■ Efforts towards society Wacom <6727> emphasizes ESG and sustainable society efforts, and discloses its basic ideas and specific activities related to 'Efforts towards society' on its website. What is unique is that it links its technology with the vision 'Lifelong Ink'. It recognizes that its existence and value creation source lie in supporting the 'writing/drawing' experiences that people accumulate throughout their lives, and passing them on to the future to be in line with a sustainable society. Pursuing the possibilities of a wide range of 'Lifelong Ink', including daily life, from creativity to business and education, with various community partners, it can also be said to contribute to its own sustainable growth along with its users.
※ For example, in the field of education, they have developed 'AI ink for education' with partners, which analyzes students' individual learning characteristics from the gaze data during learning and pen movements, and provides a learning environment tailored to individuals.
In addition, it values the relationship between individual employees living at various bases around the world and the local community and endeavors to engage in environmentally friendly operations and product development. They also continue to propose ideas about the future of society not only as a single company, but also with communities such as Ars Electronica. Furthermore, they plan to implement technical services for STEAM education and exploratory learning in society.
They also recognize the response to climate change as an important issue in environmental management. They participate in the Japan Climate Initiative (JCI) and aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 4% annually (base year: fiscal 2014), and they have also announced their CO2 emission reduction goals that should be achieved by fiscal 2030. In addition, they are working on business activities based on the analysis of the risks and opportunities that climate change poses to business environments, along with information disclosure on environmental performance such as greenhouse gas reduction and CO2 emissions (Scope 1, 2, 3). They also request their trading partners to take actions that lead to reducing CO2 emissions throughout their entire supply chain through agreement and practice with the 'Wacom Supplier Code of Conduct'. They also implement business continuity plans to respond to the risk of limitations on corporate activities caused by natural disasters such as floods, which are increasing year by year. Based on these efforts, on April 13, 2023, they expressed their support for TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) Recommendations.
※1 Ars Electronica, a world-renowned creative agency, has been proposing ideas about 'new creativity and future images of society brought about by advanced technology' for over 40 years since it was founded in Austria.
※2 In the area of 'Art' which is a component of STEAM education, which is becoming a social trend and consists of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics, it is possible to link creative activities to learning by utilizing AI technology to visualize creators' creative activities.
※3 For example, by combining programming education with a digital pen, it is possible to analyze personal ink data trajectories using AI technology, which leads to the development of logical thinking skills.
In addition, they regard the response to climate change as an important issue in environmental management, and have disclosed their CO2 emission reduction goals that should be achieved by fiscal 2030 by participating in the Japan Climate Initiative (JCI) and aiming for annual 4% reduction in CO2 emissions (base year: fiscal 2014). Based on the analysis of the risks and opportunities that climate change poses to business environments, they not only work on business activities, such as reducing greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions, but also implement actions to ask their trading partners to reduce CO2 emissions throughout their entire supply chain through agreement and practice with the 'Wacom supplier code of conduct'. Moreover, with regard to the risk that corporate activities may be restricted by natural disasters such as floods, which are increasing year by year, they have created a business continuity plan (BCP) and have been promoting countermeasures. Furthermore, on April 13, 2023, they expressed their support for TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) Recommendations.
They issue a booklet called 'Wacom Story Book' which covers elements of integrated reporting, mainly ESG, and conveys a series of stories such as the company's philosophy, employee thoughts, and user voices (first issue will be published in May 2023).
※Starting with an introduction to the values that the company values, team members share the company's product planning and technical development trajectory, as well as posting various community partners' and artists' voices, works, and case studies.
(Written by Fisco Guest Analyst Ikuo Shibata)