Our Relationship with Society

Under our Social Action Principles, we operate in harmony with society and make a variety of contributions to international and local communities as a good corporate citizen.

Social Contribution Activity of NTT Communications

NTT Communications implements a wide range of social contribution activities through which we are contributing to the enrichment of society. The spheres of activity are diverse and include international cooperation; environmental conservation; health, medical care and welfare; regional development.

Donations for Disaster Relief Via “E-Money Chocom”  Service

“E-Money Chocom” is an electronic money service enabling even the smallest of payments to be made online.
We accept donations related to disaster events via the “E-Money Chocom” service, and funds received are delivered to victims through the Mainichi Welfare Foundation (Tokyo).

Participation in “chokotto iikoto program”

NTT NaviSpace Corporation, which operates the “Potora” interactive point earning and ranking information website, has been participating in the “chokotto iikoto program” run by Rakuten Bank, Ltd. (formerly known as eBANK Corporation) since October 2008. Registered Potora users include many housewives in their 30s or 40s who have few opportunities to donate through corporations or other organizations. One of Potora's objectives is therefore to assist social contributions by housewives.
Under the “chokotto iikoto program,” funds are automatically paid to designated charity organizations whenever the Rakuten payment system is used. As a participant in this program, NTT NaviSpace donates funds (equivalent to 10 yen for every point) each time Potora users change points into cash using Rakuten, twice yearly in even amounts to the Japan Guide Dog Association, the Japan Marrow Donor Program, Plan Japan, the Japan Cancer Society, and Medecins Sans Frontieres Japan.
NTT NaviSpace assumes responsibility for the donated funds, allowing Potora users to participate in the program simply by exchanging their points into cash. In fiscal 2010, we accepted donated funds totaling ¥191,740, which we donated on May 31, 2010 and March 31, 2011. We will continue participating in this project throughout fiscal 2011.

Contributing to Society Through Websites

Pink Ribbon Campaign 2011

NTT Resonant Inc. undertakes various social contribution activities through the “goo” Internet portal. In fiscal 2010, we set up “goo Pink Label” and supported the Pink Ribbon Campaign, aimed at increasing awareness about breast cancer, which has attracted increasing attention in recent years.
“Goo Pink Label” is a Web search engine service. In fiscal 2010, we donated ¥100,000—a portion of revenue from the service—to the Japan Fund for Breast Cancer, a fund operated by the Japan Cancer Society to help in the fight against breast cancer. During the year, more people than ever accessed this service thanks to our efforts to improve it. These included creating Pink Ribbon and weblog sections on the “goo” main website, upgrading content contained in the campaign page, and adding a “goo Pink Label” mobile application.
In fiscal 2010, we received responses from 32,000 people to the annual survey on breast cancer awareness, a record-high number. The responses indicated that although awareness of the Pink Ribbon campaign and breast cancer has become well established and interest is increasing, few people conduct self-examinations—a situation unchanged from the previous year. In future, it will become an important issue for the campaign to determine the kinds of initiatives that will connect activities to self examinations.

MUSICO Joins UNICEF Charity Project

NTT Communications’ online music store, Music Ocean (MUSICO), participates in the HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOWNLOAD for children, a charity project organized by the Japan Committee for UNICEF through which musicians, recording companies, and music retailers donate money to save the lives of babies around the world.
When MUSICO users download a recording of Happy Birthday to You as a ringtone for their mobile phones, a portion of the proceeds is donated to UNICEF activities for saving the lives of babies.
So far, we have donated ¥307,800. In addition to contributing to UNICEF itself, this constitutes a model case for contributing to international society via the distribution of music. The fact that we were able to have an impact on society is a great achievement.

Social Contribution Point System

Because we want to help build a corporation and workforce on which society can rely, we support and promote the participation of our employees in social contribution activities. To encourage each employee to become active in at least one volunteer activity, we introduced the Social Contribution Point System in fiscal 2008. In this system, Group and partner company regular and temporary employees submit reports on the social contribution and environmental conservation activities they undertook voluntarily. These activities are then converted into points, the monetary value of which the Company donates to selected NPOs.
Furthermore, once a year we publicly acknowledge individuals and organizations depending on the type of activities conducted.
In future, we will continue to support regular and temporary employees from Group and partner companies who are working to resolve social issues.

Group Social Contribution Activities through CSR Programs

The NTT Communications Group runs CSR programs that welcome participation from employees and their families.
Major activities include the Chichibu Rice Terrace Revitalization Project, Morinosaisei.Com (Forest Revitalization), and Mt. Fuji cleanup Project. In addition to increasing environmental conservation awareness, these experiences provide opportunities for exchanges with regional areas and contributions to society.

Taipei, Taiwan: Cleanup Campaign at Erzihping Preserve, Yangmingshan National Park

Cleanup campaign

During the year, NTT Taiwan hosted a cleanup campaign at the Yangmingshan National Park in Taipei, Taiwan.
The cleanup was held in wetlands in a protected area called Erzihping, located within the Yangmingshan National Park. Numerous foreign plant species had sprung up in the scenic ponds that make up the wetlands. By cleaning up the ponds and removing such foreign species, we were able to protect the native ecosystem. This year, employees and their families, for a total of 45 people, braved the heavy rain to help remove the foreign plant species.

The NTT Communications Group strove to fulfill its social mission through various initiatives immediately following the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Seeking to help achieve a speedy recovery, we provided support in a number of ways. To ensure that our response to this natural disaster does not end with temporary measures, we will continue with sustained efforts in the future.

