EU-Japan GNSS Mission (Day 2)

The 2nd EU-Japan Satellite Positioning Public-Private Roundtable took place on March 8, the second day of the EU-Japan GNSS Mission jointly held by the Cabinet Office, Government of Japan and European Commission. This is the second roundtable after the first held in June 2016 at The Hague in the Netherlands.
As described separately, a signing ceremony was held for the Cooperation Arrangement for enhancing EU-Japan policy cooperation to create new businesses and services. Afterwards, sectoral sessions were held to introduce the latest EU-Japan initiatives related to the automotive, agriculture/construction machinery, railway, maritime, mapping technology, and receiver technology fields.

Before the start of the event, welcoming remarks were given by H.E. Mr. Viorel Isticioaia-Budura, ambassador of the European Union to Japan. Ambassador Isticioaia-Budura stated that he welcomes this arrangement, saying that this written arrangement is a turning point for strengthening the cooperative relationship.

At the beginning of the Public-Private Roundtable, Mr. Hiromichi Moriyama, executive director, QZSS Strategy Office, National Space Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office gave an update on Japanese policy, including industries and services created by the Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) and related approaches. Next, Mr. Christoph Kautz; DG GROW; European Commission gave an update on the GALILEO & EGNOS Programme, including EU space strategy and its two positioning satellite systems.

Six companies participated in the Automotive Session: Aisan Technology and DENSO from Japan, and the European Road Transport Telematics Information Coordination Organization (ERTICO), Renault, Magneti Marelli, and FICOSA from the EU.
Mr. Akiyoshi Komine , chief of the system development department, Aisan Technology, gave a speech entitled, “Evaluation of GNSS for the realization of the Autonomous Car.” Mr. Yoshifumi Kato, executive director, DENSO gave a speech entitled, “Expectation for high precise positioning by MADOCA.”

Mr. Francois Fischer, senior manager innovation and development, European Road Transport Telematics Information Coordination Organization（ERTICO）gave a speech entitled, “GNSS one key enabler for Autonomous Driving.” Mr. Javier Ibanez-Guzman, technical manager, Autonomous Vehicles, Renault gave a speech entitled, “Localisation Systems for Intelligent Vehicles: Needs and Challenges.”

Mr. Evaldo Bruci, Positioning & Maps engineer, T.I.-Automated Driving Technologies, Magneti Marelli gave a speech entitled, “GNSS in Autonomous Vehicles.” Mr. Ramiro Quintero, product engineering director, FICOSA gave a speech entitled “FICOSA & ESCAPE,” introducing the European Safe Critical Application Positioning Engine (ESCAPE) project.

After these speeches, a panel discussion was held including a Q&A session with Mr. Mikihiro Hosoi, General Manager of Aisan Technology and the audience members. A lively discussion took place on map-related approaches and standardization concepts.

During the Agriculture/Construction Session, GNSS application case studies were introduced to provide information about machinery automatic operation and operational status. First, Mr. Kouki Ono, general manager, Advanced Technology Engineering Department, Iseki gave a speech entitled, “Utilize GNSS in Agriculture.” Mr. Toshihiko Kouda, deputy general manager, ICT Development Center, Division, Komatsu gave a speech entitled, “GNSS Utilization for Mining and Construction Machine.” Mr. Klaus-Herbert Rolf, Govermment Affairs Manager, 365FarmNet gave a speech entitled, “Agriculture 4.0 needs GNSS data for an Economical and Sustainable Agriculture.”

GNSS is utilized to ensure safety and optimize control systems in the railway field. The Railway Session was moderated by Dr. Hideo Nakamura, research professor, Department of Computer Engineering, College of Science and Technology, Nihon University.
First, Ms. Nozomi Kudo , senior researcher, National Traffic safety and Environment Laboratory Traffic System Department, National Agency for Automobile and Land Transport Technology (NALTEC) gave a speech entitled, “Efforts towards the formulation of Guidelines for utilization of GNSS in railways.”

Mr. Takashi Kawano, Railway Operations Headquarters, Electrical & Signal Network System Department, Signalling System Management Center, Deputy General Manager (MIRSE), East Japan Railway Company and Mr. Mitsuaki Kobayashi, General Manager, ICT Business Dept, JR East Consultants Company (JRC) gave a speech entitled, “GNSS Utilisation in the East Japan Railway Company.”

Mr. Francesco Rispoli, manager Satellite Technology Ansaldo STS gave a speech entitled, “GNSS for ERTMS Train Control System: ERSAT EAV & RHINOS projects showcases.”

The Maritime Session included speeches by three experts and was moderated by Ms. Fiammetta Diani, deputy head of the Market Development Department, European GNSS Agency (GSA).
Mr. Hiroshi Yoshida, director, Marine Technology Development Department, Marine Technology and Engineering Center (MARITEC), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), gave a speech entitled, “Development of USVs and agenda of their practical use in Japan.”

Mr. Esa Jokioinen, head of Blue Ocean Team – Engineering & Technology, Rolls-Royce Marine, gave a speech entitled, “Journey towards Autonomous Ships in the Ship Intelligence Era.” Mr. Stig Erik Christiansen of Kongsberg Seatex gave a speech entitled, “World’s First Test Range for Autonomous Vessels.”

The GNSS Technology Session was once again moderated once again by Ms. Diani of the GSA and covered two themes: Mapping Technology and Receiver Technology.
On the Mapping Technology theme, Mr. Tsutomu Nakajima, president, Dynamic Map Planning (DMP), gave the first speech entitled, “What's DMP ‘Remodeling of the Earth.'” Mr. Florian J. Kunne, vice president, Sales Connected Driving APAC, HERE, gave a speech entitled, “Making sense of the world through the lense of location.”

Next, on the Receiver Technology theme, Mr. Nobuhiro Kishimoto, president & CEO, Magellan Systems Japan (MSJ), gave a speech entitled, “MSJ Company Overview and Tech Information.” Mr. Alain Suskind, R&D director, Septentrio, gave a speech entitled, “Dependable Positioning for Demanding Applications.”

Mr. Giuseppe Privitera, GNSS Positioning Marketing, STMicroelectronics gave a speech entitled, “STM GNSS Positioning offer.” Mr. Minoru Okuda, senior team leader, Business Development, u-blox Japan gave a speech entitled, “u-blox GNSS roadmap.”

Mr. Robin Streiter of NEVENTIK, a German technology venture company, gave a speech entitled, “Integration of GNSS for Safety-Critical Applications of Automated Driving – The NAVENTIK Software-Defined Receiver.”

At the end of the session, closing remarks were given by representatives of the co-organizers: Mr. Moriyama of the Cabinet Office and Mr. Kautz of the European Commission. They expressed expectations regarding new business creation and gratitude to everyone involved, which ended the successful 2nd EU-Japan Satellite Positioning Public-Private Roundtable.