The Regional Transportation DX Forum 2026, a forum for sharing the challenges and potential of regional transportation DX, was held in Tokyo on 14 October, with 60 people attending in person and approximately 160 online. Will Smart hosted the event, where standardization and data utilization initiatives were introduced.
The Regional Transportation DX Forum 2026 was held in Tokyo for people involved in transportation, including buses and railways, from across Japan. Approximately 60 people attended in person and 160 online. The event was hosted by Will Smart President Ishii Yasuhiro (石井康弘). In the keynote address, Hoshi Akihiko (星明彦) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism explained developments in the Commons regional transportation DX promotion project.
The presentation highlighted the current situation in which the use of digital technology in regional transportation is advancing, while individual optimization is creating fragmentation and a lack of coordination. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism outlined a policy of promoting data integration and standardizing operations to improve productivity. Commons promotes the standardization of timetable planning and operations management, the joint management of facility shuttle vehicles, data standardization and the development of data analysis tools.
Hoshi (星) described local buses as a key part of regional infrastructure and emphasized the need to standardize the underlying infrastructure, including its financial aspects. He also said that efforts to establish an environment for standardizing operations at taxi and regional railway operators were under way during the current fiscal year. Will Smart President Ishii introduced the company’s policy of supporting companies seeking to strengthen their management capabilities, along with its own operations standardization system.