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A Hitachi Group site selected as “Global Lighthouse Factory” by the World Economic Forum, marking the Group’s second designation

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Hitachi Vantara’s Norman, Oklahoma, U.S. advanced storage manufacturing site newly selected as a “Lighthouse” in recognition of the results achieved through AI-driven utilization as part of Hitachi’s Customer Zero initiativeHitachi will further enhance HMAX by drawing on cutting-edge AI expertise and technologies developed through its in-house operations, and accelerate AI Transformation, across the Hitachi Group and for customers

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, “Hitachi”) and Hitachi Vantara LLC (“Hitachi Vantara”), a Hitachi Group company, announced that Hitachi Vantara’s storage manufacturing facility in Norman, Oklahoma, United States, has been selected by the World Economic Forum (“WEF”) as one of its “Lighthouse” facilities—the world’s most advanced factories leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, utilizing technologies such as AI and robotics. This marks the second Hitachi Group’s site to receive this recognition, following Hitachi’s Omika Works *1, which was designated a “Lighthouse” in 2020.

The Norman facility serves as an end-to-end digital manufacturing and supply chain hub, producing advanced data infrastructure that supports AI-driven business transformation. The facility has comprehensively deployed AI across its operations. By applying Agentic AI to global demand forecasting and inventory management, the facility achieved a 77% reduction in lead time from order receipt to shipment and a 50% reduction in inventory. This selection was based on recognition of the facility’s comprehensive initiatives, including the establishment of a resilient supply chain leveraging AI which has enabled it to respond immediately to demand fluctuations and help significantly reduce CO₂ emissions.

By incorporating the cutting-edge AI technologies and insights gained through these in-house practices pursued by positioning our company as “Customer Zero”, Hitachi will drive the further advancement of HMAX by Hitachi, a next-generation suite of AI-powered solutions that brings the power of AI to social infrastructure, and accelerate the AI Transformation(“AX”) of the Hitachi Group and our customers. Going forward, Hitachi will expand these initiatives gained at the Norman facility to global production sites such as Hitachi Rail, drive AX in the OT (Operational Technology) domain as One Hitachi, and pursue a spiral-up approach to strengthen HMAX with proven technologies and use cases derived from real-world practice.

Hitachi is committed to strengthening and delivering HMAX through “One Hitachi”. By accelerating AX at customer field across a broad range of industries worldwide, Hitachi will contribute to sustainable business growth through enhanced sustainability, productivity, and resilience.
*1 Hitachi’s press release issued on January 10, 2020: Hitachi’s Omika Works Recognized as an “Advanced 4th Industrial Revolution Lighthouse” by the World Economic Forum

Background
The Global Lighthouse Network is a WEF initiative recognizing best-in-class operational sites and value chains that have achieved exceptional performance in productivity, supply chain resilience, customer centricity, sustainability and talent. Since Hitachi’s Omika Works was selected as a “Lighthouse” in 2020—the first Japanese company to receive this distinction—Hitachi has positioned the site as a factory showcasing Hitachi’s Lumada and has been accelerating global efforts to deploy the cutting-edge digital technologies cultivated on-site both within and outside the Group.

Today, demand for data infrastructure that supports corporate business transformation is rapidly increasing, driven by the rapid proliferation of AI and other factors. At the Norman site in the United States, we manufacture highly reliable storage solutions like Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform One (VSP One), a storage solution that delivers a foundation for AI-ready infrastructure. The facility was grappling with challenges such as improving decision-making speed and optimizing resource allocation to swiftly respond to a complex product lineup comprising approximately 3,000 variants attributed to global shifts in demand and increasingly customized customer requirements. Consequently, the two companies collaborated to introduce cutting-edge AI and digital technologies at this site. Moving beyond data utilization to include autonomous AI-driven decision-making and control, they promoted end-to-end supply chain transformation from order receipt to shipment, positioning the site as a “Customer Zero” showcase of HMAX Industry.

Specific Initiatives

AI-Driven Demand Forecasting and Optimization of Management Processes
By leveraging AI, Hitachi and Hitachi Vantara have optimized the entire process seamlessly from customer touchpoints to back-end planning. First, AI uses business meeting data from the system to forecast monthly demand, improving demand forecast accuracy by approximately 19%. In addition, for requests for proposals received by sales representatives, AI automatically generates draft responses based on technical information and past proposal content, reducing response time to customers by approximately 26%. As a result, the company can respond swiftly to rapidly changing market environments and meet customers’ sophisticated needs promptly.

