OSINTech has received B Corp certification.
B Corp stands for "B Corporation." It is a certification system that is given only to clean companies.
B Corp certification is administered by B Lab, a non-profit network established in 2006 and headquartered in the United States.
B Lab has established the following unique corporate evaluation criteria based on its belief that "what is lacking in the current global economic system is a transition to a sustainable corporate structure".
- Are you contributing to the world by engaging in "social and environmental activities"?
- Are you committed to "accountability" to your business stakeholders?
- Are you maintaining a high level of transparency by disclosing its organizational operations both internally and externally?
Nowadays, corporate valuations that differ from the traditional shareholder-centric approach, such as stakeholder-centric and sustainable finance, have emerged, but as of 2006, they were extremely rare.
B Lab's values are consistent with OSINTech's philosophy of pursuing the well-being of all stakeholders, with an emphasis on the environment and society.
The purpose of B Lab's certification of companies that meet high standards in terms of "social and environmental activities," "accountability," and "transparency" is not just an evaluation, but also a movement to promote clean corporate activities worldwide through the creation of a community of certified companies.
As of March 2022, there are approximately 4,500 "B Corporation" certified companies worldwide.
OSINTech is the 10th company to receive B Corp certification in Japan. (as of March 24, 2022, the number of certified companies is publicly available).
As a member of the B Corporation, we will continue to participate in the community of certified companies and aim to further solve global environmental and social issues.
B corp？
Why B Corp？
This is because the philosophy of B Lab and OSINTech have many things in common.
OSINTech is a global technology company that is dedicated to solving global issues.
We believe it is essential for many people to focus on rules.
With today's technology, "Data from governments and international organizations around the world"
is now available for everybody.
Instead of making and enforcing rules only by someone who has a strong and powerful voice,
we can now have access to data from governments and international organizations around the world.
Each of us can step forward more as a leading role in making the rules.
We are trying to create such an era.
This is in line with B Lab's efforts to recognize companies that are not only doing what their powerful
shareholders want, but also what is good for the broader society and the environment, and
to build a movement to create a new society of shining companies.
We’re building the B Corp movement to change our economic system— and to do so, we must change the rules of the game.
（Source: B Lab）
How to be B corp？
For those who are considering B Corp certification, we would like to mention the assessment we received.
In order to obtain B Corp certification, the B Lab requires an "B impact assessment," which consists of nearly 200 questions. This is like a test to see how clean a company is, but in the process of answering the questions, you will gain a lot of insight into how the company should conduct its business and how it should disclose information to the public.
The passing score is 80 out of 200 points and consists of the following six items
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Governance: Corporate philosophy and form
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Community：Supply chain management and contributions to local communities
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Workers：Employee satisfaction and internal working environment
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Environment：Degree of environmental impact of company activities
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Customer：Relationship with customers
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Disclosure Questionnaire：Openness for internal or external
Here, it is not enough for one item to be outstanding; all six items must fully meet the criteria established by the B Lab.
These interactions with B Lab provided the best opportunity to consider the balance of being a more sustainable organization.
While B Corp certification continues to grow, especially in Europe and the United States, the number of certified companies in Japan is still very small.
OSINTech hopes to expand the "B corporation" community and make friends who are committed to a better world.