Our Commitment to Sustainability

WOVN's Sustainability Initiatives

Our Materialities and Initiatives

Materialities and Initiatives

Materialities for Our Stakeholders

Materialities for Our Stakeholders

We seek to create a world where all people can access all data in their native language

WOVN’s mission is to make all data accessible to people all over the world in their native language. In order to eliminate information disparities due to language, we hope to be a “global infrastructure company that localizes the Internet.”

We believe that WOVN’s pursuit to realize a multilingual world will lead to a more sustainable society.

In 2021, the number of Internet users worldwide reached 4.91 billion and will only continue to increase. However, English users, the most common group of Internet users, comprise about 25%, while Japanese users account for less than 3%2.

Ideas are not bound by borders on the Internet. Yet, through a plethora of information and content on the Internet, content available in one’s native language can be limited, and we find many of the world’s languages gradually becoming isolated.

To address this challenge, WOVN provides localization solutions to businesses and local governments to help disseminate information in different languages. We aim to work with our stakeholders to create a comfortable work environment, no matter where you are, and contribute to a diverse society.

WOVN, too, is a diverse organization. To realize our mission, we will continue to strengthen our work environment to enable employees from diverse backgrounds to perform at their best. We believe that promoting diversity will lead to better decision-making and increased service value for our multilingual solutions.

In aiming to be “a global infrastructure company that localizes the Internet,” we also take the impact we have on society very seriously, and to that end, we will strengthen our corporate governance and work to tackle environmental and social issues.

We commit to new value creation and solve social problems as a part of our mission and carry out Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives to promote sustainable growth alongside the rest of society.

1 Reference 1: ITU-D ICT Statistics
2 Reference 2: Internet World Stats

Sustainability initiatives roadmap

Our process

Our goal is to achieve our mission and vision and to do so by building a sustainable, high-value business. We defined our top materialities (key issues) based on WOVN's business and the environment in which we provide our services. We arrived at our current materialities and initiatives through the process below.

  • Clarify what ESG means in the context of our mission and vision

    As we explored our ESG approach as part of our mid- to long-term growth strategy, we defined how the initiatives relate to our mission and vision.

  • Define potential materialities

    Based WOVN's business context in mind, we came up with our potential materialities using international standards and indicators such as SASB, GRI, MSCI, and the SDGs and through consultations with shareholders, employees, and other external stakeholders.

  • Prioritize and select materialities

    Based on the list of potential materialities, and taking into consideration the impact on each stakeholder, we selected the final set of key issues (materialities) through discussion with internal project teams and our board of directors. We considered business impact and the impact on each group of stakeholders, as we believe our ESG initiatives will create long-term benefits for all stakeholders and that there is a strong link between the resulting ESG initiatives and WOVN's management strategy and corporate culture.

  • Going forward

    We will take concrete actions for each materiality and regularly report on the results. In addition, through dialogue with our stakeholders, we plan to review the materialities and their respective initiatives every year.

WOVN materialities and related SDGs

  • Materiality
  • Related SDGs
  • Environment

    環境

    Environment

    Consideration for the environment
    • Combat climate change
    • Use resources efficiently and reduce waste
  • Social

    社会

    Social

    Realization of a diverse world and society
    • Co-create a "multilingual world" with stakeholders
    • Improve information equality
    • Recruit diverse human resources
    • Provide opportunities for employee growth
    • Provide a healthy, safe, and rewarding work environment
    • Pursue privacy protection and platform reliability
  • Governance

    ガバナンス

    Governance

    Governance for sustainable growth
    • Promote diversity in the management team
    • Ensure management transparency
    • Comply with corporate ethics and code of conduct

Materialities associated with WOVN stakeholders

  • EmployeesEmployees
  • ClientsClients
  • Business partnersBusiness partners
  • Shareholders / InvestorsShareholders / Investors
  • Society / End UsersSociety / End Users
E: Environment

E: Environment

Consideration for the environment

E: EnvironmentE: Environment

Combat climate change

We will measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In order to make more efficient use of energy, in the office, use air conditioning efficiently by setting the thermostat to a reasonable temperature and encourage business casual and casual wear. In addition to installing efficient LED lighting workspaces and meeting rooms, we will raise awareness of climate issues by setting up lighting appropriate to the area and time of day and installing auto-off switches.

