Earth Corporation Promotes "Democratization of Digital" with SmartDB Introduction - Accelerating Site-Led Business Reforms with a Foundation Utilized by All Employees -

DreamArts Corporation (Tokyo Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Hiroshima Head Office: Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture; President: Takao Yamamoto; hereinafter "DreamArts"), a provider of cloud services for large enterprises, is pleased to announce that Earth Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Katsuyoshi Kawabata; hereinafter "Earth Corp.") has introduced "SmartDB® (SmartDB)", a cloud service for business digitalization for large enterprises, and will commence full-scale operation as its business foundation from April 2026.

The company is promoting the "democratization of digital" (Note 1), where business departments themselves are responsible for digitalization. Through this initiative, they aim to accelerate company-wide DX and strengthen corporate competitiveness.

Note 1: "Democratization of digital" refers to a state where, as internalizing DX becomes a management issue, business departments proactively engage in problem-solving and value creation through DX, and autonomously and continuously lead improvements and value amplification. For details, please visit: https://hibiki.dreamarts.co.jp/smartdb/democratization/

Akira Kaji (right), Executive Officer, General Manager of the Management Planning Division, Information Systems Department, and Ryo Todaka (left), Information Systems Department, System Development Office, Head Office Systems Section, Management Planning Division.

Background of SmartDB Introduction: Transition to a Company-Wide Foundation for "Democratization of Digital"

Earth Corp. has set a DX vision to become a "leading company that co-creates a rich life for people and a sustainable future for the planet by making digital a driving force for management and accurately grasping change." Under this DX vision, they are working on DX with a focus on accelerating data-driven management and digitalizing customer touchpoints, while also focusing on developing digital human resources to support these efforts.

To respond to the rapidly changing business environment and the advancement of digital and AI technologies, the company determined that it was necessary to realize the "democratization of digital," where business departments can utilize digital tools themselves to improve operations while maintaining the control of the Information Systems Department. On the other hand, existing systems were based on custom development for flexible responses, making it difficult for business departments to build systems themselves. Furthermore, the Information Systems Department was overwhelmed with maintenance and operational tasks, as well as responding to diverse digitalization needs from various departments, resulting in a situation where development could not be expanded to the field while maintaining control. Additionally, as an operational challenge, communication centered around email led to information and progress being dispersed among individuals and departments, making it difficult to grasp the overall business process.

To solve these issues, SmartDB® was introduced as one of the foundations for promoting company-wide "democratization of digital."

Reasons for Selecting SmartDB: Balancing Site-Led Development with Company-Wide Control

The following points were particularly highly evaluated during product selection:

Business App Development with No-Code Allows employees in business departments, even those not familiar with IT, to develop business applications using no-code, enabling proactive problem-solving by the business departments.

Robust Security Features and Governance for Large Enterprises Enables appropriate management of information access scope and ensures governance through detailed access control. The Information Systems Department can also operate while maintaining overall control.

High Evaluation of Digital Human Resource Development and Retention Support System In addition to introduction and utilization support, the utilization of knowledge-sharing communities among user companies enables self-driven utilization promotion.

Abundant Standard Features Despite being no-code, it is equipped with standard features that can handle the complex business requirements of large enterprises.

Results of SmartDB Introduction: "Democratization of Digital" Expands to the Field

Following the introduction of SmartDB®, results have been achieved in both business departments and the Information Systems Department. The first case from a business department involved an employee unfamiliar with IT building an application for requests in approximately one week. Site-led development is progressing, and a development cycle of rapid prototyping and improvement is becoming established in a short period. In the Information Systems Department, the use of the no-code platform has enabled development without relying on specialized development experience, improving development efficiency and allowing for company-wide deployment one month ahead of the original plan.

Furthermore, business process improvements have also progressed. In the software purchasing process, the process from quotation request to introduction, which was previously handled by email, has been integrated into a single workflow. This allows for centralized management of information and progress status that were dispersed by department or person in charge, leading to faster decision-making.

Future Outlook: Expanding Company-Wide Utilization and Adoption, and Advanced Utilization with AI

Earth Corp. aims to achieve the "democratization of digital" and promote the expansion and establishment of development systems by business departments. They will also actively utilize knowledge from other companies through DreamArts' user community. Furthermore, by considering the use of "SmartDB Practical AI (PA) Option" (Note 2), they aim to further promote company-wide DX and improve business performance by increasing operational efficiency and speeding up decision-making.

Note 2: SmartDB Practical AI (PA) Option: https://hibiki.dreamarts.co.jp/smartdb/function/ai/

Comment from Akira Kaji, Executive Officer, General Manager of the Management Planning Division, Information Systems Department, Earth Corporation

"We strongly resonate with the 'democratization of digital' advocated by DreamArts. While our company has been working on DX, we believe that for further business reforms, it is crucial for each individual working on-site to proactively utilize digital tools and solve problems themselves.

Currently, the company-wide deployment of SmartDB® is complete, and proactive development by business departments is spreading to various divisions. Moving forward, we aim to become an organization that achieves autonomous improvement by further strengthening the system to support application development in the field and enhancing digital human resource development for the establishment of utilization.

We also aim to further advance our initiatives by considering the use of the SmartDB Practical AI (PA) Option, and connect this to achieving our corporate goals."

DreamArts will continue to provide total solutions that contribute to "strengthening on-site capabilities" and "improving corporate competitiveness" with the philosophy of "co-creation."

About SmartDB® (SmartDB): https://hibiki.dreamarts.co.jp/smartdb/

SmartDB® is the No. 1 business digitalization cloud in the large enterprise market share (Note 3). It enables no-code development for everything from individual site operations to company-wide cross-departmental operations. With a wide range of functions centered on workflows and web databases, it supports flexible external system integration, detailed access control, and advanced security requirements. It is used by users in all industries and business types, primarily large enterprises, such as MUFG Bank, KDDI, Tsuruha Holdings, and the University of Tsukuba. As its service infrastructure, it adopts the cloud platform "Microsoft Azure" provided by Microsoft, realizing an environment that can flexibly respond to changes in usage scale and increases in content.

Note 3: Based on Techno-System Research's "2025 SaaS Workflow Market Manufacturer Share Survey."

About DreamArts Corporation: https://www.dreamarts.co.jp/

DreamArts, with its corporate mission of "Contributing to the development of people, organizations, and society filled with the joy of co-creation," acts as a true solution partner for its customers, assisting in comprehensive problem-solving by embodying "co-creation" itself.

Its main services include cloud services such as "SmartDB®," a business digitalization cloud for large enterprises; "ShopRan® (ShopRan)," which supports multi-store operation reforms; and "InsuiteX® (InsuiteX)," a business cockpit that transforms the way large enterprises work.