that , while it does help identify key areas of business growth , the ‘ hunch ’ and ‘ insight ’ based on the real business activities are still needed to turn data into true value .
In 2019 , moving from the stage of PoC to that of corporate-wide deployment of the digital transformation , the company will establish a new department focused on big data utilisation as a means of increasing the company ’ s competitiveness in its core activities such as R & D and manufacturing . This new department will take the lead on future digital transformation projects , training engineers and scientists with skills in new technologies such as artificial intelligence ( AI ) and material informatics ( MI ). “ Our approach is somewhat different from others ,” says Shigemori . “ We believe that the digital transformation will be most efficiently and effectively implemented by researchers , engineers , marketing and finance staff know the real business needs and constraints and are equipped with essential AI knowledge . Until a sufficient number of data engineers are developed and until sufficient momentum is created , the
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EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Takashi Shigemori With a Bachelor ’ s degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Tokyo , Mr . Shigemori joined Sumitomo Chemical Co ., Ltd . in 1983 . His career centres on planning , project coordination , marketing and supply chain . He has worked in the Corporate Planning Office and Petrochemicals ’ Planning & Coordination Office . Shigemori has also worked in overseas affiliates including The Polyolefin Company ( Singapore ) Pte . Ltd ., Sumitomo Chemical Asia Pte . Ltd . ( Singapore ) and Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co . — Petro Rabigh ( Saudi Arabia ). He is currently Managing Executive Officer of Sumitomo Chemical and is a Board Member of Petro Rabigh .
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