Using Technology

Research and Development

The LIFULL Group has established a department dedicated to research and development with the aim of exploring and testing how to use the latest technologies, including AI, generative AI and xR. This department focuses on studying and developing the application of these technologies in the Group's businesses and various services.

Maintenance of Information Systems

In our department dedicated to Information Systems, we maintain and expand information systems that not only ensure the internal network but also support various working styles, including remote work. This includes building a Zero Trust Network to address risks and improve both risk management and operational efficiency, as well as implementing security measures.

Multiple-Business Infrastructure

LIFULL has its own application platform, called KEEL, on which most of its applications run. The operation of a common infrastructure reduces the burden on our resources to develop and modify new services by avoiding duplicate function development, reducing application development hours and automating the monitoring of the operation status of various applications, as well as supporting various services from a security perspective.
The department which oversees this infrastructure is engaged in the operation and maintenance of the infrastructure with the aim of accelerating the creation of our services and also provides application developers with the necessary tools.

Usage of Generative AI in our Services

Our goal for LIFULL HOME'S is to create new user experiences and provide value to clients by proactively incorporating the technology of generative AI. So, we have established a department dedicated to this purpose.
Overseas, LIFULL is also strengthening its services by utilizing generative AI in the sites it operates, aiming to improve the value they provide to users and increase operational efficiency.

Usage of Big Data

We have established a specialized department to leverage the big data accumulated through our businesses over the years in order to create value for our stakeholders. This department is responsible for data preparation, management and application planning. We consider various initiatives to not only utilize the data internally, but also to contribute its value to society as a whole. These initiatives include publicizing the real estate property information database, optimizing online advertising support for customers and collaborating with other organizations that utilize AI to create new value. We will continue to test and implement measures to ensure that the value of our data is returned to the entire society.

Cooperation with Overseas Development Offices

• In order to continuously strengthen the development capabilities of the LIFULL Group, we are actively hiring in the development departments of each subsidiary. In 2017, we also acquired a company in Vietnam that primarily undertakes development projects from Japanese companies and established it as a subsidiary (LIFULL Tech Vietnam). Additionally, in 2023, we established a development subsidiary in Malaysia (LIFULL Tech Malaysia).
• LIFULL, LIFULL Tech Vietnam, and LIFULL Tech Malaysia collaborate closely in development, forming teams for each project that transcend the boundaries of their respective companies and organizations. This approach enables integrated organizational operation and enhances development capabilities.

Acquisition of Development Resources

• We offer enhanced support for engineers to learn new technologies, such as expanding research content and implementing programs for them to learn more during working hours, in order to strengthen our competitiveness in the recruitment.
• In addition to hiring in the development departments of each subsidiary, we have also established subsidiaries as development bases in Vietnam and Malaysia. By recruiting development personnel in multiple areas worldwide, we strive to secure a stable pool of development talent in an increasingly competitive environment.

Development Productivity Management (only for LIFULL Co., Ltd.)

• We have set productivity targets (Key Goal Indicators, KGI) for development teams. By doing so, we have made it possible to visualize multiple indicators such as individual workload, development time ratio and production efficiency by cost. By identifying improvement points and managing progress in response on a monthly basis, we promote the acceleration of value creation.
  
  For the medium to long-term improvement of development productivity, we strive to maximize value creation while maintaining a balance with short-term development productivity. This includes conducting refactoring (organizing and redesigning the internal structure of source code) with the aim of fundamentally improving development efficiency.

Initiatives to Improve Quality and Safety

• Almost all development work for services we provide is performed in-house, including offshore development. We have established quality control standards and management processes for development work and develop in accordance with these standards to enhance the security of our services.
  For service and internal system failures, we have established and are operating a consistent flow for prevention, early recovery, creation of measures to prevent recurrence and have built a system to respond quickly and prevent recurrence in the event of an unexpected failure.

Creator's Day

To ensure that our development teams stay up-to-date with in the rapidly changing ICT field and foster innovation, we provide opportunities to work with new technologies and techniques outside the scope of their regular duties. Creators who are interested can propose special individual or team-based projects and allocate 10% of their working hours to research and development to approved projects.

Creative Awards

This is an in-house award system for projects, such as new features on our websites, new services and marketing initiatives. The Creative Awards are managed by a committee of volunteer employees. In the Audience Vote, employees other than creators participate by casting their votes which provides an opportunity for mutual praise and cross-departmental collaboration.

Internal "Study Abroad" for Engineers

This program allows engineers to "study abroad" on other teams for a certain period of time and acquire new skills while working on actual projects. This program is used to broaden the range of technical skills to meet individual career plans.

Mentor Managers

This is a system in which a manager in the same job category is assigned as the "Mentor Manager" separately from the supervisor to support the employee's career development. Especially in cases where the employee's job title differs from that of his/her superior, the Mentor Manager will be present at the goal-setting and evaluation interviews and will provide advice from the perspective of technical skills, for example, by conducting back-and-forth discussions.

All-Engineer Meetings

During these quarterly meetings held for engineers, we share topics that we want to share with all of our engineers, focusing on specific examples that embody the "LIFULL Engineer" image and cover different technical directions. A group of volunteers oversee the planning of the meeting every quarter.

Improving Productivity with Generative AI to Reduce Overall Tasks

We have implemented a system that enables us to see how productive the organization is on a daily basis. This system allows us to establish mechanisms that promote increased core business hours for value creation and reduction of non-core tasks, aiming to achieve higher productivity within each department. Additionally, we have developed tools utilizing Generative AI for internal use, to support business efficiency and reduction efforts. We are actively promoting reduction of non-core tasks across the entire organization to streamline workloads.
For example, we have introduced tools that utilize GAI for internal use, such as tools that streamline the transcription of audio or video files, or tools that summarize specific data or files. We have also seen examples of using images generated with GAI in promotional materials, which have achieved significant reduction in workload and avoidance of copyright infringement risks. This not only improves productivity but also serves as a measure to mitigate business risks. It is expected that the utilization of generative AI will continue to expand in various scenarios in the future.

Operation of a Secure Platform

In order to provide services that support people in giving them a fulfilling and happy life, it is crucial that these services are trustworthy and safe for users who access them.
At LIFULL HOME'S, we are committed to improving the accuracy of listing information to ensure that users can use our services with peace of mind. We have established a specialized department for information verification and have been working for years to correct any incorrect or fraudulent listings. We have implemented several approaches such as collaborating with property management companies and setting up channels for user reports. However, manually verifying every real estate advertisement which is constantly being updated with millions of listings is challenging, as it is prone to human errors and time delays. Therefore, starting from 2019, we began developing technology utilizing AI to improve the accuracy of information identification and have been training our AI systems to make them even more precise. Promising results have already started to emerge, and we are aiming for further implementation in the near future.
Reference: Precision of AI Automatic Detection Tool for Fraudulent Listings has Reached 87% (in Japanese)

Security

We primarily operate in the information services industry, so security is a crucial aspect in ensuring the sustainability of our businesses. It involves not only addressing unknown malware and ransomware threats but also assessing the situation to determine if information assets are exposed to risks and conducting audits to ensure various configurations are properly set up. To do this, we not only need to secure an adequate number of personnel but also have to implement security measures throughout our various IT solutions. In addition to conventional security measures, LIFULL continuously monitors its internal network and various devices, identifies incidents and their scope and establishes a security framework that utilizes various IT solutions to enable prompt responses and regular audits.