Optimization of the Entire Global Supply Chain
The Norman site established a “Global Inventory Control Tower” that consolidates inventory and supplier information from sites around the world into a single dashboard. By using AI to calculate the optimal safety stock level for each part, the site has succeeded in reducing global inventory by approximately 50% while mitigating the risk of stockouts. This has helped improve cash flow and minimize inventory assets.

Realizing Autonomous Manufacturing Operations with AI
On the manufacturing floor, the Norman site promoted autonomous operations utilizing Agentic AI. Agentic AI automates the configuration setup of complex software, which varies by customer, by retrieving and integrating information from multiple systems. As a result, the site achieved a dramatic 84% reduction in the lead time for configure-to-order production. In addition, the “Real-Time Work Navigator” detects and corrects deviations from standard work procedures in real time using digital work instructions and image recognition powered by AI Vision. These initiatives have reduced training time for new workers by 80%, enabling both high-quality manufacturing and flexible workforce allocation.

Comment from Kiva Allgood, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum (WEF)
“The world’s leading manufacturers are no longer optimizing individual processes; they are reimagining entire operating systems. The newest Lighthouse sites show how intelligence is becoming embedded into the fabric of operations, enabling organizations to respond faster, learn continuously and unlock new levels of performance across their value chains.”

Comment from Jun Abe, Executive Vice President, Head of Digital Systems & Services Sector, Hitachi
“I am extremely proud that the Norman site has been selected as a WEF “Lighthouse”, following the selection of Omika Works in 2020. Under a true One Hitachi approach, we have positioned our own manufacturing sites as Customer Zero and have been driving transformation through the comprehensive use of AI. The results achieved at the Norman site using Agentic AI are a practical example that is unique to Hitachi, combining our strengths in IT, OT and products. Going forward, we will provide the expertise and use cases gained through this initiative to customers around the world through HMAX, contributing to enhanced resilience and sustainable growth across industry as a whole.”

Comment from Akinobu Shimada, CEO of Hitachi Vantara and President of Hitachi Vantara Japan
“As AI accelerates business around the world, robust data infrastructure to support it has become more important than ever. We are honored that the World Economic Forum has recognized the end-to-end supply chain transformation we achieved at Hitachi Vantara’s flagship manufacturing site. By applying cutting-edge AI technologies and embedding the expertise gained through this transformation into our solutions, including the VSP One data platform and Hitachi iQ, we are helping our customers accelerate innovation, strengthen data resilience, and gain the most value from their data across their hybrid cloud environments.”

Related Links
HMAX | Lumada: Hitachi
Hitachi iQ | Hitachi Vantara
Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform One | Hitachi Vantara
The Gap Between AI-Capable and AI-Ready | Hitachi Vantara 

Trademark Notice
All trademarks and product names are the property of their respective owners.

About the Global Lighthouse Network
The Global Lighthouse Network is a World Economic Forum initiative recognizing best-in-class operational sites and value chains that have achieved exceptional performance in productivity, supply chain resilience, customer centricity, sustainability and talent. The initiative is counseled by an advisory board of industry leaders who are working together to shape the future of global manufacturing. The advisory board includes Aramco, Foxconn Industrial Internet, Koç Holding, McKinsey & Company, Schneider Electric, Siemens, and Tata Steel. Sites and value chains that join the network are designated by an independent panel of experts. The next round of applications to join the Global Lighthouse Network will open in November 2026.

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Through its Social Innovation Business (SIB) that brings together IT, OT(Operational Technology) and products, Hitachi aims to be a global leader in continuously transforming social infrastructure through digital, contributing to a harmonized society where the environment, wellbeing, and economic growth are in balance. Hitachi operates worldwide across four sectors – Digital Systems & Services, Energy, Mobility, and Connective Industries – as well as a Strategic SIB Business Unit focused on new growth areas. With Lumada at its core, Hitachi creates value by combining data, technology and domain knowledge to solve customer and social challenges. Revenues for FY2025 (ended March 31, 2026) totaled 10,586.7 billion yen, with 606 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 290,000 employees worldwide. Visit us at www.hitachi.com.

