Amazon.com revealed Wednesday its first permanent office in Tokyo dedicated to helping startups and entrepreneurs develop cutting-edge digital-based businesses through the IT giant's cloud services, as part of its strategy to further expand its operations and accelerate technological innovations in Japan.
The facility AWS Loft Tokyo -- named after the tech corporation's cloud services Amazon Web Services (AWS) -- is scheduled to start operating on Oct. 1 on the 17th floor of Amazon's new corporate office in the Meguro Central Square building right in front of bustling Meguro Station in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The new corporate office officially opened Wednesday.
AWS Loft Tokyo, will be the international corporation's first such permanent hub in Asia and the third one in the world, following San Francisco in 2014 and New York in 2015, an indication of the importance the company attaches to Japan. "Japan is one of the most important countries for Amazon," said Jasper Cheung, president of Amazon Japan G.K., Amazon's local arm.
Amazon has decided to open the facility in Tokyo because startups are growing and concentrated in Tokyo; Japanese engineers' technological levels are high; and government support is in place, Hiroshi Hata, a principal manager at Amazon Web Services Japan K.K. said at a press conference Wednesday. AWS is currently used in Japan by over 100,000 startups, mid-sized companies and government organizations, according to Amazon.
At AWS Loft Tokyo, startups and developers can use a large WiFi-connected relaxing work space with a stylish cafe, and get advice from tech experts -- on such issues as usages of AWS, system security and capacity -- without charge or prior appointments from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. Seminars and meet-up events will also be organized weekly so customers can exchange ideas and expand their networks.
Adjacent to the hub on the same floor is another newly created center called Digital Innovation Laboratory, which will also open on Oct. 1. The lab is an office space for people savvy about advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence and IoT, to freely bring their ideas and collaborate to generate innovative businesses.
In the lab, Amazon Web Services Japan K.K. envisions using the company's capability for collecting and analyzing massive data such as moving images. Integrating the capability with customers' needs and ideas is expected to result in various services, such as speedily grasping the utilization rates of machines or parking lots, improving work processes, efficiently dispatching taxis and identifying suspicious people in open spaces, company officials said.
Digital technology innovation is urgently needed in Japan to increase the rapidly aging country's labor productivity.
The press conference was also attended by Takuya Hirai, a member of the House of Representatives and chair of the Liberal Democratic Party's special mission committee on IT strategy. Explaining a "digital first" bill expected to be submitted to the next Diet session with a view to digitizing the government's administrative procedures, he stressed the need to treat using cloud services as "default."
The lawmaker also raised the issue of the "digital divide," the gap between those who have access to things digital and those who do not. In the bill, the party plans to insert specific clauses addressing measures "to create a digital society friendly also to the elderly without leaving out any single person," he said.
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