Introduction

i-PRO’s edge computing cameras are equipped with AI technology, playing a vital role in ensuring safety and security in society. In this new era where AI creates AI, how can we ethically and technically manage AI to maintain social order?
Our CEO, Masato Nakao, was joined by Yoichi Ochiai, a theme project producer for Japan EXPO 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, to exchange insights on this pressing question.

Attention has recently been focused on AI as the key technology in a variety of fields. Network cameras are no exception. With AI, the accuracy of data analysis has improved exponentially. But the technology has raised several issues.

Through advancements in Edge AI, i-PRO has been engaging in research and development to further draw on the power of AI with greater precision, and to develop systems that offer greater security. Here, we’d like to tell you more about what’s behind the strategy.

Since her years at university, Mikako Kurihara has been improving her English skills to work with people overseas. Currently, she’s the overseas sales representative in charge of Canada and Oceania in the S&S Division. Through close communications with and support from staff members at the sales companies, she has steadily gained experience. As i-PRO’s new product rollout cycle picks up speed, Kurihara has been tackling new challenges to increase the number of i-PRO enthusiasts and develop her own potential.

What is a technology trend? We think perhaps it is all about thoughts on what technologies will be realized in our future and enrich the world. We at i-PRO looked at five technology trends in 2022.

1. Growing World of Edge AI

The evolution of semiconductors has pushed AI out of the server world and into edge devices. Edge AI, which can analyze data in the field without aggregating large amounts of data, will expand its application area.

Masami Eguchi heads i-PRO’s security and safety business outside Japan and the United States. Currently based at the company’s US office in Houston, Texas, he is responsible for developing its global strategy. Drawing on a wealth of overseas experience in Germany, Singapore and the United States, he shares his frank opinions on the current landscape and what he sees as the keys to i-PRO’s success in the global market.

“According to Japanese fortune-telling based on the characters in my name, I have a very lucky name, will be blessed with great co-workers who can help me grow as a person, and achieve great success. And that’s exactly what’s happening at i-PRO,” says Hideaki Takahashi with a laugh. Using his experience in software development and system engineering, he was somewhat of a hero among customers during the early days of i-PRO.

The Corporate Technology Division serves as the backbone of i-PRO’s technology in general, providing support for the creation of leading-edge technologies, planning and development by product teams working at the forefront of the industry, and bolstering the skills of engineers working on a wide range of i-PRO products, including intelligent surveillance, public safety, and industr

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic drastically changed our lifestyles. Wearing face masks has become an everyday practice, and working from home is no longer a novelty. What will 2021 bring with it? To start the year, i-PRO, Japan’s top manufacturer of security cameras, is looking at the developments that will shape the company’s future.

Panasonic i-PRO Sensing Solutions Co., Ltd. has long been the top manufacturer of security camera systems in Japan. The team of Japan Intelligent Surveillance Division oversees the company's business operations in the Japan market. Jun Asahina, the head of this business division, played a major role in launching i-PRO's IP network camera business.

Masato Nakao the representative director, chairman, and CEO of Panasonic i-PRO Sensing Solutions is a professional executive who previously served as a management consultant and was involved in numerous business reorganizations and corporate transformations, with a focus on manufacturing. As i-PRO embarks on a new departure, having become independent from Panasonic in October 2019, from what perspective will Mr. Nakao capture its strengths as a new organization and demonstrate his capabilities?

With the increasing importance of sensing devices worldwide, Panasonic i-PRO Sensing Solutions set sail on a new ocean in October 2019. Representative director, president, and COO Shohei Ozaki took the helm of the company with a management sense he cultivated through diverse experience gained in various gemba (scenes). Here we talk about the "evolution" that Ozaki is aiming for as an organization, the "strategy" that it should be pursuing both in Japan and overseas, and the "future" beyond i-PRO.

Yasushi Mizumachi, who is currently assigned to the Optics & Image Quality Module Development, made the move to i-PRO from an optical equipment manufacturer in July 2020. Mizumachi, a native of Fukuoka City who attended high school there in Hakata Ward, told us he “felt a sense of fate that a company in Hakata Ward was recruiting for jobs in optics.” We talked about things with Mizumachi to find out what direction this man—who is not only an engineer but who considers the business from a bird’s eye perspective—is headed.

Yohei Koyanagi started work for an electronics manufacturer right after graduating from university and has been involved in camera mechanism design for about 12 years. Currently he works in i-PRO’s Corporate Technology Mechanism Practice, where he designs surveillance cameras. What are his thoughts about these cameras—which, while still “cameras” in one sense—require completely different functions? Now that a year has passed since joining the company, he shares his frank thoughts about his work.

After the names of our Chairman Masato Nakao and President Shohei Ozaki, among the staff members of i-PRO, the most familiar name in the company may be Hitomi Nakahara, the subject of this interview. Nakahara, who works in the Human Resources Department, is charged with sending a variety of information via email to everyone in the company. So, every employee—even those who have never met her face to face—must at least be familiar with her name. Nakahara is about to enter a new phase in her career, as she is expecting a baby this autumn.

In addition to the field of security cameras, i-PRO's sensing technology has also been demonstrating its strength in the medical field. i-PRO's MV (Medical Vision) has contributed to the development of advanced medical care by developing and supplying camera modules to manufacturers of rigid endoscopes and operating microscopes. We will look back on our past achievements and reveal the three keywords that support the fundamentals of our business.

With the explosion of AI-driven cameras expanding and changing the shape of the European security camera industry, i-PRO EMEA President Gerard Figols looks forward to a year of exciting progress in 2022.