Presentation Session: The most advanced Digital Transformation (DX) based on our Founder Ikeda-Sensei’s peace philosophy in AY2024
Soka University, Graduate School of Economics, International Business Studies Program (IBSP), has been conducting research and analysis on the most advanced Digital Transformation (DX) based on our Founder Ikeda-Sensei’s peace philosophy since 2022 as it was the 50th anniversary of Ikeda-Sensei and British historian Arnold Toynbee dialogue.
Dr. Hideyuki Matsumoto Ph.D., a visiting professor of IBSP, leads this research which conducts historical review on the IT revolution that accelerated during and after the 1990's, and discovers our adaptive approach to the most advanced DX based on the Founder's peace philosophy.
The research team members of master’s degree students of IBSP in academic year 2024 are Murodqosimov Muslimbek Bahrom Ugli from Uzbekistan in charge of Metaverse, Ks Chenneesvar Varshini from India in charge of Internet of Everything (IoE), Looi Pui Yee from Malaysia in change of Artificial Intelligence, Quinto Maravi Mayra Brenda from Peru in charge of Cloud/Big Data.
They presented the outcome of their analysis through reviewing Ikeda-Sensei’s lectures delivered in overseas universities, conducting a historical review of the IT revolution during and after the 1990s, discovering the most advanced DX based on Ikeda-Sensei’s peace philosophy, and identifying further research at Global Square, Student Performance Acceleration Center (SPACe), 2nd Floor on 20th December 2024.
At the beginning of the team presentation, Dr. Matsumoto shared his academical experience when he conducted his global information systems research, “Cross-Cultural Comparison of Global Strategic Information Systems Management in the Multinational Investment Banking Industry”, at University of London, Birkbeck college, School of computer science and information systems. Dr. Matsumoto historically and geographically explained 32 lectures delivered by Dr. Ikeda in overseas universities from 1974 to 2007. In addition, he clarified Dr. Ikeda’s definition of globalization as disappearance of distance in reference to Toynbee dialogue. He empathized the importance of deeply understand the philosophical concepts explained by Dr. Ikeda to conduct social science research in order to create peaceful, valuable, and wealthy human society.
Murodqosimov Muslimbek Bahrom Ugli from Uzbekistan firstly demonstrated the reason why he chose IBSP of Soka University. He believes that Soka University focusing on global citizenship and humanistic values will help him to grow both professionally and personally. As a master degree student, he is deeply interested in how international trade can promote peaceful prosperity and economic growth for all nations. He expects to develop his skills and knowledges, which is necessary to contribute to interconnected and prosperous world, through education provided by Soka University, IBSP master course.
Secondly, he explained location, culture, political and economic structure of the republic of Uzbekistan in central Asia. In addition, he introduced the definition of metaverse which is a virtual universe made up of interconnected, immersive digital spaces where users can interact, socialize, create, work and play. He also explained the technological difference between Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR). VR is a technology that enables users to play in a digital environment through a headset. AR is a technology that overlays digital contents such as images, sounds, videos, or other data onto the real world to enhance the physical world by adding digital elements. MR combines elements of both VR and AR, blending the physical world with digital objects in a way that allows them to interact.
He thirdly explained Ikeda-Sensei's lecture, “Leonardo's Universal Vision and the Parliament of Humanity”, which is delivered at University of Bologna, Italy in Jun 1994. In the lecture, Ikeda-Sensei emphasized importance of universalism and cosmopolitanism, peace, human rights, and youth involvement, independent spirit, importance of dialogue and global citizenship. In conclusion, he concluded that metaverse will be able to foster social and political inclusion, create safe virtual refuge for displaced people, and provide training for activists and human rights professionals.
Ks Chenneesvar Varshini firstly explained the reason why she selected IBSP of Soka University. She believes that Soka University, IBSP mater course offers a solid foundation in economics alongside global business concepts. Additionally, the course’s humanistic values and global perspective align well with her goals to make a positive impact in both the business world and society.
Secondly, she explained location of Bangalore, her hometown, and culture, political and economic structure of the republic of India. In addition, she introduced the concepts of Internet of Everything (IoE) which connects two components ‘internet’ and ‘everything’. With IoE, everything can be equipped with digital features. IoT will be able to fundamentally change how we live, work and interact with all digital items connected through internet. It will be able to prevent manual work and time loss, improve the quality of all products and services.
She thirdly explained Ikeda Sensei's lecture, “Toward a World without War: Gandhism and the Modern World”, which is delivered at National Museum, New Delhi, India, in February 1992. In the lecture, Ikeda Sensei demonstrated his great mentor, Josei Toda Sensei, who was a pacifist, compassionate leader, and reformer like Mahatma Gandhi. Ikeda Sensei identified the valuable lessons which we can learn from Mahatma Gandhi's spiritual legacy and humanity's greatest treasures. The four key aspects of Gandhism are optimism, activism, populism, and the holistic nature of vision. Ikeda Sensei’s philosophy helped her to understand the four key aspects of Gandhism which are promoting nonviolence, integrating technology with human life, and empowering individuals and communities. In conclusion, she emphasizes that IoE can support a future that reflects Gandhi's ideals of interconnectedness, justice, and empowerment.
