Activity Report
Future Co-Creation Projects (FCPs) on Priority Themes Have Begun
The ICF has started its Future Co-creation Projects (FCPs), focusing on its three priority themes: Wellness, Dietary Innovation, and Climate Change Measures.
Note: An FCP is a project to clarify and establish a theme for societal issues that need to be resolved and to create a societal impact through regular workshop activities.
1. Wellness
The second round of this FCP was held on October 26. Continuing from where they left off in the first round, the participants further discussed and decided to explore the following two themes: (1) offering health programs that will help incentivize continuous usage (such as a smart mirror or metaverse) and (2) business ideas utilizing social health, which is an indicator consisting of criteria such as the status of health behaviors and contribution activities, the willingness to engage in these behaviors and activities, and the maintenance of mental health. The third round will be held from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Monday, November 28.
2. Dietary Innovation
The second round of this FCP was held on October 25. Nahoko Kusaka, a professor at the Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts, who studies Shared Dining, gave a lecture and hosted a Q&A session. In-person and online participants were then divided into small groups to discuss a variety of topics including the best ways to use Shared Dining for dietary innovation. In addition, the ICF Secretariat presented a policy roadmap drafted based on the discussions from the first round. It will be improved through further discussion.
The third round will be held from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Friday, November 25.
3. Climate Change Measures
The second round of this FCP was held on October 21. Based on the discussions in the first round, the ICF Secretariat presented various domestic and international case studies, focusing on the following topics of particular interest: visualization of individuals’ greenhouse gas emissions and the behaviors to reduce them, and provision of appealing behavioral options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This was followed by business ideation conducted in separate groups of online and in-person participants. The participants brainstormed ideas such as services that could be seamlessly incorporated into people’s daily lives and hobbies, and creating a system that would allow people to choose eco-friendly behaviors according to their personal values. The third round is scheduled to be held from 3:00 pm to 5:15 pm on Wednesday, November 30. The topics related to the discussions in the second round will be presented, followed by a fleshing out of ideas and development of business model hypotheses.
Release of Entrepreneurial Stories of Impactful ICF Members in Japanese and English
In order to tackle societal issues through business, entrepreneurs must have excellent interpersonal skills and strong organizational capabilities. What do they think and how are they trying to achieve the world they want? The ICF has published a series of articles that sheds light on the personalities of entrepreneurs who are striving to resolve societal issues. The goal of these articles is to share with readers the philosophies of and the issues being tackled by these business founders, which in turn should lead to accelerated social breakthroughs in the future. The list of Japanese articles is here. (24 articles have been released.)
English versions of the articles have also been released. The list of English articles is here. (21 articles have been released.) Please take a look!
Upcoming Activities (November – December)
ICF-Business Acceleration Program (BAP) 2022: Registration for Attendance at the Final Pitch Contest Now Open
The final Pitch Contest of the ICF-Business Acceleration Program (BAP) 2022 will be held as below. A total of 147 proposals were submitted for BAP 2022, and seven finalists were selected in mid-October after two rounds of screening. Currently, the finalists are refining their business ideas with the help of MRI researchers and consultants in preparation for the final Pitch Contest. Dr. Tomihisa Kamada, an ICF advisor, also plans to provide group mentoring. ICF is aiming to commercialize and expand these business ideas while utilizing internal and external resources. Please look forward to the final Pitch Contest where each finalist, who is addressing an important and major societal issue, will present a proposal focused on delivering a sustainable solution through their business. Those interested can register from the URL below.
■Date: 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm on Friday, December 9, 2022 (Admittance begins at 1:00 pm)
■Delivery method: Live streaming over the Internet. Up to two people from each Co-Creating Member organization are invited to participate in person
■Expected participants: The finalists, ICF members, and other companies and individuals invited by MRI
■Details (scheduled)
| 1:00 pm | Admittance opens |
| 1:30 pm – 1:35 pm | Opening address and promotional video |
| 1:35 pm – 4:00 pm | Final Pitch Contest (presentations by seven finalists) New Ordinary K.K., UPWARD, Inc., Tailor Works Inc., Study Valley Inc., Ninpath Inc., UNTRACKED LLC, and Anzaikantetsu Co., Ltd. |
| 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm | Audience voting and introduction of ICF activities |
| 5:00 pm – 5:30 pm | Announcement of results and closing address |