Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Creating liberating content

NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore stand together

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today praised the unity

Related News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha (ANI) NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed the Lok Sabha, praising Maha Kumbh 2025 as a milestone for country. Lauding

Rishabh Pant bats in the nets for Lucknow Super Giants ahead of IPL 2025 season. (Image: LucknowIPL/X) As the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) gear up for the 2025 Indian Premier

NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore stand together for a photo enroute to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today praised the unity of citizens for making Maha Kumbh, the grand month-long gathering of Hindu pilgrims, a successful event. At least 66 crore

Israel’s overnight attacks on Gaza stopped short of an immediate ground invasion, suggesting that its leaders may be waiting to gauge Hamas’s reaction before returning to a full-scale ground war,

NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted searches against US billionaire George Soros backed firm Open Society Foundation in Karnataka’s Bengaluru.According to the officials of the probing agency, the searches

Trending News

MUMBAI: RBI has pumped in over Rs 5 lakh crore into the banking system since mid-Jan through bond purchases, forex swaps and early-April maturity repos. To ensure that liquidity remains

Top stocks to buy (AI image) Stock market recommendations: According to Somil Mehta, Head – Alternate Research, Capital Market Strategy, Mirae Asset Sharekhan, Trent and Bharat Forge are the top

NEW DELHI: India’s trade deficit has narrowed to a 42-month low of $14 billion in Feb 2025, thanks primarily to imports slowing to $51 billion, data released by the commerce

US President Trump with PM Modi NEW DELHI: Amid US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, India is engaging with the US to find ways of increasing trade and discussing the

Bajaj to buy out Allianz’s stakes in insurance joint ventures MUMBAI: In the biggest insurance sector deal in India, Bajaj group will buy out Allianz’s 26% stakes in their life

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are on track for the worst-ever annual equity selloff in FY25 in rupee terms, driven by sustained outflows since October 2024. In the first two weeks

A company in Japan explains

Word Count: 426 | Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes


Mikio Okumura, group CEO and president of Sompo Holdings Inc.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Sompo Holdings, Inc., one of Japan’s biggest insurance companies, says it’s using artificial intelligence to help alleviate a critical shortage of workers needed to care for the country’s aging population.

AI and other technology can replace tasks normally performed by people while simultaneously improving nursing care services, Group CEO Mikio Okumura told CNBC’s “Managing Asia.”

He cited sleep measurement sensors as one example.

“In the past, our caregivers [had to] visit each room to check sleep status … But instead of visiting, by caregivers, we set a sensor in a bed so that we can monitor from the office,” he said.

“Also, we can check the quality of sleep every minute, so if it deteriorates — the quality of sleep — we can check what we can change, for example, meal or activities.”

Okumura said paperwork can consume 20%-25% of nursing care workers’ time, he said.

“We are introducing some digital technology to eliminate paperwork, so that caregivers can focus,” he said. “We are trying to improve the efficiency, and also we are trying to improve quality of services using technology.”

Japan’s elderly population hit a record-high of 36.25 million in 2024, the same year that its birth rate reached a record low. Residents of Japan also have one of the longest life expectancies in the world, with older generations continuing to live longer than previous ones, said Okumura.

Growth outside of Japan

Sompo Holdings announced in February a restructuring plan, effective April 1, that will see the company condense its four business units to two: “Sompo Property and Casualty” and “Sompo Wellbeing.” 

Sompo Wellbeing includes the company’s Japan-based nursing services and life insurance businesses.

But Okumura told CNBC’s Christine Tan that its property and casualty arm is where Okumura foresees the biggest growth — mostly from international markets.

“By 2030, we plan to double profit, and also market cap … maybe 80% will come from Sompo P&C and 20% from Wellbeing,” he said, adding that “40% of the profit will come the from domestic market in Japan, and 60% from outside of Japan.”

Okumura said one of the biggest challenges for the company is Japan’s shrinking population.

“When I was born, in 1965, the number of new babies was 1.8 million. But today only 700,000,” he said. “It’s impossible to see a growing population in the future, so … we expect the overseas business is the growth driver for Sompo.”

The company does not plan on expanding Sompo’s wellbeing services overseas though, due to differences in culture, regulation and social security systems, Okumura said.



Source link

Sign In

Welcome ! Log into Your Account