山本社長㊨と渡辺部長（From the right: President Yamamoto and General Manager Watanabe）

NTT Communications (NTT Com) has established a new company, “NTT Aqua,” and has begun operations.
NTT Aqua will promote research, development, and provision of a recycle-type land-based aquaculture system that utilizes ICT.
NTT Aqua President Keiichi Yamamoto stated, “Our mission is to create a story that will revitalize the region, starting with land-based aquaculture, together with the region. We will listen to the voices of the local people, lower the barriers to entry into the land-based aquaculture business, realize land-based aquaculture that anyone can participate in, and create a regional ecosystem in which each and every member of the community contributes to the creation of a vibrant town.”

NTT Aqua’s main focus is to provide total support to land-based aquaculture businesses. It has no intention of making land-based aquaculture its own business.
Specifically, it will provide a recycle-type land-based aquaculture system incorporating ICT, as well as the seeds, feed, and consulting necessary for running a land-based aquaculture business.
Through these efforts, it hopes to make it easier for people to enter the land-based aquaculture business.
The company has signed a comprehensive collaboration agreement with Akani, a company engaged in land-based aquaculture in Okinawa Prefecture. The company will develop a system that combines Akani’s filtration technology with NTT Com’s land-based aquaculture ICT platform. The company will first provide a system that can cultivate two types of grouper, and gradually expand the target fish species.
Akani’s filtration technology does not use bacteria, unlike existing domestic circulating land-based aquaculture facilities. This eliminates the need for biological filtration tanks, and land-based aquaculture can be carried out on smaller land than before. Maintenance is also easier and work efficiency is good. Since it does not use bacteria, stable filtration is possible in line with the growth of the fish, and another feature is that the density of fish per tank can be increased.
The land-based aquaculture ICT platform reflects the know-how of the marine observation service “ICT Buoy” developed by NTT Docomo. Information such as water temperature, salinity, and pH obtained by sensors can be easily checked on the dashboard.
The information on the platform is centrally managed by NTT Aqua, and if there is an abnormality, it will support the aquaculture operator remotely in real time.
The appropriate water quality varies depending on the fish species. To that end, the company provides a platform that is tailored to each species of fish.

The establishment of NTT Aqua was triggered by NTT Com’s efforts to promote regional co-creation.

Watanabe Satoshi, NTT Com Executive Officer and General Manager of the Solutions Consulting Department of the Solutions & Marketing Headquarters, says, “We are working on smart fisheries to promote Okinawa. That’s how we came across Akani, which led to the establishment of NTT Aqua. Land-based aquaculture is important in light of the rapid increase in global protein demand and food security, and we believe it will also lead to an improvement in Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate.”

Through NTT Aqua, the company hopes to develop human resources who will create regional ecosystems and expand its regional co-creation business.

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