May 21, 2021

GMO Internet Group joins in the Public-Private
Council for Air Transportation Revolution:
Protect air safety with security technology and
contribute to the growth of the next-generation mobility industry

GMO Internet, Inc.

Tokyo, Japan – May 21, 2021 – GMO Internet Group (https://www.gmo.jp/en/ ) joins in the Public-Private Council for Air Transportation Revolution established and operated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on Friday, May 21, 2021.

GMO Internet Group is aware that air is the “final frontier” of the industries following the land and the sea and has been making efforts towards Air Transportation Revolution. GMO Internet Group will contribute to the growth of the next-generation mobility industry by joining in the Public-Private Council for Air Transportation Revolution where the Japanese government and private sectors work together to consider the “flying car” and other use of air in logistics and transportation, and by collaborating on security technology for designing of the new plan for Air Transportation Revolution.

Public-Private Council for Air Transportation Revolution

R&D and testing to put "flying car" - which safely flies on its own short and intermediate distance and transports people and things relatively inexpensively - into practical use are currently conducted around the world.

What is vital to introduce the "flying car" as a new means of transportation to the social life in Japan and to develop it as a new industry in global markets is the Public-Private Council for Air Transportation Revolution^*1 established by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in August 2018. The Council consists of experts in industry, universities, and government and holds discussions on technology development and the improvement in the system needed to launch the "flying car" into society, such as developing the Roadmap towards Air Transportation Revolution in December 2018^*2.

Because of GMO GlobalSign HD's endeavors in the field of security, Founder & Group CEO Masatoshi Kumagai has become a member of the Council on behalf of the GMO Internet Group.

Group CEO Kumagai, who is a member of the Council, has obtained a helicopter pilot license in 2018 and operated a number of times. As a member of the Council, Kumagai will contribute to the growth of the next-generation mobility industry by providing his practical knowledge of Air Transportation in addition to the Group's technical knowledge.
(*1) "The Public-Private Council for Air Transportation Revolution" by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
URL: https://www.meti.go.jp/shingikai/mono_info_service/air_mobility/pdf/air_mobility.pdf
(*2) The roadmap has been updated and its name is now "Road map for the Aerial Industrial Revolution."
(Reference) "Road map for the Aerial Industrial Revolution 2020" by The Public-Private Sector Conference on Improving the Environment for UAVs (the latest version is made public on July 17, 2020)
URL: https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/kogatamujinki/pdf/siryou14.pdf

GMO Internet Group's Approach to Air Transportation Revolution

At GMO Internet Group, GMO GlobalSign HD and its consolidated subsidiary GMO GlobalSign took on initiatives including communications security technology and digital certificate technology.

GMO GlobalSign develops globally the only Japanese Certificate Authority with No. 1 domestic market share^*3. The company has managed digital certificates for 25 years. Its digital certificates have been adopted overseas, and the business is expanding globally.

Since November 2020, GMO GlobalSign has been giving technology related to enhanced security of communications and control of the drone and flying car to Prodrone Co., Ltd., an industrial drone dedicated manufacturer, and SkyDrive Inc., which develops flying car (DRONE FUND, a venture capital specializing in the area of drone and air mobility, makes capital investments in Prodrone and SkyDrive), by leveraging its accumulated know-how of the management and development of digital certificate technology and security technology, expanding into the area of next-generation mobility. GMO GlobalSign offers digital certificates for free for the demonstration experiment of the above companies in addition to the provision of a wide range of information on enhanced security of communications and control including encryption of communications of drone and flying cars.

GMO Internet Group is aware that air is the “final frontier” of the industries. GMO GlobalSign HD and GMO GlobalSign will work on the development of the security measures and technologies related to communications between and control of airframe and control systems to launch the automatic flight and remote operation of "flying car" into society in the future. GMO Internet Group will contribute to the protection of air safety and the growth of the next-generation mobility industry.
(*3) Source: the British Netcraft's SSL Survey of each hosting. The aggregate number of SSL the customers pay for (as of May 2021).

GlobalSign

GlobalSign started providing services in Belgium in 1996 when SSL security certificates started to be issued in the world, and it was the first Certificate Authority in Europe to acquire WebTrust. It has issued many SSL security certificates to Belgian government-related organizations, and it performs the certification of the Belgian government Certificate Authority, which is the top Certificate Authority of Belgian e-government projects such as eID^*4(BELPIC). It has joined the GMO Internet Group in 2006, and sells government-level security worldwide, including in Japan. It currently has a track record of issuing 25 million digital certificates, including SSL server certificates, and a large number of digital certificates to government-related organizations and major companies.

GlobalSign also participates in "CABF (CA/Browser Forum)" and "Anti-Phishing Working Group" and is actively engaged in activities as a leading company in the digital certificate market. Furthermore, in May 2018, GlobalSign has joined the Cloud Signature Consortium, an international organization consisting of experts in the electronic signature industry and academia, which has been established by Adobe in 2016. It participates in the determination of open standards in the implementation of electronic signatures on the cloud, which complies with international laws and regulations.
(*4) A national ID card project that has started as part of the Belgian e-government project. ID cards with digital certificates are distributed to all Belgian citizens over the age of 12.