10. Message from an Outside Director

ITFOR’s Strengths
Leveraged for
Sustainable GrowthWaka Abe
Outside Director
Director of Business Development Office,SK-Electronics Co., Ltd.
products, such as communication equipment andcontact center systems, from companies in theUnited States, Israel, and Taiwan, reflecting a degreeof global expansion in product offerings.
But I feel that ITFOR would benefit from a more
distinctive approach to globalization. It should
employ the expertise and the technology that it
has developed in Japan to tap markets abroad. To
that end, I intend to exploit the network that I’ve
established in my role as a director overseeing new
business ventures at SK-Electronics to facilitate
ITFOR’s globalization. It’s my intention to introduce
ITFOR to foreign companies with which it cangenerate synergies.
Cultivation, Development, and Retention ofDiverse Human Resources
A full 30.3% of ITFOR’s new hires are female,bolstering the company’s already large pool oftalented female employees. There is, however, roomfor growth, in ITFOR’s development of its female
workforce and in its cultivation of a more diverse
workforce overall.

Recognition in Line with Social Contribution
I joined ITFOR as an outside director in 2021. Initially,
I found myself overwhelmed, as I considered myself
a novice in IT and system development. When,however, I learned that the management teamalready consisted of IT experts and was instead
seeking an unbiased perspective from someone
without a specialized IT or system development
background, I relaxed and embraced the position.
My impression from early on is that ITFOR
possesses high corporate value. It contributes tofostering a sustainable society through a numberof business sectors and displays robust potential
for financial growth. Nevertheless, its visibility ismodest, and its standing in capital markets is notparticularly favorable.
As the company’s outside director, I highlight
ITFOR’s technological strengths and significanceto society wherever I can leverage my expertise. I
believe, meanwhile, that ITFOR should emphasize
public relations.
Promotion of a Unique Form of Globalization
In my view, one of ITFOR’s challenges is globalization. The company did originally import some

For the former, I suggest motivational initiatives
based on career development models that offer
women more opportunities to excel within thecompany. And for the latter, it is critical that ITFOR
nurture a pool of talent whose diversity extends
beyond mere gender.
ITFOR’s involvement with ESG, meanwhile, should beless comprehensive than focused on the company’s
most vital constituents: its human resources.
Because ITFOR has no production facilities, it has
minimal direct impact on the environment. It should,
therefore, prioritize the social and governanceaspects of ESG and target those aspects at developing its current and at cultivating its future humanresources. The company must invest capital intensively to ensure that it has in place, now and later,
the kind of talented employees whose intellects
and skills will raise the company’s productivity andprofitability.
Viable ideas in this regard include the following.
ITFOR should consider recruiting engineers fromoverseas; establishing university courses and ties touniversities, domestic and foreign; and implementing scholarship programs at academic institutions.
Ensuring a rich pool of human resources requires
numerous steps. ITFOR, as an open and changedriven company, is eminently capable of developing
and cultivating human resources that benefit ITFOR
and that benefit from employment at ITFOR.

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