Toshiba and BT named best UK-Japan partnership at British Business Awards 2022
Tokyo, Japan, 29th Nov 2022: Toshiba Digital Solutions Corporation, Toshiba Europe Ltd. and BT Group have been named the winners of the UK-Japan Partnership category for their longstanding partnership and contribution to the development of quantum secure communications at the British Business Awards 2022, organized by the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ).
The award aims to recognize joint-ventures and other partnerships between organizations that have made significant contributions toward economic or commercial relations between Japan and the UK. BT and Toshiba were commended for their many years collaboration and research that has advanced the field of quantum communications and opened up opportunities for it to contribute to wider society.
This partnership culminated in the launch of the world’s first commercial trial of a quantum secured metro network in London earlier this year. Opened in April, the BT-operated network provides a range of quantum secured services to commercial customers, thanks to Toshiba’s groundbreaking quantum key distribution (QKD) technology.
Set to operate for up to three years, the trial network ensures that users like global consultancy firm EY can effectively secure transmissions of sensitive data between physical locations against the threat posed by quantum computers. This is an important step toward fulfilling the UK Government’s strategic intent to develop a quantum-secure economy by 2030.
Toshiba and BT will continue to work closely together on developing the commercialization of the technology and making it available to more customers, alongside ongoing R&D to enhance quantum secure communications for UK and Japanese businesses.
“We are honored to be recognized alongside BT by the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan for more than 20 years of cooperation and research,” said Shunsuke Okada, Corporate Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, Toshiba. “BT and Toshiba share a heritage of innovation and collaboration. Bringing the two together has allowed us to lay down a new path for success for UK and Japanese businesses. We look forward to continuing our partnership with BT to advance our joint technology and find new areas to innovate.”
For the past 15 years, the BCCJ has recognized the outstanding contributions of UK and Japanese companies to both business excellence and the economic relations between the two countries through The British Business Awards.
Toshiba’s receipt of the award demonstrates its commitment to bringing the best of Japanese society and culture to the UK and the wider world. Alongside the continued partnership with BT to advance quantum secure communications solutions in the UK and elsewhere, Toshiba is set to move to a new European headquarters in Staines-upon-Thames next year.
For more details on the British Business Awards 2022 and the winners, please visit the BCCJ’s website.
For more details on Toshiba’s work in the UK and partnership with BT, please visit the Toshiba website.
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About Toshiba
Toshiba Corporation leads a global group of companies that combines knowledge and capabilities from over 145 years of experience in a wide range of businesses—from energy and social infrastructure to electronic devices—with world-class capabilities in information processing, digital and AI technologies. These distinctive strengths support Toshiba’s continued evolution toward becoming an Infrastructure Services Company that promotes data utilization and digitization, and one of the world’s leading cyber-physical-systems technology companies. Guided by the Basic Commitment of the Toshiba Group, “Committed to People, Committed to the Future,” Toshiba contributes to society’s positive development with services and solutions that lead to a better world. The Group and its 120,000 employees worldwide secured annual sales of 3.3 trillion yen (US$27.4 billion) in fiscal year 2021.
Find out more about Toshiba at www.global.toshiba/ww/outline/corporate.html
About BT
BT Group is the UK’s leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications and related secure digital products, solutions and services. We also provide managed telecommunications, security and network and IT infrastructure services to customers across 180 countries.
BT Group consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer serves individuals and families in the UK; Enterprise and Global are our UK and international business-focused units respectively; Openreach is an independently governed, wholly owned subsidiary, which wholesales fixed access infrastructure services to its customers – over 650 communication providers across the UK.
British Telecommunications plc is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
For more information, visit www.bt.com/about
