Marking Our 10th Anniversary

We entered a new fiscal year in April amid the turmoil of the novel coronavirus, but it also happened to mark the 10th anniversary of the Ricoh Institute of Sustainability and Business. Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of our stakeholders, as it is your support that has enabled our precious activities as an in-house think tank of Ricoh Co., Ltd..

When the Institute was founded in 2010, the collapse of Lehman Brothers was still fresh in everyone's minds and the world was dealing with the aftermath, particularly in the financial sectors in Europe and the United States. In the meantime, a Chinese fishing vessel had collided with a Japanese Coast Guard patrol boat. The year 2010 was also the year when the Chinese economy had surpassed that of the Japanese in size. Since then, Japan has sought to establish a new relationship with China, which had become the second-largest economy in the world.

It was also around ten years ago that smartphone began to proliferate. The rapid advances in information and communication technology (ICT), symbolized by the smartphone, have changed our lives considerably. The shift from ownership to sharing of things also has its roots in these technological innovations. Meanwhile, with the declining birthrate, Japan has continued to see an aging society and declining population as expected ten years ago. It is often difficult to take specific action to deal with a problem until it appears right in front of you. Today, there are many real problems related to the aging population and as a private firm we must try harder to ensure that technological advances such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics can address them.

Currently the novel coronavirus has become a very serious global problem. In fact, it is also related to the political, economic and social changes that have occurred over the last decade. It goes without saying that preventing the spread of infection is of the greatest importance, but current developments can also be seen as one of the consequences of the rapid pace of globalization and we must make use this as a lesson in designing global society moving forward.

Including this pandemic, there are indeed many things that we need to seriously consider and act on over the next decade to make the world better. All that each of us as individuals can do is to try our best in our own position. For our part at the Institute, we will look closely at domestic and overseas economic trends, global environmental issues and the impacts of technological progress on social structures and corporate management, from the perspective of a Japanese manufacturing firm operating globally. We aspire to shine a clear light on these issues and possibly make suggestions to solve them.

The capability of research and analysis to carry out these activities is cultivated through the process of serious discussions. I would like to take this occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Institute to seek even greater communication with you all in a variety of ways. I sincerely ask for your continuing cooperation and support.