An "empty station" in the city.The world that Keikyu Corporation aims to collaborate with AirX

This article is a collaborative project with the Open Innovation Venture Creation Council (JOIC), which promotes "open innovation" initiatives by private businesses.

The concept of creating an innovative business by incorporating technologies and know-how from outside the company is called "open innovation."

Even in Japan, the opportunities for innovative products and services to appear have increased as research institutes such as major companies and start-up companies, major companies, companies and universities collaborate beyond the boundaries of organizations. Also, in recent years, there has been a lot of movement to find companies and research teams to collaborate with through acceleration programs.

In this series, we will introduce the efforts of major companies regarding open innovation based on the content that the editorial department independently conducted interviews.

Keihin Electric Express Railway Co., Ltd. has been implementing the business co-creation program "KEIKYU ACCELERATOR PROGRAM" since 2017.

The movement of people and things = "mobility" has reached a major turning point with the evolution of technologies such as AI, IoT, 5G, and VR, and the accompanying changes in people's values.

The business of railway companies, which have been developing their business centered on mobile infrastructure that supports people's lives for more than 100 years, is also required to innovate beyond the existing framework.

At the forefront of these transformations, we are promoting open innovation with external partners such as startups, updating the transportation "means" by fusing real and technology, and the diverse customer experience that is the "purpose". I am aiming to create it. (Excerpt from KEIKYU ACCELERATOR PROGRAM official website)

As part of that effort, the company announced capital operations with AirX Inc. in October last year. How did the collaboration between a long-established railway company that has been in business for over 120 years and a start-up company that develops solutions related to sky mobility come true?

Regarding the background and future development, Mr. Kazutaka Hane (hereinafter, abbreviated title) in charge of business co-creation, Public Relations and Marketing Office, Keihin Kyuko Electric Railway Co., Ltd. and Mr. Mitsuhide Fujizono, Executive Officer of AirX Inc./Business Development Headquarters (hereinafter, abbreviated title) , Text abbreviation title).

--Keikyu Corporation and AirX announced a capital and business alliance in October. Please tell us how you came to the conclusion.

Hane "Keikyu Electric Railway has been implementing an acceleration program called" KEIKYU ACCELERATOR PROGRAM "for three consecutive years in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

This program aims to co-create businesses with start-up companies. However, until now, the development has been limited to conducting demonstration experiments with selected companies, and it has not reached full-scale commercialization. There was talk of trying to properly link the connection with the startup company that was created with great effort to commercialization, and 2021 is regarded as a period to slowly strengthen the relationship with the startup company that has been involved so far, and we will collaborate. I proceeded. One of them is AirX. "

--It has been revealed that a helicopter scenic flight will be carried out in collaboration with AirX. What is the implication of this effort?

Hane: The main reason for collaborating with AirX was that we thought that the mobility market such as drones and eVTOL would grow in the future. Keikyu Railways are running near the resort spot called Miura Peninsula. However, I thought that by incorporating a new means of transportation called air flights, we could provide a new value of "making the sky feel closer". "

――What kind of impression does AirX have regarding this capital and business alliance?

Fujizono: "We have had many meetings, but the person in charge of Keihin Electric Express Railway responds sincerely every time, and we can proceed with the collaboration with peace of mind. It means the merit of the company. So far, I have had many opportunities to worry about the speed at which the business progresses, but with the support of Keihin Electric Express Railway, I feel that the speed at which the business develops has increased. "

――Is there a plan to create a society where you can easily ride a helicopter like you would on a train?

Hane: "We will continue to consider how we will provide services in the future, but the current image is" constant, targeted transportation. " In that, we are planning to incorporate a mechanism developed by AirX to match helicopters, pilots, and customers. "

――What kind of layer is your target?

Hane: "Railways can carry a large number of customers at once, but helicopters have a sense of scale of several people. Due to that relationship, the price is tens of thousands of yen per flight, so-called upper class I think it will be a target. The image of the usage scene is an empty flight that allows you to move from the city center such as Shinkiba to the accommodation facility in Miura.

However, this is just a concept at the moment. I think the price of new solutions will gradually decline, and eventually Keikyu's empty stations will be everywhere, and it may become something that you can enjoy more easily. Hmm. As a specific plan, we plan to set up a permanent heliport in the Miura Peninsula area and jointly operate it with Keikyu Corporation and AirX with the goal of 2023. We are planning to open a line connecting this heliport with other areas. "

――Where are the challenges for an era where you can easily enjoy air travel?

Hane: "Is this an issue? The most important thing to pay attention to is safety, isn't it? The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and related consultation committees are discussing rule systems and safety measures on a daily basis. , Ensuring safety and explaining to local residents are always on the agenda. How do we ensure the peace of mind of our customers while referring to the opinions of local residents? I think it will be the key to full-scale popularization. "

――Finally, please tell us what open innovation is for Keikyu Corporation and AirX.

Hane: "I think it's a mechanism that creates businesses that I couldn't think of before. It's not open innovation that allows us to develop" multiplication "business by supplementing our own business and creating better and new services. I wonder if I'm thinking recently that if we can deepen the relationship to the point where members of each company are seconded or go back and forth, rather than just collaborating, I wonder if we can move on to open innovation one step ahead. That is to say, I would like to continue to promote the culture of open innovation while promoting various initiatives. "

Fujizono: From the perspective of start-up companies, what is important for start-up companies is to "get to know". By collaborating with large companies, our company name will have more opportunities to be seen by everyone, and it will be an opportunity for them to be known. It is a nice point of open innovation that the number of people increases. There are more opportunities to get to know each other, and while utilizing each other's assets, we will create a business by causing a chemical reaction. That is the fun of open innovation. "

--Thank you for today.