickly."

Prime Minister Ratas finished his speech with encouraging note for Planetway: “As a hybrid company between the two countries, you are a perfect example of deepening cooperation between Estonia and Japan.”


〜Counselor, Yosuke Tsuruho giving a speech〜


Counselor Tsuruho said following:
“I hope that one day we can look back to this day and the visit of Prime Minster Ratas as a significant moment, that changed the course of the history. I would like to offer my full support to Planetway and everybody else here today who are trying to lead Japan to digitalization.


After that, Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) were signed between Estonian and Japanese companies. In addition to the regular signing procedure, part of the ceremony was held digitally. Hirao CEO used his electronic signature to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with three Estonian companies who were not present in Japan at this time.
(Participating companies in random order)
・ Estonian companies
　　Aktors
　　Nortal (electronic signature)
　　ICEFIRE (electronic signature)
　　Net Group (electronic signature)
・ Japanese company
　　HOUSALL Corporation

〜MOU signing ceremony〜


〜MOU signing ceremony with digital signature〜
Electronical signature using Estonia's digital ID


〜VIP〜

(Planetway CEO Noriaki Hirao and Republic of Estonia Prime Minister Jüri Ratas)



(From left: Counselor Tsuruho, President Kurosawa, Executive Officer Matsuda, CEO Hirao, Director Reitsakas, Prime Minister Ratas)


After the ceremony, Planetway introduced two new services:
"Planetway®︎ Data Sovereignty Alliance"
Trial program for PlanetCross, "PlanetCross FreeTrial"

〜Planetway®︎ Data Sovereignty Alliance〜
Hirao CEO explaining the concept of “Planetway®︎ Data Sovereignty Alliance”.



〜PlanetCross FreeTrial〜
Executive officer, Takahiro Aoki introducing “PlanetCross Free Trial” program.



During the case study session, Mr. Yûki Matsuda, Executive Officer of Nippon Gas Co., LTD, introduced the use case of implementing PlanetCross in Nippon Gas.

〜NIPPON GAS CO., LTD use case introduction〜



During the talk session, a hot debate about DX (Digital Transformation) in companies was held between Planetway CEO, Hirao and Nippon Gas Executive Officer, Mr. Matsuda.

〜debate〜



〜group photo〜



At the end there was a chance for networking and exchanging business cards.
〜Networking〜


The event successfully concluded.

About Planetway

Planetway Corporation a start-up headquartered in California, has developed its own core platform technology "PlanetCross," an advanced version of the powerful Estonian e-government administration platform “X-Road”, and “PlanetID,” a digital universal ID with functions including ID assignment(identity-verified), authentication, and electronic signature. Our company is certified as an X-ROAD TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS-SILVER. Based on the fundamental idea that the rights to personal information belong to individuals rather than companies or organizations, Planetway has created a mission to change society "For a Human-centric and Secure Planet" with the aim to promote the idea of information disclosure or utilization by an “individual’s consent or denial thereof”.

Corporate Home Page (EN): https://planetway.com/en/

X-ROAD TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS-SILVER: https://x-road.global/xroad-technology-partners

※Company names and product names in this text are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies

About the founder

Born in 1983, Noriaki Hirao is a three-time entrepreneur (with one liquidation), founding companies in entertainment, semiconductor and IoT fields. As a student, he studied space engineering, organic chemistry and marketing in the United States, then founding a content production startup for Hollywood films and video games. In 2008, after graduating from California State University he returned to Japan joining SoftBank Mobile and received several in-house awards, including first prize for sales competing against 800 national mobile salespersons. In 2011, he co-founded a technology licensing company (TLO), which signed a joint development research agreement with Tohoku University. He attempted to expand business in next-generation semiconductor, centering on 500 patent strategies, but unfortunately the company had to be liquidated. In 2014, he was appointed as the domestic Business Development Manager for Sircom, a Taiwanese IoT equipment ODM vendor, and General Manager of their New Business Innovation Office for WirelessGate, specifically responsible for new business development in the IoT field. From July 2015, Noriaki founded Planetway, a global startup (USA, Japan, Estonia) acuminating his various experiences. In 2017, the company introduced technology for securely communicating patient information between Tokio Marine & Nichido Insurance and Iizuka Hospital and was awarded the “World's No. 1” rating award for the solution. In 2019, Planetway achieved its first commercialization of a product (PlanetCross), now servicing more than 1.3 million service account users. After 2020, the company aims to expand its infrastructure in Japan and globally. Noriaki has a unique vision for the realization of the age of data sovereignty and the evolution of capitalism.