ICF Quarterly Report
FY 2024 Policy
Three months have passed since the start ofICF FY 2024. In this year, while adhering to theICF founding philosophy, activities will beupgraded from the following three broad
perspectives, which are based on theachievements of our activities over the past
three years.
1. Upgrade of Societal issue-driven activities.
In the past few years, the world has been rapidlychanging. As this momentum continues toincrease following the pandemic, ICF will identify
new trends and provide clear assessment of theanticipated societal impact. This will serve as astarting point for activities. At the same time, theagenda for societal issues research will be set
through back-casting methods ensuring afuture-oriented perspective.
2. Upgrade of business co-creation activities.
ICF will continue to explore the possibilities ofcreating businesses that resolve societal issues.
ICF will also promote the development of tools
effective in creating new markets and the rules
governing them. Some of the key elements
include strategy formation and evaluation
frameworks based on societal impact, newBAP：Business Acceleration Program

April to June 2024

finance schemes, and strategic use of publicaffairs such as fostering the momentum
essential for market creation. The secretariat
aims to make all of these tools user-friendly formembers and to provide them as open resources.
3. Upgrade of community activities. ICF
provides a place for members to shine, where allbring together their interests and expertise
under social issue themes. This brings collective
impact. Meanwhile, networking events provide avenue for exploring industry-academiagovernment collaboration aligned with thethemes of societal issues. ICF events motivate
individual participants and help them set off onreal actions.

Annual activity plan
https://icf.mri.co.jp/activities/?lang=en- Emphasis on efforts to link ICF's member
and network bases to concrete societal
implementation- Action plan consisting of fundamental
activities, societal issues research, societal
implementation research, and business cocreation

Activity Report April-June
ICF General Assembly 2024 (April 22)
The ICF General Assembly was held at thestart of the new fiscal year and offered a review
of ICF activities over the past three years aswell as presentation of the activity policy andplans for the new fiscal year (see previouspage). The secretariat expressed theorganization’s commitment to resolving specificsocietal issues and implementing solutions into
society in a concrete manner.
In the keynote speech, Dr. Hirotaka Osawa,
Associate Professor from Keio University,
discussed future societal issues from theperspective of science fiction, providing many
insights into future societal issues brought
about by new technologies.
In the second half, eight members presented
short pitches on their projects related to andshared their expectations for this year's ICFactivities. A networking event followed, fostering
active information exchange and networking
among members.
Detailed event report (in Japanese):https://icf.mri.co.jp/activities/activities-17728/

ICF Co-Creation PoC Planning
Briefing Meeting (May 21)
The ICF Co-Creation PoC Planning Briefing
Meeting was held online as the first session ofICF’s business co-creation activities. The
meeting presented six co-creation projects
starting this fiscal year. Based on the proposals
previously discussed in a semi-closed format,
all of these projects aim to expand co-creation
activities by recruiting additional participants.

《Co-Creation Themes》
Theme 1: Carbon Credit "Deep Dive Workshop"(Decarbonization Acceleration Lab Activities)
Theme 2: Regional Societal-Problem-Solving
Platform (trial project of Azabudai Shopping
Street Area in Tokyo × Generative AI)
Theme 3: Innovation Creation Utilizing PhD
talents (collaboration project with Mitsubishi
Research Institute's "INNOGUIDE")
Theme 4: Human Enhancement and Virtual
Economy (co-creation project with venture
members in this field)
Theme 5: Improving Well-Being of Caregivers(provided by NTT DATA Japan Corporation)
Theme 6: Regional Revitalization throughActivation of Regional Economic Circulation(provided by NTT DATA Japan Corporation)
The secretariat recruited and matchedinterested participants after the meeting.
Subsequent kick-off events were held for thefollowing two themes:
Theme 1
Carbon Credit "Deep DiveWorkshop" (June 12th) <see page 3>
Theme 4
Special Webinar: Societal
Transformation Brought by XR (June 26) <seepage 4>

Carbon Credit Deep-Dive Workshop(June 12)On June 12, the secretariat held a kick-off
event for Decarbonization Acceleration Lab, anew business co-creation initiative launched thisyear. Approximately 150 people (60 in-personand 90 online) attended the event.
The carbon-credit market environment isexpected to change significantly in the comingyears. This will be the result of progress in theglobal market system and its rules, for example
principles for responsible participation in thevoluntary carbon credit market announced by theBiden administration in May 2024. Keeping up
with these market trends, ICF launched theDecarbonization Acceleration Lab to shareknowledge about carbon crediting, generate cocreation ideas, and conduct case studies throughcredit procurement on a trial basis.
Early movers in this field who are alreadyprocuring or utilizing carbon credits in theirbusiness took the stage, and through a panel
discussion they explored the significance of early
efforts, future market prospects, and methods ofpersuasion for internal stakeholders.
Participants highlighted several significant
benefits of the initiative, including strengthening
relationships with business partners, secondary
effects (such as regional contributions andbiodiversity), and exploring and seizing business
opportunities through early entry. On the other
hand, challenges were also noted, such asdifficulties of penetration and coordination withincompany, complicated procedures, and theconsiderable amount of time required forpreparation. We will continue to advance ourdiscussions towards concrete actions. The next
round of events is scheduled for September.
《Program Outline》

