Toward Sustainable and Well-being Oriented Community Development

In 2020, with the aim of maximizing the well-being of local communities and residents, we planned a project to support future community development and began activities together with several municipalities. This is the Sustainable Smart City Partner Program (SSPP). It is a project that supports the implementation of sustainable and well-being-oriented community development—especially with a strong focus on this word, “implementation.” NTT is a company that originates from the communications infrastructure business. Domestically, we have locations spread throughout the country, and our employees live as residents in those communities.

Because our business is communication, it cannot exist without communities. Moreover, solving local issues is a matter of great personal interest for our employees, who are residents themselves. In other words, for NTT to contribute to community revitalization and enrichment of local life through smart solutions is also one of our major management challenges. The central actors of town development are the communities and residents themselves. SSPP is advancing its activities with the desire to provide a place where each region can collaborate across public, private, and academic sectors, and co-create autonomous and sustainable mechanisms. Needless to say, the issues differ by region, as do the resources that can be invested, the order of priorities, and the implementation systems. We hope to offer our technologies, know-how, and solutions in ways that align with the individuality and character of each region. We also wish to pursue problem-solving through collaboration and cooperation with other companies. In this essay, I will introduce several of these activities: SUGATAMI, support for obtaining Smart City ISO certification, and the Social Designer Development Program.

1 SUGATAMI ～A Mirror That Reflects the “Now” of the city～

So that the people of a community can understand and recognize their town from a bird’s-eye and objective perspective, and make use of that in community development, we provide SUGATAMI through NTT Group operating companies to our member municipalities. The SUGATAMI report visualizes not only economic value indicators but also indicators of well-being, sustainability, and Society 5.0 values. It helps to uncover the richness, uniqueness, and potential specific to that region, supporting efforts toward community development.

SUGATAMI is being used in member municipalities in accordance with various phases of community development:

• To Think: Used in public dialogue and citizen workshops to build consensus
• To Create: Used to develop comprehensive plans by interpreting reports
• Measure: Used for progress tracking and effectiveness measurement as KPIs

Of course, SUGATAMI is neither perfect nor a magic wand. We believe its value lies in the process of interpreting it together with local voices, accumulated local knowledge, and existing data—to identify challenges and discover clues and priorities for solving them.
In an era of population decline, aiming for sustainable and well-being-oriented communities requires:

• Drawing a vision of what the community aspires to be
• Building consensus among residents
• Encouraging participation
• And reviewing the changes and effects after implementation

These are essential.

2 Support for Smart City ISO Certification

ISO 37106 is a global standard that evaluates and certifies a series of processes related to urban governance. It serves as a kind of “template” for smart cities. Its content is highly compatible with Japan’s smart city-related policies and guidelines. We believe that acquiring this certification not only improves the city’s presence and brand but also works effectively as a checklist in planning and operating the city. There is no single “correct answer” to city development. We provide support for municipalities in obtaining certification and applying this framework, in the hope that it can be of assistance to those who are struggling as they move forward.

3 Social Designer Development Program

In community development, it is essential to have people who:

• Respect the perspective of residents
• Participating from the upstream stages such as issue identification and visioning
• Envision what social systems should be
• Facilitate consensus among diverse stakeholders
• And continue to accompany the process through implementation and operation, in order to solve social issues

Naturally, community development cannot be done by one person alone. It is a continuous effort that requires careful coordination among people with different positions, values, and requests, while also seeking wisdom from experts and proceeding with persistence. With this in mind, we launched a human resource development program to foster such co-creators in community development. In collaboration with instructors from the UDC Initiative, a professional body for community development practice, we conduct:

• Webinars, to learn the full process of urban development
• Workshops, set in real municipalities, where participants acquire:
  - Knowledge and know-how of urban development
  - Skills for multi-stakeholder collaboration and implementation frameworks
  - Skills to utilize digital technology

Local government staff, community stakeholders, and university students from the area form groups and engage in cross-sectoral learning. The final presentation is made to senior officials and relevant departments of the municipality, so participants work seriously to formulate real implementation plans. If the training ends only as theory, its learning effect will fade. Therefore, we aim for real-world implementation. Additionally, certification from this training is now linked to the HR system within the NTT Group, and we have begun cultivating professionals in city development as an organizational effort.

4 Other Activities

In addition, SSPP is also advancing the Co-Design Program (CDP), which bridges multiple ideas in parallel and supports the process of community development itself.
We also produce and distribute video content called “City Trail”, in which experts take casual walks through communities and uncover local charms from various perspectives. We hope these will serve as hints and inspirations for regions that are moving forward through trial and error in their own ways. SSPP also receives support from many experts in various fields as advisors. They provide valuable insights by observing signs of social change and offering perspectives on what functions cities should possess in response to these changes, and what expectations exist for ICT. Advisor interviews, roundtable dialogues, and other content are available on our portal site. We also publish videos and records from the SSPP Forum, a shared platform for community development through SSPP. We hope you will take a look.

* https://digital-is-green.jp/

5 Conclusion

In an age of uncertainty, where city development is increasingly complex and lacks clear answers, we believe that forming communities that transcend position and hierarchy is essential. By pooling our wisdom and working together toward shared goals, we believe new doors will open. Community development is society itself. When local governments, companies, universities, universities, and residents each go beyond their conventional roles and bring their knowledge to the table, we can finally begin to solve the challenges facing our communities. The SSPP project has only just begun. However, it has already gained many supporters, and unique, locally driven experiments in community development are starting to spread throughout Japan. We hope to continue walking alongside these valuable movements so that they may sustain and grow.

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