Intensive networking and an exchange of information with our Japanese members characterized the entire week from 4 to 8 December 2023. The Association's board spent profitable time discussing the latest prostep ivip project initiatives, such as Smart Systems Engineering and the Collaborative Digital Twin, European Data Economy initiatives, key challenges, expectations and positioning with Japan’s largest automotive OEMs and suppliers such as Mazda Motor Corporation , Honda , DENSO and Toyota Motor Corporation , as well as our partner associations like the Japanese Model Based Engineering Center.

The following are some of the key takeaways from our visits to the headquarters of Mazda, Honda, Denso and JAMBE, as well as from the 2023 Tokyo Systems Engineering Summit, which was held under the motto “Toward acceleration of software-driven products”.

When it comes to data sovereignty, Japan values its autonomy. This means that any alignment with European data economy initiatives must be based on Japan’s own national approaches, such as Uranus.

Software-driven products and service systems are becoming increasingly common. It is therefore essential that consistent support be provided for their development, both for in-product applications and in the context of a system of systems. In this regard, we need to foster innovation on existing brownfield infrastructures (also referred to as the Shibuya approach in Japan). This requires enabling digital platforms and collaborative ecosystems, in which hardware and software are decoupled. Achieving this allows for flexible simulations and upgrades, leveraging the ability to scale the implementation of new services and capabilities.

We can accelerate software-driven products by moving software-based functions to higher layers of the stack or by moving activities to earlier phases of the development process (virtualization). In this context, moving the workload to test environments with higher levels of virtualization has a greater impact on the development process.

The challenges posed by the explosion of software combinations can be tackled by placing emphasis on consistent ALM and data analytics. Model-based development technology (MBD/MBE) and model-based systems engineering (MBSE) are seen as solutions for enabling future digital innovation and transformation roadmaps.

The board would like to express its gratitude for the great support provided by NTT DATA and Toshiba by hosting the 2023 Summit. The board's visit to Japan this year has been of great importance to both the prostep ivip association and Japanese industry. We are very proud and grateful for the level of trust that has been established over the past few years and the willingness to openly discuss innovation and the future of engineering, collaboration, and platforms.