Core Business Initiatives Addressing the Great East Japan Earthquake

Information Transmission

Information is of utmost importance, not only for victims themselves but also to help people within and outside of affected areas involved in recovery and restoration efforts.
Immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the NTT Communications Group delivered information in a variety of ways through dedicated portal sites.

• From March 12, 2011, OCN established a page on its website to provide information related to the earthquake. Included in this page is information about government disaster countermeasures, information for victims, information on power outages and the nuclear power plant accident, earthquake and tsunami updates, and information aimed at gathering support for victims.
• Within one hour of the disaster, NTT Resonant set up a dedicated Great East Japan Earthquake page on its “goo” website to provide information about the disaster and nuclear accident and other information for victims. From March 18 to June 10, it also had a section of the site called “goo Messages from Evacuation Centers.” This service allowed victims without access to Disaster Emergency Message Dial service to leave messages for families and friends with employees of NTT East and others. Those messages were then posted on the site, enabling intended recipients to search for them. Since March 24, we have also provided a beta version of a nationwide map showing current radiation levels.

Services Provided Free of Charge

We also provided various services free of charge, with the aims of ensuring that disaster victims had proper means of communication and of offering assistance to companies and organizations providing support to victims.

Initiatives in Collaboration with Multiple Corporations and Universities

In April 2011, NTT PC Communications formed alliances with multiple corporations and universities to launch the Tsumugi Project, aimed at supporting restoration of areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
In a subsequent initiative under the same project, on May 30 we compiled a database of unidentified people in Iwate Prefecture and launched an identity confirmation system, which allows users to search and peruse the database. On July 1, we expanded the service to include Miyagi Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture. We hope that these efforts will help clarify the identities of unidentified people across a broader geographical area.
This system addresses the needs of local people from areas affected by the disaster, including Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture. In addition to gender and physical characteristics of unidentified people, the service allows users to view images of their personal effects. It also enables more refined information searches.
The response in Iwate Prefecture when this service was launched was immense. On the first day alone, the site received around 40,000 site visits, and numerous people have accessed the service since then.
Through the Tsumugi Project, we will also seek to address future issues affecting the disaster-stricken region. In addition to cooperating with corporations, nonprofit organizations, and other related entities, we will build private networks within the region and develop and provide various applications to support the education of children in affected areas and other good causes. We will also provide support by organizing student volunteers. In these and other ways, we will embrace a multifaceted approach in devising measures to help restore areas affected by the disaster.

Initiatives by NTT employees to help people in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake

Event at NTT Europe

In addition to helping via our main business, we delivered relief supplies to affected areas, and our employees raised funds to help disaster victims.
Fund-raising by employees was not limited to Japan. We also received cooperation from employees in overseas subsidiaries. At NTT Europe, for example, employees engaged in a variety of activities, including charity events. Under an NTT Group initiative, meanwhile, NTT Communications uses agricultural produce from Fukushima, Ibaraki, and Tochigi prefectures in its employee cafeterias.

Using ICT to support information-sharing in disaster-affected areas

Several days after the earthquake, NTT Communications established an information-sharing website related to the disaster as a voluntary initiative by employees. In this way, we took action to support the information-related needs of earthquake victims.

• ChiiTwi: Learning what’s happening “right now” from locals on the ground
  ChiiTwi is a site that enables people to keep abreast of issues in various regions by providing up-to-date information about what is happening “right now” in each area. The site was created as the first step towards helping people “know what’s going on locally” with regard recovery initiatives and to support efforts to that end.
• Neighboring Tweet confirmation site
  This site enables users to read area-specific groups of Tweets, simply by clicking the cursor on a map. It is a tool for gathering real-time information necessary for daily life in disaster-affected areas and includes information on meal preparation operations, stores that have reopened, hot spring spas that can be used, and other relevant information.
• #prayforjapan image attachments
  #prayforjapan is a Twitter page in support of Japan that receives Tweets from all around the world. It contains a site enabling users to select and view image file attachments. More than 3,000 beautiful, heartwarming photographs have been posted on Twitter by people praying for Japan’s recovery. The site was created to raise the spirits of those on the ground who are working hard to restore the situation.
• Twitter site to lift the spirits: Tsubuyaki no Chikara (Power of Tweeting)
  This site enables users to group together and view uplifting Tweets. Immediately after the earthquake, the Twitter world was bombarded with numerous Tweets expressing sadness. We decided to create the site to help lift the spirits of those prone to becoming depressed by such messages.
• Rescue request Twitter search: SOS from Twitter
  Viewers of this site can bring together and read Tweets related to such matters as help requests and shortages of supplies. Tweets requesting help from disaster-stricken areas are automatically grouped together around the clock on the site. We created it in the hope of helping people in need of real assistance.
• Setsuden (Save Electricity) Now!: Powerful result if everyone joins the effort
  This site was designed to help spread the electricity reduction campaign throughout Japan, in the hope that it will alleviate the power shortage situation that has existed since the earthquake. Various ideas for saving electricity are posted on the site. Viewers can read and learn from such ideas, or they can easily post and share their own ideas, either on the site or via Twitter.
• Earthquake-related information in real time: Tweet by FastTweetLive
  This site allows users to display earthquake-related information on Twitter in real time. We created it in collaboration with Glucose Inc., with which we have an affiliation.

Maintaining Stable and Reliable Telecommunications Services | Information Security in Telecommunication Services
Using ICT to Solve Social Issues | Faithfully Serving Our Customers
Our Relationship with Society | Our Relationship with Suppliers