Today, when life without computers and the internet is no longer imaginable, truly great changes are occurring. Right now, computers can only run on programs, but they are gradually gaining the ability to learn on their own (in a phenomenon called "cognitive computing"). The things that we use directly—the personal computers (PCs), tablet computers, and smartphones equipped with semiconductors, displays, cameras and the like—are in reality "terminal devices" that link the virtual world (a vast aggregation of various data) with people and things. Cloud computing (the "Cloud") stores and shares data through these terminal devices and the internet. Within the world of the Cloud is a growing virtual space composed of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies that learn from enormous amounts of collected data and become dramatically smarter. In the future, it will not be only "people" who are linked to this virtual space through their smartphones. Many "things," such as cars and manufacturing equipment, will also be linked to it as "edge devices" through various sensors (creating a phenomenon known as the "Internet of Things": IoT). And as a result, an unfathomably vast amount of data ("Big Data") will be aggregated there. AI will continue to get smarter, and eventually the day will probably come when we "people" use advanced AI routinely without even thinking about it. Already digital services that were unknown in the past—such as the streaming delivery of music and images and sharing of cars and houses—have begun to permeate throughout our daily lives. Their arrival gives us taste of the coming cognitive computing age.
It goes without saying that JSR's Fine Chemicals Business must reinvent itself in immediate response to such social changes. In the semiconductors sector, basic needs will not change in the sense that data processing volume will increase dramatically. However, we must prepare for shifts toward new processes that will process data with high efficiency. And in the display sector, we must prepare for a shift away from displays to "see" data to displays to "input and output" data. Amid such circumstances, there are concerns that we will be unable to respond to major changes in perception vis-à-vis such items if we maintain an organizational framework that is premised on the conventional industrial structure. For this reason, we changed the organizational format and names of JSR's Fine Chemicals Business in April 2017 (Figure 1). The Fine Chemicals Business of the cognitive computing age will need more than a materials-based approach whereby it simply supplies functional chemical products—specifically, differentiated high-value products. It will also require an approach that involves providing solutions that are matched to customers' needs. To reflect this, we reworked the business's organizational names to bring them in line with the experiences and values of final customers. With its new organization, JSR's Fine Chemicals Business will quickly respond to social change and provide added value to social markets which will grow with the development of IoT and Big Data as a driving force.
Figure1
Extending the number of years people can live healthily without daily assistance or care is now an issue that our society faces. JSR Group's styrene-/isoprene-butadiene thermoplastic elastomers JSR TRTM and JSR SISTM help senior citizens live comfortable lives.
As our society ages, more people are using paper diapers. Paper diaper manufacturers are responding by developing products that are easier to use for both users and caregivers. As part of this, they are using hot melt adhesive made with JSR TRTM and JSR SISTM between the various sheets in the layers of paper diapers to make products that are solvent-free and people-friendly. JSR is thus helping make comfortable paper diapers available to more people.
Additionally, many seniors use adhesive transdermal patches. However, because patches can cause itching and inflammation, seniors must pay attention to the condition of their skin when using them. JSR SISTM, which is used in patch adhesive, causes little irritation to the skin and helps make patches easier to use.
"JSR FUELOCK" is suitable as a hose material for cars that run on bioethanol gasoline because it demonstrates superior performance with that fuel.
If a car is run on bioethanol produced from the starch of a crop that was produced from a plant's photosynthesis using the sun's energy and carbon dioxide in the air, its carbon dioxide corresponding to the plant's photosynthesis becomes zero (i.e., the car becomes so-called "carbon neutral").
"JSR FUELOCK" is helping make bioethanol gasoline cars more popular and is therefore useful as an indirect means of combatting global warming.