Hitachi Solutions introduces Web3 development for enterprises

Hitachi has introduced a Web3 development solution. The Japanese conglomerate’s Hitachi Solutions subsidiary is prepared to help entities with “one-stop support” for everything from staff training to commercializing a Web3 platform.

Hitachi Solutions is offering classroom training starting with the topic “What is Web3?” and dovetailing into business consultation. That can be followed by the creation of a use case study and infrastructure development and maintenance services, according to an Oct. 29 announcement on the Hitachi Solutions website.

Familiar services in a new package

Beneath the nicely worded presentation (even in automated translation), there are some familiar offerings, such as software-as-a-service cloud computing and platform-as-a-service using Hyperledger Besu and the Consensys GoQuorum transaction signer provided through the United Kingdom’s Web3 Labs. Hitachi Solutions will be happy to jump in at any point:

“From those who are new to Web3 and blockchain to those who want to verify for commercialization, we provide programs that meet your needs.”

Many of the services highlighted by Hitachi Solutions have been available already. Hitachi offered “Enterprise Blockchain Support” at least as early as March. Its blockchain utilization service also already offers REST APIs (Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interfaces) for smart contract management. 

Related: Japan’s major banks back new stablecoin project for global trade

It’s hard to become big in Japan

Hitachi has been in the blockchain business since 2016, it claimed. Despite its respectable tenure, it has yet to elevate itself to the status of a major player, even as other Japanese companies carve out places in the market.

Hitachi was a contributor to Hyperledger by that time and is currently a member of the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust. Hitachi partnered with Consensys at least by 2020 and developed a biometric crypto waller with the Concordium Foundation in December 2023.

Still, Sony raised its profile in the Web3 space in August with the launch of its Soneium blockchain with Startale Labs and partners that included Optimism, Circle, Alchemy, The Graph and Chainlink.

In addition, Japan has homegrown blockchain companies. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan’s largest financial group, opened stablecoin platform Progmat in 2022.

Soramitsu, the initial creator and co-maintainer of Hyperledger Iroha, has helped an assortment of Asian and South Pacific countries launch central bank digital currency and stablecoin projects.

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