About Hitachi Vantara
Hitachi Vantara is transforming the way data fuels innovation. A wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., Hitachi Vantara provides the data foundation the world’s leading innovators rely on. Through data storage, infrastructure systems, cloud management and digital expertise, the company helps customers build the foundation for sustainable business growth. To learn more, visit www.hitachivantara.com.

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SOURCE Hitachi Vantara

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Protean launches Enterprise DPDP Governance & Consent Platform at Global Fintech Fest

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MUMBAI, India, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Protean eGov Technologies today launched its Enterprise DPDP Governance & Consent Platform at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai. The platform was launched at the Protean pavilion by Shri Suvendu Pati, Chief General Manager, FinTech Department, Reserve Bank of India, who spoke at the event on consent as a design principle for India’s digital financial ecosystem.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 has moved decisively from statute to operation. With the DPDP Rules notified in November 2025 and substantive obligations enforceable from May 2027, organisations are required to demonstrate privacy governance that is continuous, auditable and evidenced.

At the centre of the platform is the consent stack. DPDP-compliant consent journeys are embedded directly within an enterprise’s existing web, mobile and assisted channels, so a customer never leaves the journey they are in. When consent is granted, updated or withdrawn, the policy engine validates the request, propagates it automatically to every mapped enterprise application and third-party processor, tracks acknowledgement, and writes an immutable artefact to the consent vault – producing regulator-ready evidence from the customer’s action itself rather than from a subsequent reconciliation exercise.

The platform brings the eight statutory obligations of a Data Fiduciary into a single operating system for privacy, organised across four governance pillars. Internal Privacy Governance covers data discovery, the Record of Processing Activities, data flow mapping, gap assessment and governance dashboards. Processor Risk Governance covers Data Protection Impact Assessments, a central processor registry, third-party risk assessment and remediation tracking. Data Principal Governance covers consent management, a rights management portal, grievance redress and dedicated workflows for minors and nominees. Regulatory Operations covers retention and deletion, breach management, audit monitoring and compliance reporting.

Speaking at the launch, Shri Suvendu Pati, Chief General Manager, FinTech Department, Reserve Bank of India, said: “The Digital Personal Data Protection Act moves consent from a matter of paperwork to a matter of design. For the financial sector, the task ahead is to make consent verifiable, revocable and auditable at scale – so that every individual knows what data is being used, for what purpose, and retains the ability to withdraw that permission at any time.”

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Ajay Rajan, MD & CEO, Protean eGov Technologies, said: “Consent is becoming the connective tissue of India’s digital economy. Our conviction is that privacy and growth are not opposing forces – an enterprise that can show an individual exactly what was permitted, when, and for how long, earns the trust that lets it do more, not less. That is the shift we are enabling: from privacy as a legal obligation to privacy as an enterprise capability.”

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Rakesh Dosi, Chief Business & Product Officer, Protean eGov Technologies, said: “Most enterprises today can tell you their privacy policy. Very few can tell you, for a single customer, what was consented to and which downstream system acted on it. One customer action should update every mapped system and leave behind evidence – that is what we have built.”

Protean eGov Technologies has built and operated national digital public infrastructure for over two decades. As an Account Aggregator licence holder, the company brings direct operating experience of the consent artefact lifecycle – issuance, revocation and secure data sharing – at national scale. This is that same conviction applied to Privacy.

To know more – https://www.proteantech.in/services/consent-stack 

Product note

Protean Enterprise DPDP Governance & Consent Platform

Launched at the Global Fintech Fest, 11ᵗʰ September 2026, Mumbai

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is no longer a policy exercise. The Rules were notified in November 2025, the Consent Manager registration framework comes into force in November 2026, and substantive obligations become enforceable from May 2027 with penalties of up to ₹250 crore. Multiple stakeholders – the Data Principal, the Consent Manager, processors, third-party vendors, internal business functions and the Data Protection Board – converge on a single accountable owner: the Data Fiduciary. Every one of those connections is an obligation to design, run and evidence.

Embedded consent experience. DPDP-compliant consent journeys are deployed within an enterprise’s existing web, mobile, branch, contact centre and partner channels. Consent is captured against the five principles of validity – freely given, specific, informed, unconditional and unambiguous – with itemised notice and unbundled purposes. Customers never leave the journey they are in.

Intelligent consent orchestration. A single customer action – consent granted, updated or withdrawn – is validated by the policy engine, propagated automatically to every mapped enterprise application and processor with acknowledgement tracked, and recorded instantly as an immutable artefact in the consent vault. Compliance evidence is a by-product of the transaction, not a separate exercise.