Panelists:- Michiko Ishikawa (JX Nippon Oil & Gas
Exploration Corporation)- Takahiro Okubo (Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd.)
- Yohei Funakoshi (Sustineri Inc.)
Facilitator:- Koji Kojima (Mitsubishi Research Institute,Inc.)- Panel Discussion Topic 2: Challenges ofAchieving Negative Emissions through Carbon
Dioxide Removal (CDR) Credits
Panelists:- Takuya Murao (Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.)- Kazuo Hirotani (Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.)- Yukimi Shimura (MUFG Bank, Ltd.)
Facilitator:- Yushi Horita (Mitsubishi Corporation)- Closing: Wrap-up and Moving towards Cocreation- Networking

Participants in venue

Panel discussion- Opening: Introduction to the "Decarbonization
Acceleration Lab" activities- Presentation: Sharing new trends and raising
issues related to carbon credits- Panel Discussion Topic 1: Challenges of New
Business Models through Carbon Offsetting andInsetting
Networking

Aiming to Promote the Advancementof Women of Diverse Backgrounds,
Offering Recurrent Education Courses
for Women Who Are Unemployed or in
Non-Regular Employment, andVerifying Effects forCommercialization

genuinely promote the active participation ofwomen in the labor market, including not only
regular female employees but also non-regularand unemployed ones.

The advancement of women in society is oneof the important societal issues highlighted in
the Listings of Societal Issues, which wasprepared and published by ICF, and theBusiness Acceleration Program (BAP), which isa series of co-creation activities with startups
with high aspirations to resolve societal issues.
The secretariat has engaged stakeholders withsolutions to discuss and explore potentialbusinesses.

《Outline of the course》

Through these activities, ICF recognizes that
it is necessary to expand recurrent education for
non-regular female workers (including fixedterm, part-time, and temporary workers) and
unemployed women, to provide solutions to theissues of women with diverse backgrounds, andto provide support for their social advancement
in order to promote women's empowerment andactiveness.
To this end, MRI has signed a Memorandumsof Understanding (MOU) with ICF members
Sugiyama Jogakuen and calendrier to launch the"Life Career× Healthcare Course for Women
through Industry-Academia Collaboration." Thiscourse aims to identify clues to solutions tomental, health, and skill-related issues faced bywomen whose careers are interrupted orstagnant for various reasons and enable themto acquire skills to resolve these issues.
After the start of the course, the researchgroup will evaluate its effectiveness for theparticipants and explore opportunities to create
and expand a recurrent education market for
non-regular female workers (including fixed
term, part-time, and temporary workers) andunemployed women. Based on these results, weplan to expand out initiatives to companies,universities, and other entities that share ourcommitment to promoting the advancement ofwomen from various background, aiming toFor more details, please refer to the news
release.
https://www.mri.co.jp/news/press/20240621.ht
ml (Japanese only)

Duration: 6 days from Saturday, October 12 toSaturday, December 21 (12 classes in total)
Main programs: the role of women's life careers,
women's health literacy, and social
communication to gain understanding fromfamily and colleagues

Special Webinar: Societal
Transformation Brought by XR (June26)
We held this webinar as the kick-off event for
a new business co-creation activity, "HumanEnhancement and Virtual Economy," that islaunched this year. Shun Kubota, CEO ofMogura, Inc.—which operates Mogura VR,
Japan’s largest XR-specialized media—wasinvited to give a speech about the latest trends
and key points in XR and metaverse and efforts
toward societal implementation.
Participants raised questions about thepotential negative impacts of the evolution ofXR and metaverse on the real world and themovement toward standardization of platforms
developed by different companies. ICF will
promote co-creation activities in the field of
Human Enhancement and Virtual Economy
through booth exhibitions at the ICF Meetup on
July 19 and a workshop scheduled in August orSeptember.

Shun Kubota, CEO of Mogura, Inc.

New Entrepreneurial Story of
Impactful ICF Members (#43)
In order to tackle societal issues throughbusiness, entrepreneurs must have excellent
interpersonal skills and strong organizational
capabilities. What do they think and how are
they trying to create the world they envision?
The ICF has published a series of articles thatsheds light on the personalities ofentrepreneurs who are striving to resolve
societal issues. The goal of these articles is toshare with readers the philosophies of and theissues being tackled by these entrepreneurs,
which in turn should accelerate future
breakthroughs that contribute to society as awhole.
The new articles cover Mogura, Inc., which
operates Mogura VR, Japan’s largest XRspecialized media.
The list of Japanese articles is here.
The list of English articles is here.

