NEC and NEC Fielding Build Next-Generation Thin Client Environment for Sendai City Fire Department

NEC and NEC Fielding have built a next-generation thin client environment utilizing NVIDIA vGPU (Note 1) for the Sendai City Fire Department, contributing to the realization of highly flexible and efficient operations not tied to dedicated terminals.

This solution is scheduled to commence full operation in March 2026 and is expected to not only improve the operational efficiency of fire department personnel but also play a part in disaster prevention DX, such as strengthening information sharing between city/ward offices and the fire department during large-scale disasters and accidents.

【Background】

Fifteen years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and local governments are accelerating their recovery efforts while strengthening preparations for future disasters.

Amidst this, the Sendai City Fire Department had been using two terminals, one for the Sendai City internal LAN and one for fire department OA (Office Automation) tasks, switching between them depending on the work content. This presented challenges in terms of convenience and efficiency, such as moving between terminals and waiting for terminal availability.

To resolve this issue, NEC and NEC Fielding virtualized the fire department OA terminals into a VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) using a next-generation thin client equipped with NVIDIA vGPU, allowing access from the internal LAN terminals.

Furthermore, security measures compliant with the zero-trust security model concept enabled location-free operation for fire department OA tasks, strengthening information collaboration between city/ward offices and the fire department during emergencies such as large-scale disasters and accidents.

【Features of this System】

1. Improved convenience through terminal integration

The fire department faced challenges such as switching terminals depending on the work content and a shortage of terminals. By virtualizing the fire department OA terminals into VDI and allowing fire department personnel to remotely access virtual fire department OA terminals from internal LAN terminals, they can now instantly perform fire department OA tasks on the spot using a single terminal. This has improved convenience and operational efficiency for staff.

2. Achieved comfort comparable to business physical laptops

Fire department OA tasks require high graphic performance, such as zooming in/out and scrolling maps, and viewing live camera feeds. This next-generation thin client using NVIDIA vGPU solved the graphic performance issue, achieving comfort comparable to a typical business physical laptop (equivalent to 4 cores/CPU integrated graphics).

3. Enabled location-free operation for fire department OA tasks

It is common for the fire department's core network and the local government's internal network to be physically separated, requiring advanced security measures to connect both networks.

Therefore, in this project, in collaboration with Sendai City's Information Systems Division, security measures compliant with the zero-trust security model concept were implemented, achieving location-free access to the fire department OA system securely from anywhere on the internal LAN.

This is expected to enable highly advanced and rapid information sharing between the disaster response headquarters set up in city/ward offices and the fire department during large-scale disasters and accidents.

Regarding DX, NEC provides end-to-end services, from strategic conceptual consulting to implementation offerings, across three axes: business models, technology, and organization/human resources. Furthermore, aiming to evolve from a traditional SIer to a "Value Driver," NEC has systematized its value creation model as "BluStellar" (Note 2). By transforming business models with advanced cross-industry knowledge and refined cutting-edge technology, NEC solves societal challenges and customer management issues.

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(Note 1) NVIDIA vGPU (virtual GPU) is a solution that divides the memory of a GPU installed in a server into virtual GPUs (vGPU), allowing multiple virtual machines to efficiently share and utilize high core performance to the maximum extent.
https://resources.nvidia.com/ja-jp-grid-case-studies

(Note 2)

"BluStellar" is a value creation model that transforms business models with advanced cross-industry knowledge backed by実績 and NEC's cutting-edge technology refined through years of development and operation, solving societal challenges and customer management issues, and guiding customers to the future.

https://jpn.nec.com/dx/index.html

＜Contact for this matter＞

NEC BluStellar Business Management Division

E-Mail：[email protected]