Ruziboev Bobur ”Bob” Alisherovich firstly demonstrated, as to the reason why he selected Soka University, that he had been inspired by his fellow friends who studied here, and he would like to experience a supportive environment and learned from experienced professors in Soka University, aiming to enhance his global business skills. He secondly moved on to his research topic, Robotics, and demonstrated the structure of robots, comprising a central processing unit, sensors, actuators, power supply, and programming. Highlighting the benefits, he emphasized increased efficiency, improved safety, cost savings, and operational speed advantages. On the other hand, he also mentioned that there are disadvantages including job displacement, maintenance costs, high initial investment, lack of analytical ability, and concerns about dependence on technology. Transitioning to Dr. Daisaku Ikeda's lecture, “A new humanism for coming century”, given in New Delhi, India, in 1997, he introduced Ikeda-Sensei's thoughts on humanism and the centrality of humanity's power in shaping the future and he outlined the key topics covered in the lecture: New Humanism, the role of education, and the importance of peace in human civilization. As the main body of the presentation, he presented Ikeda sensei’s thoughts on new humanism, education, and the importance of peace. Reflecting on the 20th century as a period of regret due to global wars, he emphasized Ikeda-Sensei's point of view on peace as not merely the absence of conflict but the presence of positive and harmonious conditions. He emphasized that peace, as envisioned by Ikeda-Sensei, realizes human potential, drives cultural and educational progress, and fosters global unity. He concluded that Ikeda-Sensei believed that peace is essential for cultures to grow, and education can deliver a positive change.
Looi Pui Yee explained the reason why she chose IBSP of Soka University which is a multicultural international university that embraces the importance of global citizenship. This allows her to connect with people from different countries and cultures, helps her to understand the importance of peaceful coexistence, and encourages international collaboration in business.
Secondly, she explained location of Kuala Lumpur, her hometown, and culture, political and economical structure of Malaysia. In addition, she introduced the history and concepts of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is technology that enables computers and machines to perform tasks which simulate human learning, comprehension, problem-solving, decision-making, and creativity. AI has three major technologies, i.e. rule-based AI, machine learning, and deep learning. AI is utilized for mobility, education, entertainment, problem solving, health care and other various fields.
She thirdly explained Ikeda Sensei's lecture, “Thoughts on Education for Global Citizenship”, which is delivered at Columbia University, New York, USA in June 1996. In the lecture, Ikeda-sensei emphasized importance of global citizenship, importance of education and value-creating education. AI is a tool for furthering Ikeda Sensei’s vision for Global Citizenship in the field of education. It enables to introduce different cultures and people from all over the world, raise awareness about global issues like climate change, human rights, and real-time translation ton support smooth communication between individuals from different countries. In conclusion, AI is part of our daily lives nowadays and the use of AI in education helps to promote global citizenship and value-creation education system such as the Soka Education system.
Quinto Maravi Mayra Brenda explained the reason why she chose IBSP master course of Soka University. She practices the philosophy of respecting the dignity of life and she lives each day try to apply this philosophy in her daily life. She, as an accountant, found that Soka University would be the perfect place to improve her knowledge and discover new skills to be a humanistic business woman and contribute the society and her country.
Secondly, she explained location of Huancayo, her hometown, and culture, political and economic structure of the republic of Peru. In addition, she introduced the history and concepts of cloud computing which is a technology to allows access to computing resources, such as physical or virtual servers, data storage, networking capabilities, application development tools, software, AI-powered analytic tools and more over the Internet. She also explained that big data which is an extremely large and diverse collections of structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data that continues to grow exponentially overtime.
She thirdly explained Ikeda Sensei's lecture, “The Interaction of Civilizations Leads to a Flourishing Culture of Humanity” which is delivered at University of Palermo, Italy in March 2007. In the lecture, Ikeda Sensei emphasized importance of exchange among civilizations as a source of value creation, a spirit of open dialogue and the creation of a culture of peace through education.
From the perspective of global communication, cloud computing and big data allows us to establish efficient communication between people from different parts of the world. From the perspective of promotion of education and cultural awareness, cloud computing and big data in a together work allow many educational resources, which are hosted in the cloud, such as online courses, digital libraries, discussion forums, conferences, social media and job network, applications to learn new languages, complete information about history around the world and virtual classes about any topic.
In conclusion, she emphasized that peace is born in our own hearts, we would be able to apply Ikeda Sensei’s peace philosophy to improve our technological environment, such as cloud computing and big data. We should take an active stance to generate peace and value creation from where we are now.