Tokyo, December 4, 2014 – Rakuten, Inc. and Rakuten Edy, Inc. have been awarded the Information Technology Award (IT Award) by the Japan Institute of Information Technology at the 2014 (32nd) Information Technology Awards. Rakuten received the IT General Award for its collaboration with Toshiba Corporation in running the “Rakuten Kirei-do-Navi” service, a basal thermometer service, and Rakuten Edy received an IT Special Award (Marketing Award).
The IT Award is an award conferred to companies, groups, institutions and individuals whose work has been appraised as contributing to promoting advanced applications of IT with the aim of improving productivity and creating businesses in operations in industry and government institutions, as well as building and promoting effective business in Japan.
The IT General Award awarded to Rakuten is given to companies, groups, institutions and others that are recognized as having realized the strategic development of business activities and produced results through the effective combination of management and IT, and which are considered to be a model for the future. On this occasion, the Japan Institute of Information Technology highly appraised “Rakuten Kirei-do-Navi”, a service jointly developed by Rakuten and Toshiba to provide information on the menstrual cycle of its users that is useful for both health and beauty. The service gathers and analyzes users’ basal temperature data, utilizing a thermometer that combines practicality with a design that is easily acceptable by women. The award was conferred to the companies for their realization of a revolutionary service through their proactive use of IT and the advanced combination of the Internet of Things (IoT) and other technologies.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Edy received the IT Special Award (Marketing Award) in recognition of its unique features and for its use of pioneering technology to achieve results. Rakuten Edy jointly developed and operated an application with TF Payment Service Co., Ltd. that allows smartphones to be used as payment settlement terminals for the first time in Japan. This made it possible to introduce settlement services that are not dependent on location or physical infrastructure, allowing small retailers and service providers to easily introduce e-money services in a short period of time. This innovative work and technology was highly appraised, and seen as driving growth in the market.
Both companies will continue to strive to meet users’ potential needs, while further improving services in order to contribute to the development IT industry.