OREANDA-NEWS. SoftBank Robotics Corp. ("SoftBank Robotics") today announced that it will launch the 'Pepper Partnership Program' on December 1, 2015 to comprehensively support developers of robot apps for 'Pepper for Biz', the enterprise model of the humanoid robot Pepper.

The Pepper Partnership Program accredits and supports three types of partners-'Robot App Partners' who develop robot apps, 'Design Partners' who design the robot user experience and 'Consulting Partners' who provide consulting for the introduction of Pepper at enterprises. By supporting developers from many angles, SoftBank Robotics will be able to respond to the wide-ranging demands of companies implementing Pepper for Biz.

For the Robot App Partners program, SoftBank Robotics will provide technical support, training tools, a process to verify robot app security and opportunities for sales promotion to fully support Pepper for Biz robot app developers from initial development to sales. Outstanding apps developed by Robot App Partners will be selected for inclusion on a dedicated app store scheduled to open in early 2016, so developers can widely market their apps to companies using Pepper for Biz.

Furthermore, SoftBank Robotics will introduce accredited and trustworthy Robot App Partners to various companies using Pepper for Biz with fixed and specific needs not met by the app store, thereby creating new business opportunities. Robot App Partners will be accredited through both written and practical exams. Already more than 200 companies have applied and over 60 have been accredited. For more details, please see the URL below (in Japanese). Information on the Design Partners and Consulting Partners programs will be made available in due course.