FY 2023 Activity Results PublishedIn April this year, we published the event
report and archived video of the MRI DEMO
DAY 2024 held on March 7, 2024, including cocreation activities driven by societal issues withstart-ups from BAP 2023 finalists and special
award winners. More details can be found on
the ICF website below: (Japanese only)
https://icf.mri.co.jp/activities/activities-17252/
In late April this year, we published the 2023
ICF Activity Report 2023, which was shared withICF members and was released to the public in
May on the ICF website below：(Japanese only)
https://icf.mri.co.jp/information/information-17902/

ICF Members
Members are listed on the ICF website (inJapanese).
From April 1 to June 30, 25 companies andorganizations joined ICF. As of the end of June,
the total number of ICF members is 627.

Scheduled Activities for JulySeptember
ICF will continue and expand the business cocreation projects launched from April to June.
The ICF Secretariat will start examining andcreating a new list of societal issues,undertaking societal implementation research,and other activities.
In July, as usual, ICF will hold the Meetup
event to introduce new members and explore
co-creation opportunities. As the number of newmembers continues to increase, it is expected
to be a lively event.
In addition, the timing of the next round ofBAP, which usually starts accepting applications
in July, will have its schedule adjusted to alignwith that of the MRI DEMO DAY. Co-creation
activities with last year's (BAP 2023) finalists
are ongoing, and the next MRI DEMO DAY isscheduled to be held around January 2025, fully
based on the outcomes of these co-creation
activities. As a result, the next round of BAP will
start accepting applications around February toMarch next year.

ICF Meetup 2024 (July 19)
Following last year, ICF will hold a Meetup
event again this year with the aim of promotinginteractions and dialogues among ICF members
and creating serendipity with new business
partners. While in last year, the event focusedon the theme of wellness and healthcare andfeatured a keynote lecture, it is planned for thisyear to update on "Community Activities." Withan emphasis on promoting exchanges amongmembers, the program will allocate a lot of timeon pitches by newly joined members and thoseengaged in advanced activities aimed atresolving societal issues.
In addition, due to an increase in the numberof members from municipalities and universities
from Hokuriku region, the event will include asession dedicated to the region, featuring
presentations by five organizations to. After theevent, a networking session will be held toprovide an opportunity for exchanges amongmembers.
For details about the program and how toregister, please refer to the ICF website below.
(Japanese only)
https://icf.mri.co.jp/activities/activities-18175/

Platinum Career Award Ceremony andMemorial Symposium (July 31)
The Platinum Career Award is a joint initiative
between Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (aco-creation member) and ICF to recognize
companies that support the formation ofplatinum careers. Winners are selected based onthe "Toyo Keizai 19th CSR Survey (2023)"
conducted by Toyo Keizai Inc. and reviews on
the Job Talk website, and the final awardees aredetermined by a judging panel.

present the history of the Platinum CareerAward and the reasons for awards recipientcompanies. Mana Nakazora from BNP Paribas,
who is also active as a member of the Council on
Economic and Fiscal Policy, will be invited togive a lecture titled “Current Situation of Human
Capital from the Perspective of Credit and ESG
and Proposals for the Future.” In addition, Kazuo
Hiyane, the General Manager of Generative AI
Lab of Mitsubishi Research Institute, join thePlatinum Career Award judging committee
members to have a panel discussion about“Platinum Careers in the Age of Generative AI:
How to Utilize Generative AI to Enhance
Corporate Value.”
For details of the program and how to register,
please refer to the website below. (Japaneseonly)
https://platinumcareer.mri.co.jp/

The theme for the sixth edition of this event
will focus on the question that whether thecompany shares its management philosophy anddirection with its employees, provides anenvironment for developing and securing thehuman resources necessary to realize its
philosophy, and support the autonomous careerdevelopment of each employee. After receiving
applications from a total of 116 companies, thescreening meeting was held on June 14. The
award ceremony and memorial symposium will
be held on July 31.
The memorial symposium, supported by theMinistry of Health, Labour and Welfare and theTokyo Stock Exchange, is schedule to be held atTSE Hall.
At the award ceremony, organizers will

Nobuki Kasada and Takamasa Mizushima
Secretariat of Initiative for Co-creating the Future(ICF) Mitsubishi ResearchInstitute Inc.
Email：icf-inq@ml.mri.co.jp ICF website：https://icf.mri.co.jp/?lang=en
10-3, Nagatacho 2-Chome Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 100-8141, Japan