Use resources efficiently and reduce waste

We will make effective use of limited resources and reduce waste. We use 100% recyclable chairs and carbon-neutral flooring made from natural materials in our eco-friendly office. We will also promote 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) activities as we push for efficient use of resources by distributing reusable goods such as eco bags and thermal mugs to employees, choosing eco-friendly options for everyday objects like cups and cutlery, and reducing printed materials.

G: Governance

G: Governance

Governance for sustainable growth

G: GovernanceG: Governance

Promote diversity in the management team

We believe that incorporating diverse perspectives and values in management-level decisions promotes innovation, is important for good governance, and leads to sustainable corporate growth. To further strengthen diversity, we will encourage the appointment of women and non-Japanese directors.

Ensure management transparency

We hold monthly board of directors and board of corporate auditor meetings, which are well attended, where we share management information, exchange opinions, and make key decisions on resolutions.
In addition, while WOVN has a board of corporate auditors, we are exploring best practices in organizational design from a governance perspective.

Comply with corporate ethics and code of conduct

We believe that all officers and employees must be held to high ethical standards and a consistent code of conduct. We are currently creating an ethical code based on WOVN’s corporate philosophy. In order to detect and prevent compliance violations at an early stage, we have established a reporting system through an external whistleblowing hotline.
We also believe that instilling values as a code of conduct for the employees will be the driving force behind sustainable business growth. Our culture book describes WOVN’s values, which are regularly reviewed and updated, with ample opportunity given for discussion to ensure that employees correctly understand and act upon the values.

Stakeholder Impact

This section summarizes the impact and relevance of WOVN materialities for each stakeholder.

1/5 Impact on Employees

2/5 Impact on Clients

3/5 Impact on Business Partners

4/5 Impact on Shareholders / Investors

5/5 Impact on Society / End-users

* Turn the screen sideways to see the whole table
ESG Materiality
Impact on WOVN stakeholders
  • Employees

    Employees

  • Clients

    Clients

  • Business Partners

    Business Partners

  • Shareholders / Investors

    Shareholders / Investors

  • Society / End-users

    Society / End-users

E: Consideration for the environment

Combat climate change
Use resources efficiently and reduce waste

S: Realization of a diverse world and society

Co-create a "multilingual world" with stakeholders
Improve information equality
Recruit diverse human resources
Provide opportunities for employee growth
Provide a healthy, safe, and rewarding work environment
Pursue privacy protection and platform reliability

G: Governance for sustainable governance

Promote diversity in the management team
Ensure management transparency
Comply with corporate ethics and code of conduct

Stakeholder Engagement

The following are WOVN’s main initiatives and responsibilities to each stakeholder.

1/2 WOVN's Responsibility

2/2 Main Initiatives

Stakeholders
  • WOVN's Responsibility
  • Main Initiatives
Employees
  • WOVN has a diverse workforce (37% are non-Japanese workers from over 25 countries/regions as of July 21). We will offer various support programs and a work environment comfortable for a diverse workforce.
  • Career development support through an in-house transfer systemActively recruit diverse human resources in terms of nationality and gender, and provide support for working in Japan (e.g., visa acquisition)
Clients
  • Create a better multilingual world for clients and their stakeholders through WOVN’s website localization solutions and the improvement thereof.
  • Support client business growth through WOVN’s website localization solutions and by disseminating case studiesUphold privacy protection and data securityMaintain reputation as a stable and reliable business platform
Business Partners
  • Together with SaaS and translation service providers, continue refining and offering optimal website localization solutions usable in any situation.
Shareholders / Investors
  • We will grow our business and increase corporate value through our website localization solutions.
  • Transparent corporate management in accordance with compliancePursue diverse leadershipEstablish a corporate code of ethics for sustainable business and transactions
Society / End-users
  • Bring benefit to the entire world by localizing the Internet together with clients and business partners.
  • Provide website localization solutions with the goal of creating a world where everyone has equal access to informationConduct business while being mindful of the environment