SoftBank Group Corp. implemented the "Pepper Social Contribution Program" in Japan, lending humanoid robot, Pepper, to local governments, NPOs and other organizations for three years. The Program includes programming education for elementary-school and junior-high-school students, teaching tool development using Pepper and solution exploration for e social problems. In addition, we provided next-generation educational support using Pepper in countries around the world, including China, the U.S., and Canada.
Sustainability
Participation in Our Community
Under the corporate philosophy “Information Revolution — Happiness for everyone,” the SoftBank Group lays out the sustainability vision “Help shape the next 300 years for our future generations and the planet.” Based on the vision, the SoftBank Group cooperates with the Group companies under instruction from Chief Sustainability Officer in-charge of group-wide sustainability initiatives to promote social contribution activities including supporting the development of the next generation.
We live in an age of rapid technological change known as the information revolution. The SoftBank Group develops an environment where all people can utilize information technology and helps the next generation thrive in this age by providing educational support and leadership training programs. We believe this not only benefits society but also helps the Group attract future talent that can carry our business forward. We also believe that providing educational and business support for underrepresented founders is to create growth opportunities for talented people and to contribute to diversity in society.
Furthermore, each Group company follows an independent decision-making process to create social contribution programs that draw on the strengths and resources of its outstanding technologies or business models. This work, and the synthesis of these programs in specific fields such as eliminating the digital divide and youth education, can be seen as one manifestation of the SoftBank Group’s Cluster of No. 1 Strategy, a growth strategy by which we seek to create social value through capital synergies and shared visions between diverse Group companies.
The SoftBank Group will continue to engage in dialogue with stakeholders, including local communities, and contribute to society's greater happiness with people around the world.
Digital Inclusion
The SoftBank Group is committed to leading an Information Revolution that benefits all humankind, guided by our corporate philosophy, Information Revolution—Happiness for everyone. Technological progress has benefitted many people, but new issues have emerged, such as the digital divide. The Group will promote initiatives that leverage the strengths of each group company and will contribute to the realization of a world where everyone can enjoy the benefits of the Information Revolution.
Program Assisted by Pepper－Support of Next Generation Education
TOMODACHI SoftBank Leadership Program－Development Program for Leaders Charged with Recovery from Great East Japan Earthquake
Every year since 2012*1, the SoftBank Group Corp. and the U.S.-Japan Council have been inviting high-school students*2 in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima — the prefectures most severely hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake — to a three-week intensive course at the University of California, Berkeley, in the U.S. The students participate in the Y-PLAN (Youth-Plan, Learn, Act, Now!), a problem-solving workshop, to learn about global leadership skills and local contribution activities. After returning to Japan, they actively take part in various projects in their local areas by leveraging what they learned.
Data on Participants (as of December 2023)
Cumulative participants : 1,017
From 2020 to 2022, the program was temporarily suspended due to the spread of COVID-19.
Program participants in 2023 include college students.
Promote International Goodwill and Friendship among Young People through Baseball
The 30th World Children's Baseball Fair
in Fukuoka
SoftBank Group Corp. sponsors the “World Children's Baseball Fair”*, which was first held in Los Angeles, USA, in 1990 and was initiated by the world's two home-run kings - Japan's Sadaharu Oh and America's Hank Aaron. Their aim was to expand this wonderful sport, baseball, throughout the world and help children to learn the game. They also hoped this event would promote friendship among children and help to create a borderless world. Since then, it has been held every summer in cities around the world.
From 2020 to 2023, the event was changed to domestic baseball class due to the spread of the COVID-19.
Putting the World on a Better Track through Social Innovation (Arm)
Arm’s commitment to Closing the Digital Divide involves working with private and public sector partners on social impact initiatives that leverage technology to address inequalities and provide technology access to underserved populations.
One example of this is its partnership with the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Arm is providing technical and capacity-building support to the UNHCR’s Innovation Service, which works to ensure the agency’s humanitarian response is fit for the future and covers a range of areas, including data, digital inclusion, refugee-led innovation, and environmental resilience.
Additionally, Arm Education aims to help close education and skills gaps in computer engineering and STEM*. As part of the initiative, Arm provides teaching and learning resources, IP tools, and other support to universities, and works closely with academic and industry partners on research collaborations. Since 2013, Arm has supported and collaborated with over 2,500 universities worldwide and enabled more than 10,000 Arm-based classes.
General term covering the education area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics
Investing in entrepreneurs
Investing in underrepresented entrepreneurs (SBIA)
In 2019, SBIA launched the SoftBank Vision Fund Emerge program in the U.S. to promote diversity in tech by supporting and funding business owners who belong to groups historically underrepresented in the technology ecosystem. The program provided participant founders with the capital, tools, and networks needed to scale their business. Following its success, the program was expanded to Europe in 2020, and has partnered with 23 exceptional entrepreneurs.
Helping to nurture digital and entrepreneurial talent (SoftBank Corp.)
SoftBank Corp. is a scholarship partner of Kamiyama Marugoto College, a private technical college that opened in April 2023. In this role, the company has donated ¥1 billion toward effectively free tuition at the college. By supporting founders and providing courses in technology, SoftBank Corp. is helping to nurture the digital and entrepreneurial talent who will lead Japan in the future.
Promotion of Volunteer Activities by Employees
SoftBank Group Corp. and SoftBank Corp. employees are annually granted two days of paid leave to participate in volunteer activities of their choice. Additional days are granted if necessary such as in recovery assistance activities for disaster areas. SoftBank Corp. has also introduced a deemed-work volunteer system, under which volunteering for less than two hours once a month is considered work.
Social Contributions in Recruiting Activities
Based on the Cluster of No.1 Strategy, the SoftBank Group has made investments in leading companies in diverse areas and has carried out its businesses in various regions across the world. Investments by the SoftBank Group reflects its extremely flexible group management, rather than controlling and managing portfolio companies by making them wholly owned subsidiaries. In recruitment activities, we place emphasis on employment in the area of operation and in principle, employ local people. By working together with local experts, we are able to conduct our businesses in a way closely connected to the culture of the specific country or region and activating the local employment market. We also conduct fair recruitment and personnel evaluation, neutral to individuals’ backgrounds such as social status, class and academic record. The SoftBank Group promises fair and equal employment opportunities, regardless of individuals’ upbringing and other factors.
Other Social Contribution Activities
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