Accenture partners with JICA on digital transformation projects

Professional services firm Accenture has been chosen by Japan’s national development agency JICA to provide support on a range of digital transformation pilot projects in emerging economies.

Development and aid organisation Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has selected Accenture to support a number of digital transformation projects across Southeast Asia. The pilot programs – taking place in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam – form part of JICA’s strategy to leverage digital technologies to boost the outcomes of its international development efforts.

Formed in 2003 to assist with social and economic growth in developing nations, the independent national agency is one of the largest of its type in the world, with projects in over 150 countries and funding resources of approximately $8.5 billion. Last year, JICA established a specific office for STI (science, technology and innovation) and DX (digital transformation) within its Governance and Peacebuilding Department.

Now, Accenture has come on board to help realise the development agency’s aspirations around digital technologies, with altogether six pilot projects to be undertaken, including in India, Mauritius and Uganda in addition to Southeast Asia. The aim is to then extend and develop the pilots into “model projects for digital transformation mainstreaming in international cooperation and development.”

Mikiya Saito, who leads JICA’s DX office, said; “The rapid development of digital technology is inspiring an increasing number of emerging countries to adopt new technologies to accelerate their development of industry and social services. JICA is committed to addressing a wide-range of challenges around the world, and through this project, we hope to create a new model of cooperation leveraging digital technologies and data.”

In Cambodia, the Accenture partnership will focus on digital currency verification, while in neighbouring Vietnam the pilot will seek to facilitate behavioural change among citizens through predictive modeling of water quality. Across in Thailand, the project will assess the feasibility of using AI for water pipeline management. The pilot in Mauritius meanwhile will examine smart city solutions for disaster management.

With the latter constantly battered by extreme weather-related events, Accenture will look to its smart city information management platform to explore further areas of deployment in addressing natural disasters, including more effective weather forecasting. The integration of meteorological information with other data-points such as satellite photos and water quality is also expected to realise benefits beyond disaster prevention.

“This collaboration with JICA is a perfect fit for Accenture’s knowledge and experience in using digital technology to empower communities, public agencies, and businesses,” said Joichi Ebihara, who heads up Accenture’s healthcare and public strategy consulting practices in Japan. “As a company, we are especially excited to help JICA prioritise digital capabilities when serving serious needs in other countries.”