Updates on Societal Issues Research 2021
The content of the complete Listings of Societal Issues will be released to ICF members in three installments over the course of the year as The Societal Issues Report. ICF has published Japanese reports in four areas: Wellness, Disaster Prevention and Infrastructure, Water and Food, and Energy and Environment. English translations of the Wellness area in addition to the Disaster Prevention and Infrastructure area have been released.
To access the reports, visit the links to the ICF website below:
◇Wellness, Disaster Prevention and Infrastructure → Japanese/English
◇Water and Food, Energy and Environment → Japanese
Note: ICF members have exclusive access to the reports
An additional two areas of The Societal Issues Report will be published in early March: Mobility, and Education and Human Resources Development,. The Listings of the Societal Issues 2021 – 2022 will be published in late March. Please stay tuned for further updates!
After publishing The Societal Issues Listings, the ICF secretariat plans to hold a discussion session with its members and explore the societal issues in all the six focused areas. Details will be announced later.
RecentActivities
Startup Financing Seminar with ZeLo Law Firm on February 9th
ICF and ZeLo, a Foreign Law Joint Enterprise (https://zelojapan.com/en/), are cohosting a two-part seminar on financing and navigating regulations, which are significant business challenges for startups. ZeLo has provided a range of legal advice to many startups to help them accelerate, expand, and grow their businesses.
In the first session held on February 9th, the firm talked about startup financing with examples of funding and contracts. The participants also received in-person consultations in the post-seminar session.
The second session, scheduled for March 8th, will hone in on the importance of public affairs for startups. Public Affairs is considered to be the act of reaching out to the government and society in order to build social momentum and guide rulemaking. Although these actions are difficult, they are becoming increasingly important for new startups. The seminar will cover specific examples and methods to provide support. If you are interested, please join us!
Content:
◇Importance and methods of public affairs for businesses, especially startups
◇Outline of and case studies on related Japanese policy: the System to Remove Gray Zone Areas and the Regulatory Sandbox Scheme
Note: Event in Japanese
Diversity and Inclusion for Unique Human Resources Study Group: First meeting on January 28th
Immediately after Tokyo won the bid for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games back in 2014, Mitsubishi Research Institute established the Council for the Co-Creation of an Olympic and Paralympic Legacy. The council conducted a survey and subsequently published recommendations for ensuring that the games result in legacy for Japan; the council also implemented specific projects to help achieve this. On January 26th, it proposed three essential areas for legacies that will both help solve societal issues and transform society in the coming years:
1.Support for the active lives of athletes in society
2.Raising awareness of diversity and inclusion to make the concepts a new cultural norm in Japan
3.Raising diversity and transparency in decision-making processes within organizations and across society at large
Further information (in Japanese): https://www.mri.co.jp/news/press/20220126.html
The council launched a study group to implement the recommendations into society. The kick-off meeting was held on January 28th.
Content:
1.Recommendations for creating a legacy from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
2.Overview of the career-development support program for athletes
3.Panel discussion
Speakers:
◇Ryosuke Otawa, CEO, Yamato Sylphid
◇ Masatoshi Yokota, Associate Professor, Nippon Sport Science University
MRI distributed the Diversity & Inclusion Handbook it created to the meeting participants. The details of the second meeting in April will be available soon.