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▲Digital technology workshop with invited external experts.
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma held a 4-day event, Digital Festivus, in mid-October 2018, with all employees participating to raise their awareness of information technology (IT).
One of the highlights was the IT Sports Competition in which 42 contestants in 14 teams from the Tokyo head office, the Osaka head office, and laboratories played games featuring virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), and drone technologies. Michio Nishida, Senior Director, IT Management & Digital Transformation of Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma comments on the positive impact: “Although many of our people felt rather unfamiliar with digital technology, playing games helped them overcome the mental barrier.”
The company also held seminars featuring experts from leading global IT companies as well as training programs directly linked with its business, such as a workshop on health-tech ventures and case method-based programs for all departmental heads on digital technology.
Use of IT is advanced in certain aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, such as the application of AI in research, but “when it comes to digital utilization of digital technology, it is still not enough,” says Kyoichi Yokota, Senior Digital Officer of Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma.
Yokota continues: “Although the offering of pharmaceutical products is at the heart of our business, we need to make a greater contribution to patients through the use of IT, for example, in disease prevention and follow-up care. We aim to enhance each employee’s digital dexterity—that is, the ability and desire to exploit digital technologies for better business outcomes—so as to transform Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma into an agile and versatile organization, for better patient experience in our focus disease area.”
Through Digital Festivus, people are getting new ideas for new businesses that will enable patients to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.
Reprinted from SUMITOMO QUARTERLY NO.156
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd. changed its name to Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd. in April 2022.
The company name and affiliations and titles of the persons in the article are correct as of the time of publication.
(Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd. changed its name to Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd. in April 2022. The company name and affiliations and titles of the persons in the article are correct as of the time of publication.)
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