Four governance pillars. Internal Privacy Governance – data discovery, ROPA, data flow mapping, gap assessment and governance dashboards. Processor Risk Governance – DPIA, third-party risk management, processor registry and remediation tracking. Data Principal Governance – consent management, rights management portal, grievance management, minor and nominee workflows. Regulatory Operations – retention and deletion, breach management, audit monitoring and compliance reporting.

Regulatory automation. Retention runs on configurable, purpose-based timelines with automated deletion triggers, propagation to processors and retained deletion evidence. Breach management runs from incident intake and severity classification through a 72-hour notification workflow and regulator communication to root cause analysis and closure.

Relationship-based workflows. Verifiable guardian consent before any processing of a minor’s personal data, with age validation and transition on attaining majority. Nominee registration with identity validation and controlled, auditable rights access upon a defined invocation event.

One source of truth. Discover, map, design, orchestrate, evidence – every downstream privacy activity is derived from verified enterprise metadata rather than manual configuration, on a governance foundation of a policy engine, workflow orchestration, an API gateway, the consent vault and an immutable audit trail.

A six-stage path to compliance maturity runs from data discovery and ROPA through data flow mapping, DPIA and processor assessment, and gap remediation, to continuous privacy operations – combining advisory, governance, process design and technology enablement in a single engagement.

Protean eGov Technologies has built and operated national digital public infrastructure for over two decades, is an Account Aggregator licence holder with proven experience of the consent artefact lifecycle, and has implemented consent management capabilities for initiatives including Bima Sugam and CERSAI. This is that same conviction applied to Privacy.

About Protean:

Incorporated in December 1995, Protean eGov Technologies Limited is engaged in the business of developing citizen-centric and population-scale e-governance solutions. Protean is an information technology-enabled solutions company conceptualizing, developing, and executing critical and population-scale greenfield technology solutions. The company collaborates with the Indian government and has extensive experience in creating digital public infrastructure and developing innovative citizen-centric e-governance solutions.

 

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Envision Energy Unveils EN-252/16.7 Offshore Wind Turbine to Deliver High Performance and Reliability in High-Wind Environments

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HAMBURG, Germany, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Envision Energy, a global leader in green technology, launched the EN-252/16.7, its next-generation offshore wind turbine developed for high-wind environments and tailored to the requirements of international offshore markets. With 16.7 MW rated power, a high-performance rotor and an integrated powertrain, the new turbine is designed to deliver higher energy production, greater reliability and increased project ROI.

The EN-252/16.7 builds on Envision’s proven Model Z platform and more than a decade of offshore wind development and operational experience. The Model Z platform has been in operation since 2023, providing a foundation of operating data and engineering experience for the next generation of offshore turbines. The international EN-252/16.7 is tailored with a Europe-specific high-performance rotor and is being developed through extensive component- and system-level validation. The turbine combines high-capacity generation with vertically integrated key component technologies, advanced safety and grid capabilities, and AI-powered lifecycle monitoring through Envision’s Galileo system.

Christian Schrimpf, Executive Vice President of Offshore Wind at Envision Energy, said: “The next phase of offshore wind is not simply about increasing turbine scale. The real value of scale lies in how effectively it translates into higher energy production, greater reliability and stronger economics across the project lifecycle. With the EN-252/16.7, we are bringing these capabilities together to help customers capture more value from offshore wind over the long term.”

Higher Performance for increased project ROI

With 16.7 MW rated power and a swept-area-to-power ratio of approximately 2.99 square meters per kilowatt, the EN-252/16.7 is designed to increase energy production from high-wind offshore resources. For a gigawatt-scale offshore wind farm, the turbine can deliver approximately 1-2% higher annual energy production while reducing turbine quantity by around 10% compared with currently available turbines, contributing to an estimated 2-4% reduction in levelized cost of energy (LCOE), depending on site conditions and project configuration. For suitable site-specific conditions, the turbine can also be uprated, creating further potential to reduce turbine numbers and capital expenditure for the project (CAPEX).

Proven Engineering for Long-Term Reliability

The EN-252/16.7 is supported by extensive component- and system-level validation through Envision’s in-house testing facilities. Testing includes drivetrain system loading tests and more than 600 hours of highly accelerated life testing for drivetrain, helping capture component boundaries and system interactions under demanding operating conditions.

