UPWARD, Inc. collaborates with the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan in a multi-sector partnership.

UPWARD, Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Soichi Kaneki; URL: https://upward.jp), whose vision is to "Innovate the Last One Mile of Field Operations," announced its collaboration with the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan on March 25, 2021. By collaborating across different sectors—public and private—we aim to solve societal challenges using geospatial information.

Background of Cross-Sector Collaboration

UPWARD has primarily provided field sales staff with a smartphone application that links location information to customer management systems (CRM), enabling them to manage field visits, track time spent at each location, and access customer addresses. In January 2021, an instance where this application was used to issue disaster victim certificates for disaster relief efforts was recognized as an excellent case by the Local Creation SDGs Public-Private Partnership Platform. Against this backdrop, we are expanding our service development into the BtoG domain, leveraging our greatest strength—geospatial information technology—to address social challenges primarily faced by local governments. Therefore, this time, we are holding a dialogue with Hidetoshi Fujimura, Director of the Planning and Survey Division, Geospatial Information Department, Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, which has set "promoting partnerships through geospatial information" as its mission in the SDGs Action Plan 2021. We aim to collaborate with each other to solve social challenges both domestically and internationally.

For details on the circumstances leading to this cross-sector collaboration and future prospects, please see the following interviews:
[Geospatial Information Authority of Japan x Location Information SaaS: Special Interview Part 1] Creating Shared Value for Solving Social Issues with Geospatial Information ― https://upward.jp/weblog/interview_giaj1/
[Geospatial Information Authority of Japan x Location Information SaaS: Special Interview Part 2] Creating Shared Value for Solving Social Issues with Geospatial Information ― https://upward.jp/weblog/interview_giaj2/

・Comments from Takehiro Kaneki, President and CEO of UPWARD

We are very pleased to announce this cross-sector collaboration with the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. By partnering with the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, which possesses national assets and maintains annually updated fundamental geospatial information, and a SaaS provider like us that can deliver location information to users in an accessible format, we hope to enhance the shared value of cross-sector collaboration. This includes providing BCP solutions for social challenges in Japan, a country prone to disasters. We will continue to fully commit to solving social challenges through the utilization of geospatial information and related technologies.