Assistive technology advances Fujitsu’s DE&I hiring strategy

Cases
Assistive technology advances Fujitsu’s DE&I hiring strategy

After a few successful projects, Fujitsu came to Monstarlab with a wish to improve their work environment to be more inclusive, caring and embracing diversity within the organisation. It has always been a goal for them to be socially responsible. They wanted to focus on improving work life for those on the autistic spectrum by developing assistive technologies to make their lives more fulfilling and a little easier. 15% of adults on the autistic spectrum in the UK are in employment but research shows 75% want to and could work. Fujitsu wanted to facilitate and support a buddy scheme introduced to new employees and they asked Monstarlab to facilitate the process.

Fujitsu has been trying to create a more inclusive and caring work environment for their employees. In particular, they considered how assistive technology could be utilised to better embrace diversity within the organisation.
Monstarlab teamed up with Fujitsu to provide an efficient way of kickstarting a digital change management process. We provided the framework and methodology, and facilitated a Five Day Sprint. Following the sprint session, a strategy and prototype was developed, which would enable the creation of an app, which turned out to be a productive and efficient way of utilising assistive technology in businesses such as Fujitsu, and it is now offered as part of the Fujitsu pipeline.

The App.

Together, Monstarlab and Fujitsu worked on an MVP that became an app called BuddyConnect. Fujitsu’s strategy was to trial the MVP as soon as possible with some of their partners like Barclays, E&Y and RBS, in which they determined to invest further in the app to eventually start white-labelling it and selling it to their clients throughout EMEA.

About Fujitsu.

Established in 1923, Fujitsu is the world’s 7th largest information and communication technology (ICT) company and no. 1 in Japan. Fujitsu offers a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. They have a yearly revenue of 3.952 billion yen (March 2018) and have approximately 132,000 Fujitsu employees supporting customers in more than 100 countries.

The Partnership.

Establishing an Enduring Partnership with Fujitsu

Monstarlab and Fujitsu worked together on other projects, both before and after the BuddyConnect project:

Before this project, Monstarlab and Fujitsu developed “Ask Saskia”, an AI-driven virtual support agent that aims to make the whole helpdesk experience in companies simpler and faster for the employees, while optimising work efficiency and reducing cost. This replaced their existing web-based service with native apps, for them internally and their global customer base.

In January 2020, Monstarlab was engaged in a new Five Day Sprint with Fujitsu and four different Police Forces, helping them embrace ways of working together to understand and define the problem around Out of Court Disposals. Sketching solutions, building a realistic prototype and finally putting the prototype into the real world by testing it with police officers. This will simplify processes, so that the police officers can spend more time on actual policing.

Fujitsu