What is the impact of the alliance between Shinkin Bank and NTT East and West on the promotion of DX for small and medium enterprises nationwide?

In this series, “Isao Matsuoka’s Statement of the Week”, we take several statements each week made by key figures in the ICT industry at press conferences and events, and explain their meaning and context. .

This time, we will introduce remarks from Mr. Naoki Shibuya, President and CEO of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East, and Mr. Takumi Masai, President of Workday Japan.

“I want to revitalize the region and revitalize Japan with the management power of credit unions and the digital power of NTT East and West.”
(Naoki Shibuya, Chairman and CEO of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East)

Shinkin Central Bank (hereinafter referred to as Shinkin Chukin Bank), Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East (hereinafter referred to as NTT East) and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West (hereinafter referred to as NTT West) recently announced that they would promote the transformation (DX) in small and medium-sized businesses across the country. announced a partnership. Mr. Shibuya’s opening remarks at the press conference underscored the purpose of the partnership (Photo 1).

The aim of this alliance is to provide detailed solutions to various regional problems by collaborating between Shinkin Chukin Bank, the central financial institution of 254 credit unions nationwide, and NTT East and NTT West, which provide digital services rooted in local communities and to fully support small and medium business DX nationwide.

In addition, as a specific initiative based on this business alliance, it was also revealed that the “Kayle” portal service for small and medium enterprises will be provided sequentially from October through Shinkin Bank. Through this service, we plan to digitally connect nationwide credit unions and local SMEs to provide various types of support (Fig. 1).

The specific activities of the partnership between the two companies include “expanding the distribution of K-Ele”, “helping to realize DX for small and medium enterprises”, “helping to build a DX Promotion System for Credit Unions”, and “Regional Revitalization Initiatives.” ” is listed. For more information on the details and background of the partnership, please visitInformation documentAs you can see, here are the comments that stood out to me during the press conference between Mr. Hiroyuki Shibata, Chairman of Shinkin Central Bank, and Mr. Shibuya of NTT East Japan.

“In addition to the direct relationships we have cultivated so far, we would like to aim to become the most familiar partner for small and medium businesses and local communities in the digital realm as well.” (Mr Shibata)

“In terms of supporting the region, Shinkin Chukin Bank and NTT East/West share a common corporate culture and values. By combining these two functions, we want to strongly support small and medium enterprises and regional DX.” (Mr Shibuya)

At the end of the presentation material, “In the future, working with Shinkin Banks, which has 1.24 million lending customers nationwide, and NTT East and West, which provides communication services nationwide , we will create more network value and solve the problems of small and medium enterprises. We will strive to contribute more to the realization of a sustainable local community through this.”

I also pay particular attention to the partnership between the two companies, which should develop in this way, but the main problem will probably be the lack of digital talent. In addition to strengthening NTT East and West, “reskilling” efforts to enable credit union human resources to use digital technology are urgently needed. In addition, it will be necessary to have a cooperation mechanism with local governments, local universities and other IT providers to effectively share human resources. I would like to expect such “handling” from NTT East and West.