August 1, 2023 Planetway Corporation

Planetway and Smart Social ally to support DX transformation with secure data collaboration

Business Alliance Solving customer issues by providing a data linkage platform that can utilize existing systems and databases while developing systems that meet customer needs while enhancing security.

It is our pleasure to inform you that Planetway Corporation (Headquarters: San Jose, California, USA; Representative: Noriaki Hirao; hereinafter Planetway) and Smart Social Inc. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Sadao Sakai; hereinafter Smart Social) are working together to promote DX conversion with enhanced database linking and security via a new business alliance.

About the data access platform “PlanetCross”
To promote efficient data access and utilization between companies Planetway has developed “PlanetCross” an extension of Estonia's data linkage platform "X-Road1" and enables secure peer-to-peer data linkage. Normally, linking multiple distributed databases requires either new infrastructure, or significant modification of existing systems, not to mention the use of dedicated data lines or VPNs, all of which comes at enormous expense. By utilizing the "PlanetCross", data access can be achieved safely over the internet without major modifications of existing systems or database integration. Planetway can guarantee a high level of security when linking data, not only because the communication encrypted, but because corporate electronic certification is provided by a third-party certificate authority (CA), and time stamps are given by a third-party time stamp authority (TSA), providing superior proof of access and to prevent data tampering.

About the universal ID “PlanetID” "PlanetID" is a universal ID that uses electronic certificates to identify individuals. It ensures the high level of security required for the integration of multiple IDs, and safely enables various services such as websites and smartphone apps. PlanetID provides an authentication function that eliminates the need to remember IDs and passwords, an electronic signature function that eliminates the need for personal seals, and a permission function for consenting to information sharing. PlanetID provides an entirely new customer experience for data management.

Background to the business alliance Smart Social provides consistent development support from planning to operation and will expand the DX business domain by collaborating with Planetway and by utilizing "PlanetCross". Smart Social specializes in system development and project management that meet customers' business goals, issues, and needs, and develops "non-slip system development".

Planetway started providing "PlanetCross" in 2019, and has a track record of introduction in 87 companies in 13 industries, mainly major companies, and has promoted efficient data utilization within organizations and between companies. We are confident that by partnering with Smart Social, which specializes in advanced system development and construction in the AWS environment, Planetway will be able to expand our businesses and further support DX conversion.

Noriaki Hirao, CEO/Founder of Planetway Corporation, remarked: “In promoting DX in Japan, it is difficult to meet security requirements, in particular regarding data linkage between companies has been a long-standing issue. Through this alliance we will partner with ‘the first partner company that can realize Planetway's technology in a consistent manner from sales to implementation.’ We are expecting to strengthen our system with the goal of full-scale deployment in domestic and overseas markets, and we are confident that we will be able to build a cooperative system for various public-private projects and new product announcements scheduled from this autumn. Furthermore, we will jointly work on the training of engineers for this technology. We will solve your problems in terms of security when creating a DX environment in Japan with Smart Social and Planetway, especially in terms of inter-company data linkage and personal authentication.”

Mr. Sadao Sakai, CEO of SmartSocial Co., Ltd. Remarked: "Since our founding in 2011, we have been working on system development to support our customers' DX promotion. In particular, there are many data linkage projects, and speedy system development that emphasizes security and cost efficiency has become the core of our business. Through this collaboration, we are confident that by combining our system development know-how with Planetway's data linkage technology, we will be able to strengthen our services to customers in Japan and overseas. In addition, this alliance will be useful for various public-private projects and new product announcements that Planetway is planning from this fall, that we will work together on to develop engineers. In cooperation with Planetway, we will work to solve security issues in building a DX environment in Japan, especially inter-company data linkage and personal authentication.”

About Planetway Planetway, startup company that has developed "PlanetCross" and “PlanetID” an extension of Estonia's data sharing platform "X-Road" and Estonia's national Digital ID platform which allows individuals to be granted IDs, authenticate, and provide electronic signature according to and with the same identity verification level as Estonia's national number-identification system. Planetway is certified as X-ROAD Technology Partners – Silver. Our mission "For the Human-centric and Secure Planet" is based on our philosophy that personal data ownership rights are held by individuals and not by companies or organizations and therefore aim to promote the idea of disclosure/utilization of personal information based on ‘consent or denial as per an individual's own judgment’. In 2022, Planetway was selected as “Top Japanese Startup 2022 as Editor’s Choice” by the US startup magazine “STARTUPCITY”.

Corporate website: https://planetway.com/

About the founder Born in 1983, Noriaki Hirao is a three-time entrepreneur (with one liquidation), founding companies in entertainment, semiconductor and IoT fields. After graduating from California State University, after working for SoftBank Corp., Noriaki founded Planetway Corporation, a global startup (USA, Japan, Estonia) in 2015. In 2018, he accompanied the then Japanese Prime Minister Abe on a courtesy call to the Estonian Prime Minister as one of seven representative Japanese companies. In 2020, in an interview at the Davos Conference, Noriaki explained his own vision for the realization of an era of data sovereignty and the evolution of capitalism.

About Smart Social Smart Social Co., Ltd. was established in March 2011 by Sadao Sakai, formerly of Recruit, and Tatsuya Odakura, an engineer who has worked on many famous web systems. The company provides support for system development and recruitment of engineers, and developed "non-slip system development" a system that consistently performs from requirement definition to product release. Smart Social operates on a wide range of projects, from major companies to venture companies, regardless of industry or scale. System development that does not slip: System development that does not fail to deliver, by Smart Social（https://www.smartsocial.co.jp/nofail-system-development/）

Corporate website: https://www.smartsocial.co.jp/ X-Road Technology Partners: https://x-road.global/xroad-technology-partners

※Company names and product names mentioned in this document are trademarked or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

［1］Estonia, well known as a digital nation, has more than 1,000 databases across government ministries, agencies, and administrative entities all connected through a data linkage/access platform called "X-Road," allowing nearly all administrative services to be carried out online. As of July 2023, "X-Road" infrastructure is used in 21 countries around the world, including Germany, Finland, and Japan.

Contact details: Planetway Corporation PR Mail: pr@planetway.com