Reliability is further supported by Envision’s vertically integrated approach to the development and manufacturing of key components. The company has accumulated experience across approximately 12,000 gearboxes, 12,000 main-bearing sets, 25,000 blade sets, 23,000 generators and 28,000 converters.

Safety and Resilience in Extreme Conditions

The EN-252/16.7 is designed to support safe and resilient operation under demanding offshore conditions, including extreme wind events, withstanding a 10-minute average extreme wind speed of up to 58.5 m/s and a three-second gust once in 50-year of up to 82 m/s. Safety is further supported by the turbines integration capability with energy storage. Combined with Envision BESS, the system can provide long-duration backup power for critical turbine devices and safety-related functions when external grid power is unavailable, including during pre-commissioning and severe storm or typhoon conditions.

The turbine further incorporates grid-forming control, black-start capability and stable operation under weak-grid and grid-fault conditions. Autonomous operating capabilities further support continuous power supply to critical turbine systems when conventional grid support is disrupted, extending resilience from extreme-weather protection to electrical and operational continuity.

AI-Powered Lifecycle Optimization

The EN-252/16.7 extends reliability into turbine operation through Envision’s AI-driven Galileo system, which supports earlier fault detection and more proactive maintenance throughout the turbine lifecycle. Commercially applied across more than 20,000 turbines since 2020, Galileo uses more than 30 functional models to monitor major components and critical failure modes, providing early-warning reports approximately one to six months in advance per different conditions

Earlier fault detection supports more timely maintenance planning, helping reduce unplanned interventions and lifecycle operating expenditure (OPEX). The turbine also includes an AI-turbine interface to support future upgrades and the continued evolution of intelligent turbine operations.

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SOURCE Envision Energy

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WhalesBot Launches EliteMind, Bringing Physical AI Into STEM & AI Education

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Powered by W-Hong LLM, EliteMind lets students take AI models and programs from digital learning into real-world sensing, reasoning and action.

SHANGHAI, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — WhalesBot, a global leader in STEM and AI education, has announced EliteMind, a modular Physical AI robot designed to bring AI learning into the physical world for elementary and middle school students. With EliteMind, students can develop their own models and programs in WhalesBot’s learning platform, then deploy them directly for testing and hands-on experimentation, turning digital AI projects into tangible, interactive experiences.

Powered by W-Hong LLM, WhalesBot’s AI model built for STEM and AI education, EliteMind brings perception, reasoning, and physical action together in a complete Physical AI loop. It integrates intent recognition, voice interaction, visual understanding, and AI-powered creation with physical control, giving students a hands-on way to understand how AI works in the physical world. Its lightweight, modular design allows sensors and actuators to be combined across different robotic configurations, enabling students to build and explore a range of real-world AI applications.

EliteMind connects with OceanLevel, WhalesBot’s AI literacy learning platform, to bridge structured AI learning and hands-on practice in the physical world. Within this system, WhalesBot OceanLevel provides age-appropriate AI courses, AI tools, model training, and programming, while EliteMind brings what students learn and build in the digital environment into the real world for practice, testing, and feedback. Together, they bring AI understanding, digital creation, and hands-on practice into one continuous learning experience.

“As AI increasingly operates in real-world systems, AI education also needs to move beyond the screen,” said Xufeng Fei, CEO of WhalesBot, who has advocated for STEM and AI education for decades. “With EliteMind, we aim to support a learning journey from foundational AI literacy to hands-on practice and competition, helping students build practical AI skills step by step.”

The launch of EliteMind further strengthens WhalesBot’s growing portfolio of AI products powered by W-Hong LLM and adds a new physical dimension to its STEM & AI Learning Ecosystem. Looking ahead, WhalesBot will continue to develop new ways to help students move from understanding AI to building with it and applying it in the real world.

For more information about EliteMind and the WhalesBot STEM & AI Learning Ecosystem, visit https://www.whalesbot.ai/

About WhalesBot

WhalesBot Technology, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Shanghai, China, provides STEM and AI education solutions for learners aged 3 to 22, with more than 1 million units sold in over 81 countries and regions. WhalesBot also sponsors ENJOY AI, an international STEM and robotics competition built around creative robotics and coding challenges.

Connect with WhalesBot:

LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

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SOURCE WhalesBot

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