Topcon announces opening of Kitakyushu Training Center

LIVERMORE, Calif., USA/ CAPELLE A/D IJSSEL, The Netherlands – August 24, 2017 – Topcon Positioning Group announces the opening of the third training center of Topcon Corporation in Japan. Located in the Kitakyushu Science and Research Park in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, the training center will serve to support efforts by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism to promote i-Construction.

In Japan, the use of i-Construction is particularly popular in the Kyushu Prefecture. Of the 584 ICT projects commissioned by the MLIT that were conducted in fiscal 2016, more than 20 percent were overseen by the Kyushu Regional Development Bureau. Kitakyushu is proactively adopting i-Construction. With the objective of creating attractive construction sites and improving construction work productivity, the city partnered with the local construction industry to establish the Kitakyushu City i-Construction Promotion Council — making Kitakyushu City the first government-decreed city in Japan to undertake such an initiative.

Topcon has positioned the Kyushu region as a core site for the promotion of i-Construction and going forward it will continue making contributions to regional development.

The now officially opened training center replicates construction sites on a massive lot approximately 7,400 meters squared in size. The center uses the latest surveying equipment and construction machinery to enable participants to experience and learn all processes involved in i-Construction. An important issue related to further proliferation of i-Construction in Japan is the training of personnel who not only have broad knowledge related to drone-based 3D surveying and ICT construction, but who are also able to use this technology in real-world construction sites. As a pioneer of the industry, Topcon has been promoting the expanded use of ICT in construction for more than 20 years. Topcon will apply this vast experience and contribute to the development of human resources capable of leading civil and construction job sites into the future.

Last year, Topcon training centers operating in Shirakawa (Fukushima Prefecture) and Kobe (Hyogo Prefecture) were used by more than 2,000 people from construction companies and local government. Now with the opening of the Kitakyushu Training Center, Topcon will be able to provide hands-on training to an even greater number of people in the regions.

Topcon will continue to enhance customer support and further contribute to promoting i-Construction.

* “i-Construction” is:
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) in Japan has been promoting “i-Construction”, that the Japanese construction companies shall utilize 3D data in all the procedure of construction work to increase its productivity dramatically, generated by not only the conventional equipment such as Total Stations and GNSS receivers but also Drones, 3D Laser Scanners, and ICT Construction Machineries. “i-Construction” is a registered trademark of the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, MLIT.

About Topcon Positioning Group
Topcon Positioning Group is headquartered in Livermore, California, U.S. (topconpositioning.com). Its European head office is in Capelle a/d IJssel, the Netherlands (topconpositioning.eu). Topcon Positioning Group designs, manufactures and distributes precision measurement and workflow solutions for the global construction, geospatial and agriculture markets. Its brands include Topcon, Sokkia, Tierra, Digi-Star, RDS Technology, and NORAC. Topcon Corporation (topcon.com), founded in 1932, is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (7732).