Open innovation activities
To expand existing businesses and create new businesses, ENEOS promotes open innovation to accelerate the technological development and business models that would be difficult to achieve through internal resources and R&D alone.
Specifically, we aim to create value through co-creation by promoting collaboration between ENEOS R&D/ business units and outside organizations such as startup companies, universities, and research institutions.
Open innovation system
ENEOS is conducting open innovation activities in which the R&D Department works together with its Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) Department focused on investing in startup companies. This system includes the dispatching of employees to Silicon Valley to be the front to catch the latest trend, make connections with key players in the US and support oversea projects.
Business area searching and information sources
ENEOS is searching for advanced technologies having a potential synergy with ENEOS’s business toward carbon neutrality. In this search, we are targeting a wide variety of technologies including digital technologies, hydrogen, renewable energy, low-carbon technologies, energy management, chemicals and materials, robotics, and the like.
We are efficiently collecting up-to-date information using a variety of information sources including M-Lab (an open innovation community)*, accelerators, venture capital firms, and research firms.
* An open innovation community founded by Mitsubishi Corporation in Silicon Valley in October 2016.
Consisting of 14 Japanese enterprises (as of March 2023) from diverse industries having expertise in various areas, M-Lab aims to create new business in mobility and healthcare, the environment, resources, etc. by collaborating and sharing information with overseas startups and promoting joint programs.
Collaboration Example
In refineries and chemical plants both in Japan and abroad, the aging of existing facilities and the construction of new ones have led to rising maintenance costs and increasing staffing requirements. Furthermore, as renewable energy, hydrogen, and other next-gen energy systems becomes more widespread, additional maintenance will be required due to new equipment installations. This upcoming circumstance would require remote, automated and low-cost maintenance operations/ inspections and lead to labor shortages. To address these challenges, ENEOS is promoting collaboration between the R&D and iXs Co., Ltd.
In our collaboration with iXs, we are conducting demonstrations aimed at advanced maintenance services utilizing robotics. These include “remote or automated robotic data collection and repair operations” and “Al-based analysis of the collected data for anomaly detection and prediction”. Through this effort, we are working on the development of specialized inspection robots and related hardware/ software, along with a platform equipped with applications for data analysis and other functions.