Since its founding, SECOM has continuously developed innovative services with the aim of creating a society where everyone can live with peace of mind. As the needs of society become increasingly diverse, creating new services—more quickly and on a broader scale—requires the active integration of ideas and technologies from both inside and outside the company. Driven by our desire to resolve social challenges as swiftly as possible, SECOM is advancing open innovation initiatives that co-create new values in collaboration with both internal and external business partners.
SECOM’s Approach to Open Innovation
SECOM is delivering safety and peace of mind to more than three million customers through security services. SECOM’s open innovation approach builds on our proven track record to accelerate the creation of new value and new services. By combining the SECOM Group’s resources and technologies with the ideas and technologies of external business partners, we aim to address not only the challenges society faces today but also those that may arise in the future. Through this approach, we are creating a broader range of new services more quickly to address the increasingly diverse challenges of society.
In addition to incorporating existing technologies, SECOM is proactively strengthening relationships with companies that possess emerging technologies and specialized expertise that may contribute to SECOM’s future services. We also collaborate closely with experts who offer insights and ideas that can help address potential future challenges, enabling us to nurture services that will be needed in the future.
One of the key initiatives is the SECOM Open Lab. By engaging with people from a wide range of generations and areas of expertise, we visualize and share the expanding diversity of values, identify and communicate challenges that lie slightly ahead of us, and connect their insights to the creation of new services.
To give tangible form to these challenging and experimental collaborative projects that embody new values—and to represent the products born from them—we established the SECOM DESIGN FACTORY brand.
Through this brand, we are pursuing activities that extend beyond the conventional associations of the SECOM corporate brand.
From exploring diverse perspectives through the SECOM Open Lab, to validating new values through prototyping within the SECOM DESIGN FACTORY’s experimental and forward‑looking collaborative projects, and ultimately to commercializing offerings that prioritize emotional resonance alongside functional benefit, SECOM remains hands‑on at every stage of the process.
About SECOM Open Lab
A large-scale design workshop that visualizes and explores the diverse values of contemporary society, tailored to a specific theme each session
As part of SECOM’s open innovation activities, we believe it is essential to create a forum where an even broader range of perspectives and expertise can be incorporated to discuss the services required by society. To this end, we launched SECOM Open Lab as an ongoing platform for engaging in discussion, bringing together participants from across industries and fields to explore the future of society.
SECOM Open Lab is a thematic discussion forum where companies, organizations, and individuals with diverse expertise who resonate with SECOM’s approach gather to share knowledge and technologies, and to discuss themes related to the near future of society. Through a design‑thinking approach, we visualize and explore the increasingly diverse values of modern society, aligning them with specific themes to envision a society shaped by newly formed values while identifying opportunities for services that society will require.
Each session welcomes more than 100 participants, with over 70% being first-time attendees intentionally, ensuring fresh perspectives and continuous renewal. To date, more than 1,500 companies and organizations, totaling over 2,600 individuals, have taken part, and have identified over 9,000 societal challenges.
* For the time being, participation is by invitation only.
The objective of SECOM Open Lab is not to judge the superiority of ideas, but rather for each participant to gain a sense of empathy and new insights, deepening their sense of engagement. To achieve this, each session is carefully designed around its theme, fostering fresh perspectives and dynamic discussions.
As a special session of SECOM Open Lab, we irregularly hold the “SECOM Acceleration Program,” a co-creation initiative designed to create new customer experiences by utilizing SECOM's solutions. Through this program, startups and other organizations are invited to propose ideas and technologies that align with specific thematic challenges.
ABOUT SECOM Design Factory
In December 2019, SECOM launched SECOM DESIGN FACTORY as a bold new brand—that is not confined by the conventional associations of the SECOM corporate brand.
Positioned as a “bold new brand,” SECOM DESIGN FACTORY is dedicated to pursuing bold and experimental initiatives and transforming them into new products, free from the constraints of existing corporate brand expectations. This brand represents the collective name for the teams and activities that challenge the creation of new customers and social value through a broad and diverse range of perspectives extending beyond SECOM itself, as well as a brand that embodies the products born from these efforts.
In addition, SECOM has adopted lean development methodologies originating from Silicon Valley, repeatedly iterating between prototyping and user value evaluation to bring new value to life.
The logo design embodies the concept of “0 → 1,” symbolizing the creation of entirely new value. By shaping the numeral “1” as an arrow, it also expresses our aspirations to move toward the future.
Design-Driven Innovation Example: cocobo
Kota Nezu × Loftwork × SECOM
“cocobo” is a security robot designed for patrol and inspection operations.
Through SECOM DESIGN FACTORY, SECOM collaborated with Kota Nezu of znug design and Loftwork Inc. to create a design that balances harmony with public spaces and dignity combined with approachability, ensuring the robot integrates seamlessly into public environments where robot becomes a familiar presence.
The name “cocobo” was selected from entries submitted through an internal call within SECOM, with the aim of creating a name that would foster familiarity among both customers and employees. The name was subsequently selected through a review process involving both internal and external stakeholders.