- TOP
- 50th Anniversary Research
Designing and
Implementing Our
Aspirations for the Future
Over the Next Fifty Years
Envisioning the Future and Acting with a 50-Year Horizon
On the occasion of our 50th anniversary, at MRI we conducted a company-wide research endeavor to envision the ideal world 50 years down the line and chart a path toward its realization.
We adopted a long-term perspective and conducted multi-disciplinary analysis to determine the desirable future world—achieving a balance of prosperity and sustainability.
We must ensure sustainability, safety, and peace of mind for future generations. This can only be achieved by transforming humanity’s definition of prosperity from economic growth and material abundance to the wellbeing of each and every individual. Our research project serves as the first step in that direction.
Toward prosperous, sustainable world in the 10 billion population and 100-year life era
By 2070, the global population will reach 10 billion and many countries will see average life expectancy topping 100 years. Our vision of a future in which prosperity for all 10 billion people is guaranteed requires solving our global issues at present and to come such as climate change, environmental issues, limited resources, sustainability crises due to infectious diseases, economic disparity, and social division.
Two particular perspectives offer insight toward achieving the ideal: constraints and expansion. In the face of growing constraints laid bare by current crises, advanced technologies have provided humanity with new potential such as expansion of the real world to the cyberspace and the enhancement of human capabilities.
To overcome our remaining constraints and achieve further expansion, we must shift our definition of prosperity from quantitative growth to the well-being of individuals. This shift sets the focus on the value that people can create and the capability to overcome challenges. We need to make maximum use of the full range of innovative technologies to ensure this transformation and achieve prosperity and sustainability in unison.
3X and Mutual Sphere are Key
Two new concepts offer the key to unlocking this desirable future world: 3X and the mutual sphere.
3X* indicates the innovative technologies through which human capability and potential can be enhanced, and the mutual sphere† refers to a futuristic form of community where each individual can collaborate on common goals to create new value. Through effective use of these two concepts, individuals will be able to foster new relationships, while self-fulfillment and the interests of the society as a whole will be harmonized. Through our research, we analyzed the possibility of achieving the desirable future world using those two concepts.
* 3X refers to three forms of transformation to be brought about by innovative technologies, namely DX (digital transformation), CX (communication transformation), and BX (biotransformation)
†CX, BX, and mutual sphere are terms created by the Mitsubishi Research Institute
Holistic technologies and self-actualization
WWe aim to create a society in which each person, from young to old, can envision their own idea of well-being and achieve their full potential by improving and maintaining their physical and mental health. Improvements must be made to the healthcare infrastructure through the use of innovative technologies, and Responsible Research and Innovation, or “RRI.‡ This will serve to propel the existing reforms of the Japanese Medical Insurance and Long-Term Care Insurance System so that proactive health, instead of reactive health, can be achieved.
‡ RRI is a framework where various stakeholders, including citizens, aim to improve different systems, ethics, and social standards through dialogue in order to ensure better implementation of social systems.
Relationships
Toward diverse communities
and a society free from isolation
With the expansion of the virtual world, people will be free to move in and out of diverse and highly fluid communities thus enjoying multiple lives simultaneously. With the advancement of CX, we will be able to enjoy new connections and experiences not only with other humans but also with other species, such as dogs or dolphins.To create this world where everyone can dramatically diversify their lives through new forms of relationship and experience, humanity must use CX to co-create value, overcome social isolation, and foster new communities in the burgeoning mutual sphere.
Redefining work, expanding roles, and nurturing potential
Innovative technologies such as AI and robotics will accelerate open-ended working styles not bound by existing physical or organizational constraints, as well as value creation activities that leverage the potential of each individual. This requires the implementation of new working styles, more free activities, strengthening of learning opportunities, need for a value creation space such as the mutual sphere, establishment of a system to extinguish social disparity, and the shift to a system in which all have the opportunity for lifelong learning amidst 100 year lifespans.
Toward a resilient society based on the real world and cyberspace
With the fusion of the real world and the cyberspace, balance must be achieved in obtaining maximum security without limiting personal freedom. We will ensure the safety of society by promoting proactive and preventive measures, and by optimizing modal transitions during states of emergency as well as normal time.Impacts must be minimized with regard to natural disasters and infectious diseases, and trust must be maximized in the cyberspace. Furthermore, optimization is essential for ensuring personalized disaster prevention, and we must address redundancy to arise with the combination of the real world and cyberspace. Lastly, a meta-trust framework must be established that generates wider acceptance of cyberspace.
Toward a world in which 10 billion people can live in abundance through the use of DX and BX
Using DX and BX, we will aim to ensure resource sustainability even under environmental constraints to go beyond simply sufficing demand for consumption and instead match supply itself to consumption. Moreover, a society in which people can feel a real sense of contributing to sustainability will also provide spiritual satisfaction.DX and BX have the power to eliminate loss of resources thus ensuring humanity can survive within the limited resources available on the earth. These two transformations also have the potential to stave dependence on fossil fuels and spur prosperity based on environment-conscious behavior.
