Mentions of artificial intelligence within the filings of companies in the railway industry rose 64% between the first and second quarters of 2021.
In total, the frequency of sentences related to artificial intelligence between July 2020 and June 2021 was 137% increase than in 2016 when GlobalData, from whom our data for this article is taken, first began to track the key issues referred to in company filings.
When companies in the railway industry publish annual and quarterly reports, ESG reports and other filings, GlobalData analyses the text and identifies individual sentences that relate to disruptive forces facing companies in the coming years. Artificial intelligence is one of these topics - companies that excel and invest in these areas are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforeseen challenges.
To assess whether artificial intelligence is featuring more in the summaries and strategies of companies in the railway industry, two measures were calculated. Firstly, we looked at the percentage of companies which have mentioned artificial intelligence at least once in filings during the past twelve months - this was 78% compared to 52% in 2016. Secondly, we calculated the percentage of total analysed sentences that referred to artificial intelligence.
Of the 50 biggest employers in the railway industry, Hitachi Transport System, Ltd. was the company which referred to artificial intelligence the most between July 2020 and June 2021. GlobalData identified 83 artificial intelligence-related sentences in the Japan-based company's filings - 2.4% of all sentences. XPO Logistics Inc mentioned artificial intelligence the second most - the issue was referred to in 1.3% of sentences in the company's filings. Other top employers with high artificial intelligence mentions included East Japan Railway Co, Yamato Holdings Co Ltd and ID Logistics Group.
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By GlobalDataAcross all companies in the railway industry the filing published in the second quarter of 2021 which exhibited the greatest focus on artificial intelligence came from XPO Logistics Inc. Of the document's 1,093 sentences, 11 (1%) referred to artificial intelligence.
This analysis provides an approximate indication of which companies are focusing on artificial intelligence and how important the issue is considered within the railway industry, but it also has limitations and should be interpreted carefully. For example, a company mentioning artificial intelligence more regularly is not necessarily proof that they are utilising new techniques or prioritising the issue, nor does it indicate whether the company's ventures into artificial intelligence have been successes or failures.
GlobalData also categorises artificial intelligence mentions by a series of subthemes. Of these subthemes, the most commonly referred to topic in the second quarter of 2021 was 'smart robots', which made up 82% of all artificial intelligence subtheme mentions by companies in the railway industry.
By Andrew Hillman.
