Vol. 81, No. 5, September 2026

SATA Yutaka

OCHIAI Makoto

Many companies have recently been focusing on R&D that cuts across and integrates different technological and business domains, including the fusion of cyberspace and physical-space technologies, to address increasingly complex social issues.

Against this background, Toshiba Group reorganized its R&D structure and established a new corporate laboratory in April 2025. As the core of R&D aligned with the Toshiba  Group’s business and management strategies, the corporate laboratory plays a key role in maintaining and strengthening core businesses, further improving productivity and quality, and creating core technologies for next-generation businesses based on insights into the future, including developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technologies. Under the new integrated R&D framework, the corporate laboratory is developing a range of solutions based on the Toshiba Group’s growth and key technology strategies, while accelerating R&D and its societal implementation through talent mobility and collaboration with internal and external partners, thereby promoting the creation of business value and the enhancement of future competitiveness.

UEDA Koji

YASUOKA Takanori

KITAGAWA Ryota / KOFUJI Yusuke

UTO Tatsuro

ASATANI Tsuyoshi / FUJINAGA Kenji

Lightweight and flexible perovskite photovoltaic (PV) modules are attracting attention as next-generation PV modules with the potential to improve power generation efficiency and contribute to the achievement of carbon neutrality.

Toshiba Corporation installed film‑based perovskite PV modules at Wellness Smart City, a diorama exhibited at the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai pavilion jointly created by Iida Group Holdings Company Ltd. and Osaka Metropolitan University, in order to evaluate power generation efficiency and operational stability under indoor lighting conditions. Tests were conducted on the PV modules under lighting environments simulating morning, daytime, evening, and night conditions with different color temperatures and illuminance levels. The results showed that, although the dependence of power generation efficiency on illuminance was generally similar across the test conditions, the absolute values of power generation efficiency differed for each lighting environment. Under low light conditions, the power generation efficiency of film‑based perovskite PV modules was approximately three times higher than that of crystalline silicon PV module under the same conditions. We have also confirmed that no significant degradation in power generation performance occurred and that no safety-related issues arose during the exhibition period, demonstrating that film‑based perovskite PV modules can operate stably under indoor lighting conditions.

KUDO Hiroki / TOGASHI Yuichi / IBI Hideki

To promote digital transformation (DX) across a wide range of companies and universities, there is a need for DX human resource development, particularly through mechanisms that enable the consideration, prototyping, and verification of solutions to a variety of on-site issues without requiring advanced technical expertise.

In response, Toshiba Corporation developed the CPS Starter Kit for rapid prototyping of cyber-physical systems (CPS). It subsequently developed the ifLink Starter Kit to extend the CPS Starter Kit to Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Based on if–then (condition-action) recipes, the ifLink Starter Kit enables IoT systems to be easily combined with customers’ web services without relying on skilled engineers, and trial services have been launched for customers. Application of the ifLink Starter Kit to DX human resource development programs and co-creation workshops for DX confirmed its effectiveness in fostering hypothesis-driven thinking and action.