“We Make The Net as Simple as Breathing”
It was in his university years when Shunji Sugaya decided to start a company at the age of 23. In the nascent age of digitalized society at the start of the 21st century, he was driven by the conviction and standing philosophy of the company to date; “we make the Net as simple as breathing”. Expectancy of technical literacy meant that those without IT skills might be excluded from the benefits of Internet. Mr. Sugaya felt that this open infrastructure of Internet must remain an open source to all. Today OPTiM provides AI and IoT solutions, leveraging Intellectual Property to the fullest extent in their licensing business model and leading Japanese market in the midst of the pandemic era.
OPTiM’s Patent Strategy
“Patent from the very beginning of the OPTiM journey”
Mr. Sugaya’s debut as a young innovator began when he won the Special Award of the First Business Japan Open Competition in 2000. His winning project was the target advertising system for digital contents. Encouraged by this event and with an unwavering commitment to creating products that do not exist anywhere else, Sugaya and his new company, OPTiM, are focusing their efforts on automatic and remote connection of devices.
Since day one, Mr. Sugaya has always been astute in understanding how patent can protect one’s ideas and the outcome of technology development as well as its use. Patent proves that you are the first inventor of the technology. It also differentiates one product from another. It allows you to de-risk litigation and damages from counterfeit. In other words, it offers superiority and security. He says “no matter how vulnerable you are as a company, patent provides you with undeniable protection and power to negotiate alliance with others”. Numbers of patents he applied for speaks for themselves too. The ranking of individuals with patent asset ranks Mr. Sugaya the 1st in the information and communication field for the period between 1993 and 2020.
○○×IT Concept for a Sustainable Future
Their pioneering ideas have brought a variety of products and services to society. And now, we are working on our business to promote the "○○ x IT" concept to reinvent all industries into the 4th industrial revolution type industries by combining each industry and IT (AI, IoT, etc.).
OPTiM Smart Agriculture Solution
One industry in which they are particularly keen to innovate is the agricultural industry. Japan’s ageing population, which is even more acute in the agricultural sector, needs be addressed. OPTiM aspires to bring more young working force in the industry by making it more appealing. Rather than it being hard labor, agricultural business can be fun, and profitable with the help of IT.
OPTiM Pinpoint Pesticide Spraying and Fertilization Technology System
Their pest detection and prediction systems, used together with the technology of automated pinpoint spraying of pesticide and adding of fertilizer allows for effective and environmentally friendly agricultural business.
How does the OPTiM Pinpoint Pesticide Spraying and Fertilization Technology Work?
With this method, the drone flies above the agricultural field to take its image to analyze which particular points within the field are suffering from the pest.
The same drone will then automatically spray pesticide only in those points and with appropriate amount for each point, thereby reducing the total amount of pesticide to be used and amount of time spent for this process. Not only does it render more environmentally friendly pest control merely by the amount of chemical used and as done by drones rather than humans.
Overseas Development of OPTiM Pinpoint Pesticide Spraying and Fertilization Technology
OPTiM has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) for business cooperation in the field of AI services and smart agriculture in Vietnam.
Through VNPT, the pinpoint pesticide spraying and fertilization will be used in Vietnam to improve productivity and quality of agricultural products, and to contribute to the establishment of a stable production system for safe and secure agricultural products.
About the "Smart Agri Food Project"
OPTiM is implementing the "Smart Agri Food Project" to realize "fun, cool, and profitable agriculture.
The Smart Agri Food Project aims to cultivate and sell value-added agricultural products by utilizing technologies such as AI, IoT, robotics, and pinpoint pesticide application and fertilization technology.
Towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution with Smart Technology
As OPTiM stands the milestone of this year, they reconfirm the importance of IP as a vital tool to expand into new business areas. In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, businesses will develop around AI, IoT and Big Data, and those intangible assets need to be protected and utilized more than ever before.
